Need advice/ideas for a pop door lock

[KathyK]

My girls are ready to go outside. I have them in the coop in my garage. The coop will be moved outside and attached to a run. The pop door is a piece of plywood that slides up in a groove. DH will be installing a rope and pulley to be able to open it from outside the coop. My question is, how do you latch it shut at night without entering the run? Sorry, if this should be obvious, but I am at a loss.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

From outside the run, the only thing I can think of would be some type of bar that would slide across the top of the door, blocking it from sliding up. It would need guides on the side of the coop to slide through and a way to secure it from moving, when you wanted the door locked shut.

Or maybe a bar that slides through guides on either side of the door and also one or more slides on the door, to keep it from sliding up. That would lock it in place. It might be easier to do, too.

 

[Dogfish]

Saw this.

The lever is what you attach the cord to, up top. It is weighted to fall to one side. Pulling on the cord makes the lever stand upright, unlocking the door. See where the nail is used as a "catch" on the lower left? This way, a coon or cat can't just lift up the door. I'll build one shortly and post some pics later this week.

 

[KathyK]

Here's what I have so far:

The door slides in a slot and rests on a small board when closed. If I just nailed another small board inset at the bottom to create a block, then raccoon hands would not be able to get under the door and raise it up. Would that work? The only way I can open it now is to get my fingernails under the door, or grab the top of the door with my nails and raise it. It's pretty hard to grab the top. Whadoyathink?

 

[Dogfish]

Your solution sounds good. The lock I showed would only work from the inside, but it would only be a small job to swith the door from exterior to interior.

 

[KathyK]

I thought about doing that, too. But this sounds easier.

 

[CityChook]

But don't you think that if you can grab the top of the door with your nails that a wild beastie with longer nails can do the same thing?
Is your run too short for you to enter? Or you just don't want to?

I have a stepping stone inside the run door to stand on since I'm often in high heels letting the girls out in the morning...

 

[Dogfish]

Easy isn't always the best way. I had to tell my wife that many times during our house build.

 

[Doopy]

The type of latch that Dogfish shows is about the best there is for a vertical pull cord arrangement. So simple and only one moving part. Look on youtube for the movie of it in action.