AC Locksmiths Norfolk - Blog | AC Locksmiths Norfolk

Different locks explained Part 4

Having looked at the locking barrels for double glazed doors in my previous blog, this blog is dedicated to the actual locking mechanisms themselves. There are several different ways in which they work.

The first and most basic is called a roller;

When the door closes and you lift the handles, it simply rolls into position behind a keep that sits on your door frame and looks like this.

Very few doors only have rollers on their own nowadays as they are incredibly easy to bypass. Their main purpose is to hold the door a bit tighter when closed to stop draughts and they might be the only option on small doors. They are harder to bypass on smaller doors. Without giving the reader tips on how to break into a home, I can only suggest that if you have a double glazed door and it only has these rollers holding it in place, you might want to seek advice from your local locksmith to see if alternatives are available.

Over time, these rollers can shift a little in position, making the door difficult to lock and unlock. You can see from this next image that the correct sized allen key (hex key) can be inserted to rotate the roller. A quarter turn should be tried before attempting to lock the door again and if that does not work, then a further quarter turn and so on until you have established the problem is not with the roller or the problem is fixed.

If this does not rectify the problem, it might mean the door has dropped a little and simply moving the keep up or down a few millimetres might do the job, but at this point, I would suggest calling your local locksmith as there could be more serious problems to contend with.
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A step up from the roller is the mushroom;

It is more secure than the roller because it slides into a slotted keep where it holds tight. There is nothing to adjust on these mushrooms, so if it causes trouble, and the door cannot be adjusted, the only option is to move the keep accordingly.
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Next we have hooks and bolts that come out of the mechanism like this:

The hooks and bolts themselves do not adjust, but again if the door is out of position, there are adjustments that can be made, this time to the keeps, that look something like this.

You can see from the picture that an allen key will allow you to adjust this keep. Some only allow backwards and forwards movement, so again, if you are unsure, please call your local locksmith.

Hopefully, you will never have to see behind the scenes of one of these mechanisms, so here is what goes on in the hook case itself.

You can see this one has a hook and bolt. These parts do not often go wrong by themselves, but when they do, the door is extremely difficult to open without damage to either the door itself or the door frame. Therefore basic maintenance is vital and any signs of stiffness when lifting the handles should be dealt with by a professional.

We can now take a look at the gearbox, or centre case, where all main action takes place. There are many brands of these each with differing sizes and shapes within the brand, so this picture is just one example;

This example is called a double spindle and can be set up in two ways. The standard way is to have both handles operating through this hole.

In this case, the door will only be secure when the handles are lifted and the key is turned. However you can have handles where the inside handle operates through the top hole, but the outer handle is slightly lower and goes through this hole

In this case, everything operates exactly the same, but the lower hole does not allow the latch to pull back, meaning that you need the key to get back in. of course, if you are going further than the end of the garden, you should engage the locking mechanism completely as normal, but with this configuration, the door is at least technically secure.

These next two pictures show the hole that the locking barrel slides through and the barrel in place.

This is the simplest part of the lock. Everything inside above that, however is a minefield of cogs, levers and other moving parts. Please don’t expect your locksmith to be able to open these up and replace inner parts as with so many products around, knowledge of every one would be amazing and the locksmith would need an extra trailer to carry the spares, which would only be second hand as our suppliers do not provide anything other than complete products.

The centre keep for this part, looks something like this.

And again, we can adjust certain parts like the latch keep on this one. Loosening these screws, allows the keep to move forwards and backwards.

I have come across many problems where simply adjusting this part, which may have moved when someone slammed the door, has rectified the situation. Quite often, the locking mechanism will not operate if the latch is still being pushed in, which it can if this part is in the wrong position.
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Now, in this blog, I have mentioned doors dropping, which they often do. A sudden gust of wind, stroppy teens slamming, or even direct sunlight warping can all affect how the door sits in the frame.
Most modern upvc doors have hinges that are adjustable. If you have a door with hinges like this;

Then there is a good chance the door can be adjusted. The picture shows the one type of hinge that can be a little awkward because you have to prize it apart gently but firmly to get at the adjuster inside. Most actually have a plastic plug easily visible, which when removed, allow access to another allen key adjuster inside. If you are in any doubt, call your local locksmith. But if you feel like taking the job on yourself, half a turn of the adjuster should be all you move before trying to lock the door again. That should be enough to tell you if the door is easier or harder to lock. If harder, then you need to turn the opposite way. Remember, there are anything from two to four hinges that may be adjusted, so this is not an easy job.

