My inside door handle got loose and one day while pulling the door closed behind me, the handle came off in my hand. I attempted to put it back together, but it only lasted a few days. The next time it came off, I had my handyman fix it. He took it apart and did a better job of getting it fixed. That fix lasted a couple weeks or more.
The third time it came apart I decided a new door handle was needed. The usual trips to Ace Hardware and Home Depot taught me that manufacturers don't make replacement parts for old doors like mine to be sold at retail outlets. I never tried an online search for it.
The next best thing was to resort to the "older method" of originality. I went to Cooks Home Improvements, the business that originally sold the door to my mother and installed it. I took a cell phone photo of the door handle with me and asked if he had any replacement parts.
After searching for a while in his "spare parts room" I was handed a door handle exactly like the one on my door, with the exception of the color (brass versus black). I really didn't care what color it was, as long as it works on the door. I went home to install the new handle and learned how and why it came apart in the first place. It was not due to the inner-workings (or guts) of the mechanism. With years of wear, the outer ring broke away from the rectangular base; after all, the door was installed between 1972 and 1982.
New/old replacement parts are not so bad after all! It works!!
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