When do you need a locksmith?

When do you need a locksmith?

Locksmith superhero

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

admin August 13, 2015

Checking your locks / saving money /

Look after your locks!

Why you should look after your locks –

Most of us pay little attention to our locks until they go wrong, or need upgrading. Yet besides our mobile phones, they are one of our most used items. When you stop to think about how much abuse we put our locks and doors through, it’s a wonder they last as long as they do. Many of us have locks and doors that are barely holding together and the first we know about it, is when they fail completely and we are left locked out.

 A C Locksmiths

The industry recommends that we change our locks every five years, but that can be very expensive, so servicing is important to keep your locks running in tip-top condition. Here is a rundown of the various problems that can arise;

The common enemy of all locks and doors is the weather. Rain holds in wooden doors and causes rusting to metal parts. Nearer the coast, sand and grit finds its way into locks and locking mechanisms. The worst affected of all are wooden doors with multi-point locking mechanisms. I often find these with severe rust at the bottom, especially when there is a bolt that can sit in a mini pool of water. I have had more cases of this than I can remember, and most times the mechanism finally sticks fast in the locked position, leading to many problems in trying to get the door open without damage. Simple maintenance can prevent high repair costs if dealt with properly.

Night Latches (Yale Locks), are quite prone to internal wear. The big problem with these is that some of the more complex ones can be difficult to remove from the door, and even harder to re-affix. Cheaper versions of these locks are prone to spring failures and loose latch buttons are my most common reason for emergency call outs, especially with holiday homes. If you own a holiday home, maintenance is a tax recoverable cost, so you have no reason to not have your locks serviced, preferably at the beginning and end of the high season. Not only is this good practice, it reduces the chances of your customers having part of their holiday ruined having to wait for a locksmith to arrive and then carry out the work required.

Mortice locks (Chubb) have a whole host of potential problems, most caused by bad initial installation. If the lock keep is not placed correctly within the door frame, or the door swells, moving the lock position, then undue pressure required to turn the key, starts to wear the locking levers inside the lock, or if you are using cheaper copy keys, these can wear too. All of this eventually leads to a case of the lock seizing, usually in the locked position with you on the outside, desperate to get in. This often means the lock needs to be drilled to gain access, leaving unsightly holes in your door.

Another problem that occurs is when locks are replaced, a different brand is used. If the new lock is slightly too wide for the hole it is going into, the lock gets a bit squashed, which causes uneven working of the inner parts, and eventually, seizure. If the new lock is too thin for the hole, the screws that hold the lock together can loosen and the lever springs can escape through the gap as the lock separates. If there is any sign of stiff operation with these locks, they should be checked out immediately, including instances where the door must be pushed/pulled to ensure the lock operates and especially those instances where you have to have a special knack of operation. An example of this came to light for me recently when a customer told me he could only unlock his door by apply pressure up and to the left when rotating the key. We worked out this was the case with certain copy keys that had ben copied badly and that the originals worked fine.

The cylinders of multi-point locks can only be treated with a little oil squirted into the keyway, but the mechanisms themselves need much more. There are various points that can be tweaked and adjusted to ensure these things run smoothly. Remember, the handles should lift and the key should turn nearly as easily in the closed position as it does in the open position. As the problem can build over time, many people don’t realise they are using extra force to lift the handles unless they try the door open as well as closed. French doors and over sized doors are particularly prone to dropping.

Aluminium doors are a completely different problem. Nearly always the mechanism is sealed within the door itself and, at best, difficult to get into. If you have an aluminium door and are experiencing problems of any kind, you will need to look for a double glazing repair specialist who deals with metal doors. Be prepared for the possible cost of full door replacement as parts are often obsolete. I have had occasions where people have not even realised their doors are aluminium, you probably know whether your door is aluminium, but I will just give a couple of indicators just in case: Aluminium doors tend to be silver or black and often are built into a dark wood surround, whereas upvc doors are usually white or brown and do not have a wood surround. Hardly any new doors are aluminium (although there are still some manufacturers) so if the double glazed units in your home are aluminium, and they were fitted before you took possession, remember they are probably old and might need looking at.

