A little bit of deadlock maintenance can go a long way to saving yourself from getting locked out – something a new client found out the hard way this week in Epping. Our new client had not lost her keys but her deadlock had “failed” and she was unable to access her house.
A quick inspection of the deadlock revealed the cause. The face-plate of the deadlock had come loose allowing the barrel to move when the key was turned. Often there is a period where though the barrel slips, you can still turn it enough to get inside. Our client had been ignoring the problem hoping someone else would eventually fix it. Someone else did eventually, but regrettably it was us.
Our new Epping client mentioned she hoped the landlord would cover the cost of the callout… but I don’t think this is likely. She had been aware of the problem for some time and did not report it. Unlikely the landlord would now see themselves as being responsible for a locksmith callout that could have been avoided if someone had reported the problem earlier.
Some tips for a slipping deadlock barrel.
- Assuming you can still open the door? Fix it now. Don’t wait till it’s too late.
- Often all that is required is a small Philips head screw driver. You will be able to tighten the barrel either by simply tightening the screws on the deadlock face-plate.( accessible when the door is open) or in some cases, you will need to remove the face-plate and re-seat the barrel if its worked its way too far out.
- Some security doors come with a face-plate that can only be accessed with a special tool. If that is the case with yours… don’t try opening it if you don’t have the tool…. You’ll just damage it. Contact the security door company, or call us, we can help.
- Don’t assume if something goes wrong it’s the landlords responsibility to reimburse you. Landlords don’t have a responsibility to reimburse costs caused by lack of diligence in reporting such problems. In any case? It might be better to simply secure the faceplate yourself if you can and avoid a landlord looking for reasons to up your rent?