Should you have any questions regarding the above information, please do not hesitate to contact me through any of the methods on my contacts page.
Thanks for reading

admin February 3, 2016

Different locks explained / Lock mechanisms /

Different Locks explained Part 3

This section of Locks Explained looks at the Euro Cylinder:

The Euro cylinder is most commonly used in UPVC double glazed doors with multi-point locking mechanisms. However, some mortice locks have them as well, but the principle is the same. Turning the key in the barrel turns a cam which then operates the locking mechanism in the main body of the mechanism itself. I will do a piece about locking mechanisms in the future, but for now, I am going to concentrate on the cylinder itself.

The first thing I need to draw attention to is the thumb turn – shown here:

Instead of being operated by a key on the inside, it has this handy part which you can turn to unlock and lock the door.

Very few people have this on their locks, but if you do and your lock does not display a British Standard Kite Mark, be warned, because they are extremely easy to bypass. Without the Kite mark, if this lock is on your outer door it might just as well be left unlocked. I do see them a lot in buildings with secure entrances, but if you are in any doubt, talk to your local locksmith and/or building manager.

Now let’s take a look at a Euro cylinder without the thumb turn, which is the type most of you will have in your double glazed doors:

Almost every door that requires you to lift the handles before locking, has one of these going through it.

When the cylinder is in place, a screw passes through the mechanism and holds it tight by screwing through this hole.

You may have heard the term ‘cylinder snapping.’ When a burglar uses this method, this is the part that breaks. You can see there is not much metal here holding the whole thing together.

The next part is the cam:

When the key is rotated, it too rotates which you can see here. This picture shows the cam position when the key is out.

and this one with the key in and part turned;
Without going into too much detail, snapping the cylinder allows the burglar to operate the parts of the mechanism which the cam would move, and they can be inside your home in less than a minute without the need for any power tools.

The good news is that there are a few things you can do to stop this. You can have an anti-snapping device fitted inside the handles. You can have new handles that are resistant to attack. But they do not stop traditional lock picking and drilling is still an option for the determined burglar. Also, the insurance company will still pay up when you are burgled because for now at least, most accept these locks as suitable. In fact, if your locks have to be replaced, and these were the ones you had before, they will only pay for like for like replacements leaving you just as vulnerable. Many burglary victims will tell you that once it has happened to you, it will likely happen again.

So what if you don’t want to make that call to the insurance company after the burglary? What can you do to drastically reduce the chances of your home being burgled? Well, firstly, you can go to your local DIY chain and buy a BS3621 kite marked cylinder. These are anti-snap and in many cases will deter the opportunist. However, they can be picked (with patience) and can be bypassed in other ways. It’s a lot harder, but you still might need specialist handles to be really secure.

Or you can opt for the ultimate Euro Cylinder. At the time of writing, and to the best of my knowledge, this is the best cylinder you can have without the need for additional parts;

You can see from this picture some studs that run through the bottom. These

hold a reinforced bar aimed at the prevention of cylinder snapping.

Coupled with this part, which is weakened intentionally so that the front snaps off, rather than the whole thing breaking in the middle. The burglar is not going to easily get to the internal parts of your door.

From the front, the lock looks like this;

It is highly recognisable from a distance, meaning the seasoned burglar might not even venture past your front gate because he knows this will be no easy break in. Someone who takes the time to put one of these locks on is probably going to have increased window security as well, so why bother looking when next door’s house looks just as big, has just as nice a car on the drive, but has visibly easier locks to get past? If however he does get close enough to take a good look at the lock, not only will he see that kite mark, but he will also see those three stars. Those stars have a big message. They state that this lock is so good, it doesn’t need the extras. You can make your security three stars with a British Standard lock and some other bits, but this lock does it all in one. I’ve had to bypass one so far. I have specialist equipment and I can tell you it took me a lot more time than a burglar would probably be willing to take and I had to replace a fair few tools afterwards.

So, you can’t snap it, and it is extremely resistant to power tools. What about picking? I’d love to see a TV show where the hero gets out his trusty lock picking set and faces this!