Rim Locks are the locks that bolt on to the inside of doors and have very long keys, as those keys need to pass all the way through the door form the outside and then into the lock. The door knob is to one side of the key hole rather than above it. These locks are designed for internal use, but I do see many of them on front/back doors so I think they deserve a mention. Firstly, these are not insurance standard locks, so if your does not have another type of lock in addition to one of these, you are not covered by insurance. Besides that, these are vary basic locks, often easy to open with a standard key available to anyone else who has bought one of these locks. The internal parts of these locks are also easy to bend out of shape, but seem to break keys before they ever bend back again. It is much better to invest in a better standard of lock if you have one these.

As we have just come out of winter, now is the best time to check your locks. Lock servicing programmes are available on a tailor made basis to suit your needs. Please call to discuss your personal requirements. You can find my number on the contacts page of this web site.

Thanks for reading.

admin April 20, 2015

Looking after your locks! / saving money /

Winter Lock Maintenance

Just recently, a well known chain of shops who specialise in things like car parts, bikes and camping equipment, etc., have been offering free winter checks for your car. As soon as my wife saw it, she told me, I should take my car in. . . .  I put it off. She told me again.. . . .  I put it off again. She told me more forcefully, especially when she knew I had passed the shop.

Eventually, I relented and took my car for its winter check. Surprise, surprise, the free winter check resulted in me having to buy stuff like oil and power steering fluid. And the thing is, I knew it would, that’s why I was putting it off. But as it turns out, my oil was really low. It might not have been long before I did some serious damage to my engine, and that would have really cost me money, not only on my vehicle, but lost business, etc. So, let’s accept that the shop in question is doing this free check because they know it will generate business, but I must say, they do it in a great way. There was no; “You must buy our products,” or “Our products are better for your car.” No, it was a simple check and I was shown what was needed. If I wanted to go elsewhere, that was fine. At the end of the day, I could have done all the checks myself, and then got the stuff I needed from anywhere, but again, I was putting it off, because I knew that as soon as I did that check, it would cost me money.

AC Locksmiths Norfolk

Look after your locks;

Now I am ashamed to admit, that I was guilty of doing the same thing I see my customers doing with locks. We can feel when they are not working right, and yet time and again, we know that if we get them looked at, or recognise there is a problem, it will cost money. But the alternative could be so much worse. When your locks get stiff (and many do this time of year), adjusting small bits now, could potentially save you the cost of a new lock.

I worked on a multi-point locking mechanism this week that was nearly seized up. The customer had taken ten minutes that morning to get the thing open. Now, I had fitted this mechanism a few years ago and know that when I fitted it I told the customer to oil it every six months. But the customer didn’t want to buy a can of oil spray just to use every now and then. And so they waited until things got difficult, incurring my labour charge rather than a few quid and a minute every six months. It could have been worse, because the unit could have failed completely and that would have cost even more! I know what it is like to have to juggle the pennies, but by catching problems early, it makes financial sense to get them sorted when the cost will be minimal.

Health checks aren’t just for people –

So, if your locks are showing any sign of being problematic, call me for a free health check. Honestly, I know I am coming to your house because the problem will likely make me a little money, but the chances are, it will save you more money in the long run, so we both win. And if you listen to what I say and think you can deal with the problem yourself, or want to get any products elsewhere, that’s fine too. 

I recently upgraded a customer’s locks as they did not meet insurance standards. Her friend wanted the old locks for some internal doors and I was happy to help, I even gave the old locks a service to keep them running longer. The point is, I am not going to insist you have new products or even have me to do the work. I will give you honest advice, and if you accept my advice I will carry out the work in the most cost effective way for you.

If you have any questions or wish to arrange a security check or lock health check, please contact me via any of the means on the contacts page.

Thanks for reading

admin February 6, 2015

Lock maintenance / saving money /

Tips of the locksmith trade.

