Locksmiths
 

Okie dokie, on a train back from Durham on Sunday I managed to lose my housekeys. Bugger. I've got a spare set, but no garage keys, so can't get in to the SV.

Not a problem - my housemate was due back up from Bedford yesterday, called him and asked him to get me a new garage key cut when he got back up here. Not a problem says he.

Got a phonecall from when he's on his way back, and he says we've got a bit of a problem. His the rear pocket of his backpack has somehow come undone somewhere along his travels and he's lost a load of stuff from his bag. Including his housekeys.

So I called the lettings agent, sure thing, they say, we've got a spare set, £25 deposit and you can borrow them for a day or two to get new ones cut. My housemate goes and picks them up, but the local key-cutting place is closing by this time, so just goes home with them. I get back from work and ask for the keys so I can get into the garage, and lo and behold, the garage key that's been supplied doesn't fit.

Called them again today and asked if the landlord of the property has another set, and they said no - they have the main set of them. Excellent.

SO! I now have to get a locksmith out to get into me own garage. Anyone got any idea how much this is likely to cost? Or is anyone who's adept at picking yale locks local so I can get into the garage, check out the lock and maybe replace it myself?

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is it the main garage door lock or is it a side door?

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Could be worth giving a locksmith a call to find out what the protocol is and what sort of cost it's likely to incur? It might not be that bad... prolly cheaper than paying for any damage you make whilst trying to get in?

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Just a thought, but a lot of older garages have a wooden panel at the very top. Our old garage had a wooden fascia. All it took was aclaw hammer to gently prise the panel away. Low and behold, we were able to quite simply just grab the cable and open the garage.

Luckily, the guy who did it was sensible enough to realise that nails holding the fascia in place would not be a great security measure.....as we had got inside in seconds. So proceeded to screw it back into position with many screws. These then had the heads ground down, thus making it secure again.

Just a thought.

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Garage door is basically one of these:
http://www.garagedoorwarehouse.com/_...ian_Primed.jpg

Although the lock's a bit different. It's a 2 part lock - the barrel is just set into the door of the garage, and underneath that there's a plastic knob (teehee) that you turn to open it.

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In that case, ignore my method, as don't believe its the same type of garage. IE, no removal fascia at the top.

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well now it the perfect time to try the 'key bumping' i brought up in a previous thread lol.

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Debating this already. Unfortunately the metal files needed to make a bump key are inside the garage... :rolleyes:

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lol oh dear. Pop to b&q for on on your bi............. doh!

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most locks can be picked quite easily and a new barrel fitted, use a small local firm not a big company as all they are interested in doing is to rip the old one out and change you a fortune.

Best of luck

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if its a single catch at the bottom then insert a credit card or 'fish slice' if the ones at the side, then your stuck. or keep rotating the handle on the lock while you run a suable needle/wire (paper clip) up and down inside the lock to level the pins. the pins should catch at their level after a wee while and let you rotate the lock. you must keep pressure on the handle while doing this.

once you have got the door open then take barrel out of lock and take to locksmiths.

or spend the cash and get a locksmith out.

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Just borrow a drill and drill the barrell of the lock out and replace the barrel. Should only cost you a few quid for a new barrel too.

Your average front door yale lock barrel cost about £7 from Wickes or B&Q so i'd imagine the smaller barrel on this will cost about the same.

be a good idea to source a new barrel first of course otherwise you drill it and anyone can open it and get in.

Re: Locksmiths
 

I'm debating having a go at the lock tonight. Didn't want to do it last night until I'd checked with the lettings agent that the landlord didn't have a spare one. If that fails, locksmith it is - I don't want to drill it out as there are going to be three bikes in there, along with a load of tools and a shopping trolley that I'm quite sentimental about. I'd hate to have any of them go missing!

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I can almost assure you that the locksmith will drill it and replace the barrel mate. Very few will just slip it and get you in. A locksmith i know told me why.

"if i slip a lock in like 2 seconds would you pay me £75 call out and £30 for the replacement barrel?"

He routinely drills em and takes his time too so the customer feels they are getting value for money. He also buys job lots of drill bits and has admitted to using bits for wood on locks in front of difficult customers who complain about the costs. Why? he knows they will break and to the moany customer it looks like it was a big job, so tough in fact it broke 3 drill bits before the 4th one (the metal drill bit) managed to do the job.

Stupid eh? But it seems customers dont like to pay for peoples time and skill anymore they assume all that comes for free and will pay if they feel "work" has been done.

Good luck anyway and i'd be interested in hearing what the locksmith does.

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Well, first things first, I'm going to have a go at picking the lock myself. I can do small padlocks , but haven't tried on a yale lock, or with anything with more than 4-5 pins, really.

Being honest, though if I couldn't do it and a locksmith came out, got it open in 2 seconds and then replaced the barrel, and then charged me, for instance, a £30 minimum charge (found a local one saying hourly rates are £45 with no callout fee) and £15 for a new barrel, with the entire thing taking no more than 10 minutes, I'd quite happily pay it. At the end of the day, the guy has a skill that I don't and has done something I couldn't, and I'm quite happy to pay for that.

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I have an up and over garage door. It was easily broken into with a pair of long screwdrivers (the blocking plates are very short) to release the tabs on either side at the top. They did no damage and only left the slightest mark as a tell-tale. Had I known it would be that easy to get in I might still be in possesion of my other 2 motorcycles :(

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I'd go with Spidey and drill out the lock. Have done it loads of times to loads of locks when the missus has lost her keys etc. Make sure you have a bit small enough to get inside the barrel to drill out all the plungers and then just turn the lock with a screwdriver. With a decent metal bit it should take about 30 seconds max. If you do screw up, then you can always ring a locksmith....nothing ventured, nothing gained.

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Drill it out is the way to go, also done it lots of times when tenants dont hand the keys back. Bit of a dab hand at it now and takes me around ten minutes to drill out and replace the barrel. There are lots of different sizes though so do it at a time when you can measure it then go get the correct size.

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Like the others say, why pay the lock smith so much when you can just drill the lock out and replace it yourself alot cheaper :-)

Get the correct barrel first, then a decent drill bit, a cobalt one from screwfix if they sell them. B&Q own screwfix, yet its nearly always cheaper there.

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Lol random

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:-?

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Would this technique work on the little lock on a interior house window lock? The idiots who lived here before clearly lost the key and so the handle is stuck locked into 'open'.

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I had this situation a wee while ago. Rather than mess about drilling, it was easy (and pretty cheap) to just change the entire handle - they're usually just held on by a couple of screws.

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I'll look at doing that then... it's a double glazed PVC window.

Seems like a cop-out, was looking forward to:
http://campusintel.com/wp-content/up...ockpicking.jpg

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Yeah these were uPVC windows. I got the handles from a local double glazing company who were fitting a new door for me. It cost about £80 to do the whole house. All the keys were lost with half the windows locked open and the other half locked shut.:mad: