Latch for thin bi-fold doors?

[Stephen Tashiro]

What would be good hardware to use as a latch for 3/4" thick bi-fold doors?

I'm building lightweight bi-fold doors out of 3/4" thick boards to keep my cat out of part of the house. I want to be able to unlatch the door from both sides of it. I don't need to lock it. The door will have cage wire over it. I prefer not to have leave an opening to reach my hand through the door to operate a latch on the other side.

I find kits for storm and screen doors in the hardware stores, but they contain only two knobs and the shaft that the knobs turn. They don't have the mechanism that the shaft operates. And I'm not sure if this type of latch would latch a bi-fold door.

[Chip Lindley]

Stephen, you probably did the same Google search as I did. No results for a hook latch accessible from both sides. The same principle is used on sliding patio doors, and pocket doors, but usually have a knob on one side only.

Close, but no cigar:

http://www.doorhardwareplus.com/product/Kwikset-QS335-Polished-Brass-132963?N=101+3000612+3000657

A slim mortise bored into the door-edge housing a hooked latch pivoting up/down to latch into a mortised metal plate in the door jamb could be shop-made. It's simple like a barn door latch, but mortised into the center of the door instead of on the face.

[Logan William]

What about several rare earth magnets mortised into the edge of the doors? Could install them as needed up and down the edge of the door until you got the holding force you wanted.

[Josiah Bartlett]

Storm door latch sets work in 3/4" material:
http://www.amazon.com/Wright-Products-VGL025-555-Georgian-Polished/dp/B0009YDHNY/ref=pd_cp_hi_2

[Charles Lent]

A pocket door latch would probably work for this, but I haven't tried it. They use a hook type of latch pin and can be opened from both sides of the door.

Charley

[Russ Filtz]

A simple hook latch would work. Just need to keep a slim putty knife or similar on the opposite side to flip the latch up from between the doors.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Had the same issue with an enterprising and somewhat curious cat that cant stand closed doors.

I made a slide bolt from an aluminum rod, drilled and tapped it for a screw on each side, drilled the door and slotted both sides. slide the aluminum rod in, install the screws..... can be opened/closed from either side.

[Jay Allen]

That's funny, I never heard of anyone else ever having this problem. My mother had a cat that would do this when I was a kid. Dad put a hook and eye latch on the outside of the doors and it worked fine. It wasn't necessary to latch it from the inside. If someone was inside, it didn't matter, you just brought the cat out when you came out. The room was a dead-end, it went no-where else. The only need was to keep it out the rest of the time.
Actually, if someone was in there the cat didn't much care about going in. It was only concerned about being locked-out of an empty room....LOL