Recently I was called out to a job that was easy for me to sort out as I have the experience and know-how of what to do. Had I been faced with the same problem before I became a locksmith, I would have been stuck, so here is some (hopefully) useful information that might save you having to call me (or, worse still, one of my more expensive competitors) – therefore saving you money. Some readers might find these tips obvious, but believe me, these are all things I have been called out for.

So starting with my most recent call; I was faced with a wooden door where the handle had gone limp on the outside of a mortice (“Chubb”) type lock. Although it was unlocked, the handle just spun around without pulling back the latch part of the lock and the customer could not get in. To an untrained eye, this looks pretty dire, but I quickly removed the handle plate and saw that the spindle that connects the handles through the door and operates the latch was only just showing through the lock. To the customer, it looked as if the spindle had snapped. This was not the case. Quite simply, when the lock had been fitted, too short a spindle had been used and over time it had worked its way through the lock until it eventually came out of the handle on the outside. I carry spindles of various lengths and was able to rectify the situation. I have also known this to happen with UPVC doors. Your own doors might very well have this same problem and you will know nothing about it until the spindle finally slips out of either handle. So it is a good idea to check your own doors and if your spindle is to short, it should be replaced with one of the correct size, or in an emergency, some thin cardboard could be rolled up and used to pack out the insides of the handles, stopping the spindle from moving, although you should remember this might be hard to get back out when you do get the longer spindle.

The next thing that happens a lot is with UPVC doors. I once had a case where, the customer could not make the mechanism engage. When I arrived, I found the floor mat had moved and was jammed underneath the door, meaning the door was not closed properly and the hooks and rollers could not engage properly. I moved the mat and the problem was solved in less than five seconds. Unfortunately this was done under sub-contract and therefore cost the customer a lot of money. But it does highlight how easily these doors move and can become problematic.

There are various things you can do to give UPVC doors a new lease of life;

  • If the handles are stiff then adjustments need to be made, but sometimes the stiffness builds up over time so you might not notice it. Therefore a good test is to open the door and lift the handles while it is open. Now do the same thing again with the door closed. If it is much stiffer with the door closed, then adjustments need to be made.
  • Firstly look for where signs of wear on any of the exposed moving parts and their respective keeps in the door frame as this will give you an idea of where to start, but before you do anything, give every nook and cranny a good dose of oil and then mark off a point on your calendar to do the same thing every six months or so.
  • Most doors have rollers on the leading edge of the door mechanism. You will see a hexagonal hole for an Allen key that turns this roller. There will also be a small line from one edge of the hexagon to the outer edge of the roller. If this line is down, the roller is in its low position. If the line is up, it is in its upper position. Using the Allen key, you can rotate these rollers to see if it makes any difference to how easy the handles are to lift. You may find these a little stiff which is good because they should not move easily.
  • If you want to be really brave, then the next step is to adjust the hinges. Most newer doors have hinges that wrap over one side of the door, and you can usually find a small cap on these that when removed, allows you to access another Allen key hole. If you rotate the Allen key through 180 degrees, and watch the edge of the door by the hinge you are working on (there will be three or four), you should see the door move away from or towards the door frame (note: you will need the door to be slightly open for this). Once you have done one half turn, close the door and try the handles again. If they are harder to engage, rotate the Allen key the other way and repeat to see if the handles are easier now. If there is no difference, move the Allen key back to the original position and try a different hinge. You will soon get the idea of which hinge need to go which way. However, if you are going to try this yourself, be prepared for it to take a while as it can take some time to get right and don’t be afraid to call the professionals.
  • Some doors also have adjustable keeps in the frame. As these are very varied, I will just say have a good look and if you feel out of your depth, call your local locksmith.
  • Finally, if you have an older UPVC door without adjustable hinges, there is a last-ditch thing to try. Unscrew all of the keeps from the frame and close the door. Lift the handles to make sure it now engages smoothly. Next put the keeps back one at a time and each time you do, close the door and lift the handles. If the handles work ok then that keep is good, If the handles are stiff again, then that keep needs to be either raised or lowered, usually by only a few millimetres. Secure the keep with its top and bottom screws and try the handle again. If they are harder to engage then you need to reposition the keep in the opposite direction, i.e. if you moved it up, you need to move it down and vice versa. Now try again.
  • With mortice (Chubb) locks and nightlatches (Yale), the main tricks are maintenance – so oil them on a regular basis with a healthy dose of spray oil. But wooden doors expand and contract with the weather, so be aware that if the key is becoming difficult to turn, or you have to push against the door to operate the lock, then simply moving the keep will ease this problem, but again, only move it a few millimetres or else the door may rattle in the wind.

