Category: Blog
-
Key Safes Leave Your Property Vulnerable.
I just got back from rekeying a mansion that I rekeyed a few years ago. The reason they paid me over $300 to rekey again so soon is because contractors left a “key safe” hanging on a doorknob at the side of the house in an alleyway, and somebody came along with some boltcutters and…
-
High Security SFIC Cores For Sale
I just got my first batch of SFIC interchangeable cores from CX5. These have a sidebar to make drilling and picking your locks more difficult. That makes them harder to bypass than a conventional SFIC cylinder. They also use a restricted keyway so you don’t have to worry about unauthorized duplications. Give me a call…
-
My Baldwin Thumblatch Won’t Open My Door Anymore
UPDATE: I made a video illustrating how to fix this problem yourself if your lock is not covered by Baldwin’s lifetime warranty or you don’t care about it. This weekend three separate customers called about their Baldwin locks not working from the outside (though in two of the cases, they worked from the inside). In…
-
Take a Picture of Your Key for Safe-Keeping (Just Don’t Post it on Facebook)
Sometimes people are shocked to find out that they can have a lost key replaced simply by having somebody who still has the key send a picture of it in text message to me. If the code isn’t stamped on the key, the code cuts of the key can still be decoded. I accomplish this…
-
Login Attempts by Hackers
For some reason people in the former USSR are really interested in getting into this website. Somebody from Moldova even got locked out 50 times, meaning they must have tried at least 100 login and password combinations. I don’t know why these people want to bother with this website, but the following is a list…
-
Dress Up Your Fence’s Gate
Every once in a while I go to a job and find an old mortise lock that for whatever reason the customer does not want anymore, usually because it has malfunctioned. Some people like having a modern-looking lock. If they hired me to open their door because their lock malfunctioned some people elect to replace…
-
Your Car’s Security and Difficulty in Replacing a Lost Key
There are a few ways to make a key for a vehicle if you have lost all of the working keys. Usually this relies on accessing the car’s computer through its ODB2 port. If there is a leak in your moonroof and you lost the keys to your car, don’t put it off. Give me…
-
A Worn Out Lock
Guess which of the three little pins in this picture is new. The customer showed me that she had to pull her key out a little to turn the lock on the front door of the historic building she lived in, a Seattle landmark from 1910 (these old buildings are a playground for locksmiths who…
-
When I Turn My Doorknob, Nothing Happens
Do you have a doorknob that despite being unlocked won’t open the door? You checked to make sure the deadbolt wasn’t obstructing the door and pulled really hard, and looked and you can see that the latch is sticking out from the door and into the door frame? You have a broken latch, my friend.…