This is the key;

To pick this lock, not only do you have to get these dimples in the right place, you have to get them the right size, because the pins inside the lock are doubled with a pin within a pin. Not only that, but the flat circle you can see is a magnet which can appear anywhere along that key and must tally with the correct magnet position in the lock itself.

For extra security, very few people can cut you new keys for these locks. Only the holder of the key card that comes with the lock can get copies made.

Here is the card;

So, you can rest assured no one is going to make copies. Even those few who do cut these keys cannot copy from another key. It must be done from the code on the card. That makes these locks brilliant for landlords of long term tenants and short term holiday lets.

I like these locks so much, they secure my own home.

If you have any questions regarding the above information, please feel free to get in touch via the contacts page.

Thanks for reading

admin January 13, 2016

Different locks explained / Which lock is best? /

Different Locks Explained Part 2

The mortice lock (sometimes spelt mortise) and often referred to as a ‘Chubb’ lock.

When your home insurance talks about 5 lever locks, it is referring to this type of lock and not the multi-point locking system of the type found on upvc type doors.You can have two main types of mortice lock.

This is the deadlock;

And this is the sash lock – essentially a deadlock with retractable latch;

The two pictures are 5 lever mortice locks and made to British Standard 3621 quality. The following pictures show what makes them such high quality:

The black layers you can see in between the hard steel plates, is designed to snag hack-saws, stopping any potential attack where a wide gap between the door and frame might allow for this to happen. The bolt itself comes out a long way to ensure anyone attempting to ‘pop’ the door with a crowbar is in for a serious struggle. In burglaries I have attended where the door has been opened with a crowbar, the wood of the door has split rather than the lock breaking. That is because the keep that sits in the door frame is a solid construction as well. Two and three lever mortice locks have a much smaller bolt and usually, the keep is just a thin piece of metal that goes over holes cut into the wood.

A five lever mortice lock keep looks like this:

It will be made of a thick hard plate metal and secured with four deep set screws.Two and three lever mortice locks can be picked relatively easily, because tools can be inserted up into the lock from the key hole from where the burglar can manipulate the levers.

On a BS3621 5 lever mortice lock, that method of attack is made all the harder by the anti-pick curtain, shown here:

This round bit is the part you put your key into and stops any manipulation of the levers above.

You can see it again in this next picture which also shows the hardened steel plate that stops standard drills making any holes where burglars need them to move the levers and therefore open the lock.

Levers

Now, onto the levers themselves. Because this is a 5 lever lock, there are obviously five of them. That means trying to pick one of these (if the burglar is willing to spend the time trying to get past the anti-pick curtain), is really difficult. There is a technique, but it requires holding just the right pressure as you do each lever in turn. If you make it to the fifth one, you are either very determined, or very lucky. These levers also have anti-pick traps, which in some cases, will render the lock completely unusable. Certain brands wear very easily and poorly cut copied keys can set these traps off, so make sure the person cutting any extra keys uses ones that have the brand name on them and has plenty of experience.
Here are the levers:

If you just don’t know whether or not your locks are up to standard, there is one way to ensure it meets the necessary standards. It should display the British Standard Kite Mark like this:

Now this piece only covers the basic mortice locks. There are other mortice locks which are in a bit of a grey area. For example, horizontal mortice locks which have the key hole and usually a knob on a side by side set up rather than a lever handle above the key hole. If you have one of these, the chances are it is a 3 lever lock and not insurance compliant as a standalone lock. There are 5 lever versions but these are expensive and do not always work with older doors. You can also have narrow fit mortice locks for doors that do not have much space into which a lock will fit. Non-standard 5 lever mortice locks do not carry BS3621 kite marks, but often satisfy insurance companies if they are made aware of the circumstances in which they have been fitted.

If you have any doubts at all, contact your local locksmith who can either advise on your best course of action, and may be prepared to word a letter to your insurance company explaining unusual circumstances. Remember even if the burglar gets in through a door that has the appropriate lock on it, some insurance companies will refuse to pay out if any one of your other locks is not up to standard.

If you require any more information regarding the locks mentioned above, please do not hesitate to contact me using any of the methods on my contacts page. If there are any other locksmith related topics you would like me to cover, please either leave a comment or drop me an email, my address can be found on the contacts page.