Should you have any questions about carrying out work for yourself on your doors, I am happy to help so please feel free to call my mobile number as it appears on my contacts page. If I am not in the middle of a job myself, I will be happy to talk you through any process. 

Thanks for reading.

admin April 23, 2014

Home maintenance / Locksmith tips / saving money /

Saving money reminder

Time has flown since my last blog and lots have happened. Christmas has been surprisingly busy with an increase in window locks, (I will talk about this later) and a house move which has reminded me how much family pulls together when needed. Also this site is undergoing a few tweaks which we are really excited about. Hopefully, this will make us stand out even more.
But, back to the house move. As soon as we had a move date, the usual worries started about the cost of it all, particularly the removal van. As we were not moving very far, we thought a large van and a few trips would suffice. Looking back, I can honestly say that without some very hard work from our family we would have taken a week rather than a day to get done. This has set me to thinking about how, in my experience, many of us are so caught up in our own lives and issues, we do not stop to think about our siblings until those big days like house moves, weddings, etc, and while it is great to be there for these occasions, many of us do the dutiful visits but then go through the same routines. The point I am trying to make is this, if you have siblings, parents, cousins, friends, neighbours, even work colleagues, start talking to them about the more everyday things that cause problems or you could do  with advice on. Find out who their energy suppliers are, who their plumber is, who their locksmith is, do they know anything at all that could make your own life easier and do you know anyone or anything that could potentially help them. If someone in your life is elderly,you could check they are having essential things like boiler services done (without trying to take their independence away) and that they are coping as well as they like to think in an ever more complicated world.
And finally, my advise would be  – you could club together to save money. We say we charge £45 per hour for labour, but I have nearly always found that doing multiple lock jobs, gives me enough profit to be able to waiver any labour cost beyond that first hour. Therefore, if you wanted to upgrade your own locks, you should talk to your neighbours first and see if they want to improve their own home security. Providing the whole job was within a reasonable distance, the labour cost would not only be shared, but reduced as well. This is a policy that could be extended to all trades and should be. After all, most of the trades persons labour charge is to cover things like petrol, tools, etc. If that trades person only has  to travel once, then their own costs go down, a saving that may be passed to the customer.
So, look at your jobs that need doing, talk to your friends, neighbours and family to find out if they are in a similar position and if so, see if you can get the work done cheaper between you. If nothing else, you will be that little bit closer to all.
This talk will also enable you to start your own directories of trusted traders that can be relied on for quality work at reasonable prices.

Now, back to those windows. Insurers are increasingly insisting that upper storey windows have locks as well as the ground floor. Check your own Buildings and Contents policy and then check your windows. I recently astounded myself with how easy it is to gain entry to an unlocked casement window with only rudimentary tools. I am also aware of entire estates of newer build properties that have the wooden double glazed windows. These are often built with lockable windows downstairs but non-lockable upstairs. Check now, because there must be nothing worse than the break in followed by the bad news of invalid insurance.

Finally, some bad news. It is with regret that we are going to  increase labour rates at the start of the new financial year in April. This is due to continued motoring costs and the need to cover such a large area. The increase will be between £5 and £10 ( still to be costed and finalised), but we do intend to continue our current policy of keeping labour rates the same regardless of time of day or day of week.

admin January 20, 2013

insurance / Locksmiths norfolk / saving money /