When do you need a locksmith?

Firstly, let me say that I am not trying to do myself out of work, but I have attended a surprising number of jobs where I was not actually required at all. I thought I’d give you two examples – and maybe they could help others save some money:

The first was to a sliding patio door that was double glazed. Everything worked fine in the open position, but when the door was closed, the mechanism just would not lock. I immediately started looking for all sorts of things around the locking part of the door, but all seemed to be in good working order. Then I did what I should have done from the start. I stood back and looked at the whole door. The answer was obvious. My customer had an insect curtain made up of lots of thin wispy strands that hung down. A few of these wispy strands had got caught between fixed section and sliding section of the door, and were stopping it from going the last millimetre that would allow the door to lock. In just a few seconds I had everything working again, but this highlights that before calling a locksmith, a quick look at your door for any obstuctions could save you money.

The second case needs a little explaining. Among the many types of insect curtain around at the moment, are magnetic ones that magically close themselves behind you as you pass through. They are great, and can be obtained quite cheaply. At night, you simply tie them back like curtains. But, if you have a double glazed door, when you tie them back, you are moving the magnets closer to the metal keeps in the frame, and here is where danger happens. My customers had tied back their insect curtain and shut the door, not knowing one of the magnets had attached itself to the door frame. As they engaged the locking mechanism, the magnet was torn from its place in the curtain and pushed into the hole where one of the mechanism hooks slid into place. Somehow, the magnet managed to get on top of the hook, and wedged, making the door un-openable. Not knowing any of this until I found the magnet, made the job very frustrating as there was no apparent reason for the door not to work.
So, if you have a magnetic insect curtain, be sure it is not stuck to the frame in any place before you lock the door.

 If you have any questions about the above, or if you do run into lock problems and cannot find an obvious cause, or you simply need help with them, please do not hesitate to get in touch via any of the ways on my contacts page.

Thanks for reading