Thanks for reading.

admin December 16, 2015

5 lever mortice locks / British Standard locks / Which lock? /

Different Locks Explained

There are many different types of lock, some are insurance standard – some are not. In my blog I want to look at the pros and cons of the different locks. Part one is the Nightlatch lock.

1. The Nightlatch:

The Nightlatch lock is often referred to as a ‘Yale’ type lock. Here, I am going to look at some examples and explain the pros and cons of these locks.

This is the most basic nightlatch. The key or the knob rotate to withdraw the curved latch. The small snib pushed up or down (depending on brand and side of door lock is mounted on) holds the latch either in or out. When the snib is activated the knob and key will not operate.

The part that the key goes into is called a ‘Rim Cylinder’ and can be bought as a separate part. This means if you lose your key, the locking part can be purchased quite cheaply without having to buy the whole lot. They are also easy for the amateur to fit as well, especially if there is already a hole for the rim cylinder to fit into as this passes from the front to the back of the door and into the back of the nightlatch itself.

The downsides to this lock are that as it is cheap, it doesn’t always last very long. If the snib is not activated, a burglar can bypass this lock in seconds. It is possible to accidentally knock the snib as you leave the house and because the latch will retract just a little bit, if you slam your door, you can now be locked out with the key being useless to you. Getting in from this position involves complete destruction of the lock and possible damage to your door. This lock carries no British Standard rating and therefore on its own will invalidate your insurance. Even if the burglar enters through a different opening, having this lock as your only lock on a final exit door will stop the insurance company paying out.

While I see this as a main lock on far too many occasions, I would only use it on internal doors like B&B rooms or if you rent a holiday home and you need to keep some rooms unused, etc.

It can be used on main doors, but there should always be another lock as well, preferably one that is British Standard 3621 with a kite mark.

This is the next level of nightlatch:

This one is a bit more robust than the one before. It’s fitting is slightly more complicated and more tools are required to fit it into place. It operates the same as well. But you can get these in a deadlocking version. That means, if you turn the key an extra turn, the latch is held in place just as the snib would do on the inside. On this example, the snib is black. While this deadlocking action gives slightly more security than the cheaper nightlatch, it does throw up its own problems, because now, if you accidentally rotate the key to the deadlocked position, step inside and slam the door, you will be locked in. The inside lever will not turn enough to free you. You will have to exit from another door or window, and unlock it again from the outside. This, of course is dangerous if you only have one door and fire breaks out.

Again, this lock is not rated to BS3621 and therefore not adequate security on its own.

Finally, the BS3621 Nightlatch:

This one really does the trick. The Rim cylinder is now protected against drilling. The latch comes out further and protects itself against a burglary method called “slipping.” Because the snib is a push button, you cannot accidentally lock yourself in or out as you could with the previous two locks. And because it carries the kitemark, it will satisfy most insurers as a stand alone lock without the need for others. While this is still possible to fit yourself, it can be fiddly and if not done properly, the automatic deadlocking feature will not work. In the image you will notice that there is a key hole on the lever. If you lock the lever in place, a burglar who has entered through another opening wil not be able to open this door and escape with all the stuff he is carrying. However, in the event of a fire, you must be sure where your keys are. There are versions that do not have this locking handle that still conform to BS3621.

Part 2 – coming soon, will be Euro Cylinders & Part 3 Mortice locks.

Should you have any questions regarding the locks above, please get in touch through my contacts page.

Thanks for reading.

admin December 2, 2015

Different locks explained / Which lock? /

Choosing the right locks

This time of year, as the dreary rain seems to go on for ever, is when locks really start to fail. Moisture builds up either direct from the rain, or through condensation caused by warm temperatures inside and cold temperatures outside.

But replacing them is not always as straight forward as you may think.

When buying anything from food to the latest phone, you have a wealth of information and often, experience to help you choose the product that is best for the job. With food, you might know that your children only like one brand of sausages, for example, and with the new mobile phone, you might be better with an android over a windows or iphone.

We even change our cars more often than we change our locks, it would seem, and research thoroughly before making that purchase.
But what if we need a new a lock?

The next time you are in a DIY store, have a quick peek in the locks section. The small shops will have brands you have never heard of (often because they are cheap) and the larger chain stores will have more well-known brands, but even then, will be limited to one or two brands, because that brand will give them a better discount for exclusivity. And with no real comparison web-sites, buying your own locks is an almost blind affair.

