Locksmithing and Security

One of the commonest calls is, “My latch key turns a little bit but then stops.”

If it’s a Yale latch lock and it’s on the right-hand side of the door, then a loose snib might just have fallen down when the door was slammed shut. (The snib is the tiny button or lever that holds the bolt open or closed. A dropping snib on an ERA on the other-hand, is only going to lock you out if it’s on the left-hand side of the door. (These handings are as if you’re standing outside.)

Another possiblity for any lock with a snib is that there’s a huge gap between the door and the frame; and you left the lock snibbed yet managed to slam it shut.

One, more disturbing possibility you should bear in mind however, is that if a thief has broken in through a window or throught the back door, (s)he will usually snib the front door’s latch so as to get some warning if you return.

So, enter the premises cautiously. Send the dog in first.

If you’re choosing a latch lock, some can be snibbed open or closed, but some can only be snibbed open (also known as a hold-back).

I’ve said it before (I think) but I’ll say it again…

I would avoid bi-fold, i.e. concertina doors. They seem attractice for nice days. Lots of light coming into the kitchen-dining room. A garden and a kitchen that are almost one.

However, unless they are of the highest quality and very expensive, they tend to go wrong. Either they are on tracks, which will tend to sieze up; or they all hang off one poor set of hinges which are never strong enough. All doors move with the seasons and the chances that the bolt holes and keeps will line up with their bolts for a long lifetime are poor. Many lunatic manufacturers put a lock near a closing hinge such that if you forget and leave the key in and then open to door, the key gets broken and the door gets chunks gouged out.

They’re also murder to work on. There’s very little that I could repair. Mostly you have to get the fitters or manufacturers back; and of course, they’ve gone out of business.

And they are difficult as far as insurance is concerned. When most policies are describing what is acceptable in the way of security, it’s usually unclear which category bi-folds or concertinas fit into. So there’s plenty of wriggle room for the insurers to get out of paying your claim. And most of the candidate categories that they might fall into would tend to specify key operated bolts anyway; whereas only about 1 in 5 have key operated bolts.