Great Advice on Locks, Keys and Safes

Posted on: 10 November 2017

Entrance door locks are essential elements in the security of your home. Unfortunately, numerous homeowners do not check or maintain their locking components on a regular basis. Moreover, there are only a few homes in which locks are replaced before complete failure. This lack of care and diligence compromises the safety of the residents and exposes the house to burglaries. If you are uncertain whether it is time to change your residential locks, you should consider the below-outlined circumstances which necessitate an immediate replacement.

Damaged or Old Locks

If your locks are damaged, you should think about installing replacements. Often, entrance door locks become degraded due to the wear and tear of usage and occasional tinkering. You should check the feature for scratches around the keyhole and general corrosion. These signs indicate that the interior components could also be worn. Also, dents on the external surface could be the evidence of past mechanical impact which could have compromised the locking mechanism. Additionally, if your lock is just plain old, you should plan for replacement. Old locking products are simpler to pick or break. 

Lost or Misplaced Keys

You should think about replacing your house locks if you have lost or misplaced a copy of your keys. Most people choose to retain their old locks after such an incident because they assume the keys are still inside their house. Moreover, it always seems that the likelihood of the keys falling into the wrong hands is low. However, you should not play probability with the safety of your family or the security of your assets. Replace the locks in case the worst happens. If your locks are relatively new and you cannot bear the cost of replacement, you should ask your locksmith to rekey. 

Tenant or Employee Move-Out

If you had a tenant or an employee living in your home, you most likely gave them a copy of your entrance door keys for convenience. When they move out, you should make sure that you have the lock replaced or at least rekeyed. You should not assume that all is well with your home just because you trusted them in the past. Even if they left while on good terms with you, you could not comprehend their future circumstances. Desperation or old grudges can cause your old companions to infiltrate your house and wreak havoc. 

Finally, if your house suffered a break-in or an attempted illegal infiltration, you should call a 24 hour locksmith for immediate reinforcement of your entrance door security.