Even when replacing same brand products, you might find that the new version is a different size to the old version, a bit like mobile phones, that then need you to purchase new size cases or other add-ons.

Locksmiths tend to carry their favourite brands for use in emergencies, but when doing upgrade work, they can advise you on the best product to fit your personal taste and budget. Sometimes replacing a particular type of lock can be really expensive. I come across many older properties in Norfolk that have ‘Horizontal’ locks, where the key-hole and knob are in a horizontal straight line rather than above one another. Most of these are three lever types and not conforming to insurance standards. The five lever replacements are pretty costly and, as the key-hole and knob positions are completely different, wood filler is also a requirement, which then needs painting, making the whole job a lot more than just purchasing the lock and sliding it into position. My usual advice to customers with these old three lever locks, is to leave them in place and have an extra British Standard 3621 lock fitted as am additional piece at a fraction of the cost. This obvious seeming solution never seems to cross the minds of those customers who have needed the upgrade. But only because locks are not something we think much about.

It’s worth making use of your local locksmith, if only to confirm your own ideas. Quite often, though, you may learn something new about home security that could be of great benefit.

My security checks cost nothing more than a friendly chat and perhaps a cup of tea. I will praise your security when it is good and advise you if or where it can be improved upon. I will tell you why certain brands might not be worth having and why the ones I recommend are best. I will even tell you what ones are the best of the rest if the best ones are too expensive.

To arrange a visit or ask about any of the issues raised in this or any of my other blogs, please contact me through any of the ways noted on my contacts page.

If there is any other locksmithing subject you would like me to write about, please do the same.

admin November 18, 2015

Best locks for your property /

Holiday Home Security and Lock Maintenance

Lock maintenance

The summer season is well and truly over as the sky turns grey and the cold, wet weather moves in. If you have a holiday home that you let out during the summer months, now is the perfect time to review the condition of your locks and security.

In my job I see holiday homes catering for all budgets, from basic amenities, to home from home comfort with installed luxuries like internet connection and satellite TV. But no matter what the level you are offering, it is always embarrassing when your customer’s holiday is set back by problems with the locks, and they find themselves locked out (or in some cases, locked in) because the locks have not been maintained properly.

Most property service companies are reactionary, so even though the problem will be resolved, it can still lead to you having to refund a customer and can even mean you have to cancel bookings, which has the knock on effect of possibly losing you recommendation business in the future. While maintenance is not an absolute guarantee that nothing will go wrong, you can at least rest in the knowledge you have done all you can to give your customers a hassle free holiday, and you not wasting time chasing property managers to get the job done.

Holiday homes with multi-point locking systems on their doors are probably the most likely to create problems, particularly if they are near the sea. Moisture creates rust, especially when these mechanisms are set into wooden doors and customers slam doors or leave them open to blow in the wind. These doors should have a service at least once a year, but preferably at the start and end of high season.

Yale locks seem to cause no end of problems with people managing to deadlock the door while it is open and then slam the door, effectively locking them in unless someone unlocks the door from the outside. Standard Yale type locks should be replaced with BSI3621 models to avoid this and other problems.

Mortice locks can throw up a problem where a part inside slips and it becomes impossible to insert the key. These locks should be checked by removing from the door and checking the tightness of the screws as wooden door expansion and contraction can loosen these screws.

These are just some of the problems to be avoided. There are many more. But the good news is that you can guard against all this for free. The cost of routine maintenance carried out by a professional locksmith is a business expense and therefore can be claimed as part of your expenses when submitting tax returns, effectively making the work free.

AC Locksmiths is ready to take on regular contract work to maintain the locks of your holiday home. I can liaise with your letting company to coincide maintenance with changeover periods and help prevent the problem that can mean your customers demand their money back. Should you require any more information on the above subjects, please contact via any of the methods listed on the contacts page.

Thanks for reading.

admin October 22, 2015

Holiday home security / Home maintenance / Lock maintenance / Rented property /

Keys & security

Do you have your front door key on the same keyring as your car key?

Does your car have an inbuilt sat-nav or do you hide your sat-nav in the glove compartment?

If so, you could be seriously compromising your home security.

