Lock maintenance

In previous blogs I have mentioned the importance of regular lock maintenance. This has been highlighted recently, as I seem to be going through a series of cases where doors with multi-point locking systems seem to be causing problems. This is especially true when the doors have shoot bolts at the top and bottom of the doors.

The bolts themselves are never particularly strong, so if the system is engaged without the door being properly closed first, it is very easy to push these bolts out of shape, which then causes them to wear as they do not fit properly into the holes in the frame. I do see this happening a lot with French doors. UPVC doors are usually easier to correct as there are often adjustments that can be made, but wooden doors that warp, expand and contract with the weather, can be very tricky.

If your door handles are hard to raise, or you need to hold them up to turn the key, then there is likely to be a problem. Stand back and look to see if the doors are straight and even. Check they fit into the frame properly. Look for signs of wear caused by bolts scraping woodwork. If there are signs of damage, call your local locksmith while there is a chance the problem can be rectified.

Should you have any questions regarding this or any other issues mentioned in my blogs, please get in touch via any of the methods on my contacts page.

Thanks for reading.