Black Thumb Latch

Bought this latch for a new gate at a rental property this spring. Tenant complained that it wasn't working properly, so I went out to check, and found the handyman had not installed it correctly. This can be fixed, but I am disappointed to find the latch is rusting already. The product is intended for outdoor use and should not be rusty after only 2 months.

Although this item doesn't look terribly sturdy it is. Had an attempted break into the yard. The 2 screws were pulled out and the hard ware bent but the latch into the wood held and the break in never happened. Buying a replacement but the heavy duty latch by Everbilt.

While the latch and hardware look great and have a great price, this product was engineered poorly. I ended up having to use a Dremel to grind part of the latch piece down so it would actually function properly. Basically the way they molded or cut the metal for the lever and the long end of the thumb piece prevented full functional movement and proper fitment - resulting in the gate being unable to latch despite careful measurements and following the instructions exactly. Now that I've corrected that issue, the latch works perfectly and is easy to use!

Overall, good addition to a wood door. Had to cut latch to fit my particular installation. Also used a lag screw versus the bolt/nut combo supplied since said bolt is way too short to pass through 2x4 frame and lap board face.

First of all the directions on the bag was hard to read due to the small printing. After finding a video on line I was able to install it. It does not work as indicated. Also it rusted less than a week after it was installed. Spend more money and try to buy american made.

Well after 6 months the metal piece that is used for a return spring has broken off! Don't waste your money on this junk. Being an avid DYIer I am sure I can fix this, one more thing on the to do list....what a joke. Naturally past 90days Home Depot NO HELP!!!! BOOOOOOOOO!

Although I love home projects the handyman put this one in for me. Raining that day off and on. He said it was easy as I thought. There is a video out on this and it looked easy. Thanks Home Depot. Looking forward to giving it good use out on the patio.

I have used very similar gate latches in the past (15+ years ago) , and was not excited about using another of these because my previous ones would not latch themselves when I swung the gate closed. For this installation, though, this seemed to be the best latch option so I went ahead & selected this one. The kit is much improved over previous iterations of this latch. The addition of a light spring to hold the crossbar in place rather than depending entirely on gravity to hold it down helps keep the latch bar in place, and something about the geometry of the latch has been improved, making it latch much more easily. The one bolt at the top of the outside handle has me flummoxed a bit, though. In order to have the inner latch and outer handle at the correct levels, the nut & bolt holding the top of the handle is right at the top of the inner latch, which puts it in the board to which the inner latch is mounted. I cut a bit of the board away to make it fit, but if the company would raise the upper hole in the handle a half inch it would be much easier to install. I am quite happy with this latch, however.

As other reviewers have noted, the instructions for installing this latch are terrible! I have many years of DIY home improvement experience, but if there hadn’t been good photographs on the instruction sheet, I’m not certain I would have been able to get the thing installed! However, after getting it installed, I was pleased and surprised at how well it works. Overall, I would say this is a good gate latch for the money, despite the pitiful instructions.