Painters are constantly ruining locks. They do this by
- Ruining the lock when trying to remove it from the door without knowing how
- Not reinstalling the lock correctly
- Painting the lock and getting paint inside the lock
- Shutting the door when the paint is still wet, thus effectively gluing the door shut
- Putting thick layers of paint on a door and doorframe making door no longer open and shut easily.
- Not removing locks to paint door so when the lock is replaced or taken off to rekey, the latex paint is ripped from the door or there are areas of the door exposed without paint when the lock is replaced.
- Reinstalling locks in wet paint leaving unsightly marks visible when locks get replaced.
If you are going to paint your door take the locks off first and wait for the paint to dry before reinstalling. You’ll probably be happy you did later on.
Today a customer paid me to come out and fix a lock that would not open from the inside or out. It turned out that the door was sealed shut when the door was closed with wet paint.
