Holiday Home Locks

Holiday Home lock maintenance

I have just returned from yet another job where the multi-point locking mechanism had seized and needed replacing. The property in question was a holiday home near Sea Palling and very close to the beach. The mechanism had shoot bolts top and bottom, which had rusted and jammed. While they were in the process of rusting, various users of the property had used ever increasing force to operate the mechanism until the latest customers just couldn’t open the door.

This made the room incredibly hot as the only other method of ventilation was a small window, and there were non-opening windows which were large and in direct sunlight. It would appear that in addition to the cost of the work being done, the property owner is going to have to refund some of the cost of the clients’ holiday.

But as in 99% of these cases, the costs could have been avoided with just a little maintenance. All multi-point locking mechanisms need oiling at least on a six monthly basis. However you should also check for signs of rust. With mechanisms that have shoot bolts, water often collects in the bottom bolt hole which seeps up and makes the bottom bolt rust. This one was unusual in that the water must have been slowly dripping and pooling at the top of the door and it was the top bolt that rusted. When I took the mechanism off the door, I also found it to have sand grinding in places you wouldn’t normally see.

Were this to be a normal home, I could have shown the customer what to do and everything would have been fine, but holiday homes can be difficult. I was asked to do this job by a holiday let company who in turn use a property management company. The owner is happy for them to do what needs to be done when they see fit. But the property management company has lots of properties to get through on change-over days and therefore only has time to do the necessary cleaning, etc. The letting company do not have time to be anything more than reactionary to problems either, especially during high season.

With all this in mind, if you run a holiday home through a company, be specific about anything beyond standard requirements, including regular servicing of the locks, or if you use the property yourself, make time during your own visit to do the maintenance yourself, especially if your property is near the beach.

If you are unsure of how to proceed, contact your local locksmith. He or she should be able to set up a schedule around your bookings to service everything properly. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us via the contacts page.

Thanks for reading!