Locksmiths

[Bibio]

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.

[Spiderman]

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.

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!

[Spiderman]

Originally Posted by Neeja

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!

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.

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.

[CheGuevara]

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

[Nobbylad]

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.

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.

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.

Lol random