Keys & security

Most of us set a home destination into our sat-navs. Some keep a record of your journeys. This means if someone steals or finds your keys, they could have all the information they need to find out where you live along with the keys to enter your home easily and take what they want. Even if you use your mobile phone as a sat-nav, all that needs to happen is for your bag to go missing with your keys and phone in it, and they have all the info they need once they have hacked your password.

So how do we protect ourselves?
For a start, never save your home address in your sat-nav. Use an address a couple of roads away. You should be able to find your way for the last bit of your journey. Try to keep door keys and car keys separate. This may be a hassle, but could save you from burglary. Keep your phone and anything else that holds personal information away from your keys. Not only does keeping your phone out of your bag/case make you safer, it has the added bonus of making you easier to contact as you are more likely to hear it ring. Yes, your phone might be more exposed, but better your phone than the irreplaceable things like Grandad’s war medals, or a young one’s christening bracelet (two items stolen from a recent burglary victim I spoke to).
If you would like any more information about the above issues then please feel free to contact me via my the ways listed on my contacts page.

Thanks for reading.

admin September 24, 2015

Keys & security / Sat Nav risk /

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

admin August 13, 2015

Checking your locks / saving money /

Double Glazed Doors & Heat

The heat is on!

There have been some very hot days recently, and the direct sunlight on many UPVC doors is keeping me busy. I have already mentioned in previous blogs that the sun has an effect on these doors, warping them and causing problems. If this sounds like a problem you are having, do not force the door handles up or down as this could break the internal mechanism.

If you can use another door, do so for the rest of the day. One customer of mine thought his door was completely stuck in the morning when the sun was shining straight on it. I was busy all day and could not get to him until the evening, at which point the door had cooled and was working fine again. So if you can, wait until the door has had some shade, or evening has come around, and then try the door again – it may save you a locksmith fee.

If your door is still causing problems when it cools down, call your local locksmith before putting too much pressure on the handles. Usually your locksmith can rectify the problem by adjusting the door hinges, or other parts of the door to make it all operational again.

Please remember that this problem can re-occur, though and you may need to call your locksmith out again, especially if it gets really hot.

If you have any questions regarding the information above, please use any of the methods on my contacts page.

Thanks for reading

admin July 14, 2015

Double Glazed Doors in the Heat / UPVC door repair /

When do you need a locksmith?

I am writing this piece in light of a recent job I attended. I travelled around 40 minutes to a job which was a problem with a double glazed door that was not locking. When I got there, I had fixed the problem before the customer finished explaining it to me. All that had happened was that a screw had come loose, and the part that the latch goes into on the door frame was at a slight angle, meaning the latch was going out all the way when the door was closed. In some upvc door mechanisms, this stops the door from locking. It took seconds to fix. Because I was sub-contracting to a national company, the customer had to pay the full cost, which with VAT was over £100.

So, I decided to put together a little check list and fix it yourself solution piece so you can save yourself some money if your mechanism goes wrong:

Fix your locks

The first thing to check is that your locking mechanism works. This is the easy bit. Open the door and lift the handles. Turn the key to lock it. If all goes smoothly, then the problem is not with the mechanism. Repeat this a few times to be sure. If it is hard to lift the handles or the key does not turn easily, look to see if there is any sign of rust or dirt build up, especially near the bottom. If so, then give it a clean, squirt some oil into every part you can and try again. If you are still having problems at this point, call a locksmith.
Supposing the mechanism is working fine, your next task is to check the door has not dropped, or warped in sunlight. With the handles pulled down, slowly close the door. You will see and feel if the door is rubbing against the frame anywhere. If it is, then it is possible that you can adjust the door. Most modern upvc door have hinges that can be adjusted. Look for small plastic caps on the hinges. If you remove these, they should reveal a place to insert an allen key. Turn the key one half turn in one direction with the door open. You should see door move one way or the other slightly. Try to close the door. If it catches more, turn the allen key back to its original position and then another half turn the other way. This should make it easier. Repeat this process until the door closes without rubbing against the door frame. Remember, if you are moving the bottom of the door one way, you may need to move the top of the door the other way to make it straight. And only do half turns each time. This can be a tricky process, so unless you feel confident, call a locksmith to do this for you. On older upvc doors that are pinned through the hinges, you might notice that the hinges are bent. This is a job for the professional – possibly a upvc repair engineer would be your best bet, although some locksmiths do undertake this work as well.
So now we have a door that closes without catching on the frame, but still will not lock. In most cases, there is something to adjust. If the door has sliding rollers, you will see they have slots for allen keys. You can rotate these to make a slight difference. Only turn a quarter turn before testing to see if it makes a difference and do this for the complete circle to find out which position is best.
For hooks, bolts and latches, the adjustment is with the keeps on the door frame itself. There is usually something you can turn with either a screw driver or allen to help the moving part of the mechanism fit better. Here it is trial and error until you get the feel of what helps where.
If the door is still not locking after you have fiddled and adjusted, always taking note of original positions, it might be time to get creative. This is the point where you need to remove the keeps from the door frame, one by one to see which one is causing the problem. Every time you take one off, try the door until it locks. If your luck is like mine sometimes, you will them all off before you find the culprit. Replacing the offending keep a few millimetres lower usually solves the problem. Put the remaining keeps back one at a time and test the door with each replacement just in case one or more of the others is also causing a problem.

If none of these measures rectifies your problem, or you are not comfortable with carrying out the tasks, then call your local locksmith. There are still things that could potentially be causing the problem, but hopefully by the time you get to this, you will know you have done all you can to save yourself paying out money needlessly.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please get in touch via any of the methods on my contacts page.

Thanks for reading.

admin June 18, 2015

Door lock checklist /

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Different locks explained Part 4

Different Locks explained Part 3

This section of Locks Explained looks at the Euro Cylinder:

Different Locks Explained Part 2

The mortice lock (sometimes spelt mortise) and often referred to as a ‘Chubb’ lock.

Different Locks Explained

There are many different types of lock, some are insurance standard – some are not. In my blog I want to look at the pros and cons of the different locks. Part one is the Nightlatch lock.

1. The Nightlatch:

This is the next level of nightlatch:

Finally, the BS3621 Nightlatch:

Choosing the right locks

We even change our cars more often than we change our locks, it would seem, and research thoroughly before making that purchase.
But what if we need a new a lock?

Holiday Home Security and Lock Maintenance

Lock maintenance

The summer season is well and truly over as the sky turns grey and the cold, wet weather moves in. If you have a holiday home that you let out during the summer months, now is the perfect time to review the condition of your locks and security.

Keys & security

Keys & security

When do you need a locksmith?

When do you need a locksmith?

Double Glazed Doors & Heat

When do you need a locksmith?

So, I decided to put together a little check list and fix it yourself solution piece so you can save yourself some money if your mechanism goes wrong:

Fix your locks

Call AC Locksmiths on 07846643176

No call out charges.

This section of Locks Explained looks at the Euro Cylinder:

The mortice lock (sometimes spelt mortise) and often referred to as a ‘Chubb’ lock.

There are many different types of lock, some are insurance standard – some are not. In my blog I want to look at the pros and cons of the different locks. Part one is the Nightlatch lock.1. The Nightlatch:

This is the next level of nightlatch:

Finally, the BS3621 Nightlatch:

We even change our cars more often than we change our locks, it would seem, and research thoroughly before making that purchase.But what if we need a new a lock?

Lock maintenanceThe summer season is well and truly over as the sky turns grey and the cold, wet weather moves in. If you have a holiday home that you let out during the summer months, now is the perfect time to review the condition of your locks and security.

Keys & security

When do you need a locksmith?

So, I decided to put together a little check list and fix it yourself solution piece so you can save yourself some money if your mechanism goes wrong:Fix your locks

Call AC Locksmiths on 07846643176

No call out charges.

There are many different types of lock, some are insurance standard – some are not. In my blog I want to look at the pros and cons of the different locks. Part one is the Nightlatch lock.

1. The Nightlatch:

We even change our cars more often than we change our locks, it would seem, and research thoroughly before making that purchase.
But what if we need a new a lock?

Lock maintenance

The summer season is well and truly over as the sky turns grey and the cold, wet weather moves in. If you have a holiday home that you let out during the summer months, now is the perfect time to review the condition of your locks and security.

So, I decided to put together a little check list and fix it yourself solution piece so you can save yourself some money if your mechanism goes wrong:

Fix your locks