Ask the Locksmith
Helping people protect their homes and businesses is our line of work.
Please contact us with any technical question you would like to get an answer on. We will be more than happy to help you out and have our professional licensed locksmith answer any question you may have, as soon as possible via e-mail. We may post your question with our Locksmith’s answer on this page for future reference.
Please ask us by using the following e-mail link: askus@locksontheweb.com.
The following are few things you should know:
You have security with a door lock only when you can account for every key. If you are buying an existing home or business, pay for a qualified Locksmith to change the locks and establish good key control.
Key-in-the knob locksets offer virtually NO security. If your premises are equipped with these, they should be replaced.
When looking for adequate safety measures for home, we keep in mind the need to discourage burglars. Locks, windows and doors are your first line of home or business security.
The market now has a vast variety of security door locks to choose from. A good quality deadbolt lock with 1” bolt and 3” reinforcing screws installed on all entry doors will be a good place to start. A digital security door lock where you need to punch in a combination of numbers to open the lock or a fingerprint biometric lock is also an option. When choosing a combination door lock, you will have to decide between an electronic lock and a mechanical lock. The mechanical combination lock comes with wide variety of form, function, and value, while the electronic combination lock can be programmed with multiple user codes via the keypad.
It is good to know that the majority of burglaries are committed during the day when most people are at work, when the burglar does not run into anyone. To prevent a burglary, you need to secure your back door and the garage door, which are the easiest to break-into. Some burglars will not even bother to try and break-in with a screwdriver. It may be easier for them to kick the door open because strike plates are usually installed with half-inch screws instead of 3-inch screws or the deadbolt throw is less than an inch long.
If you have a sliding glass door that is being used on a regular basis, keep in mind that the latching mechanism may face a significant amount of use and therefore will not latch properly. The aluminum latches can become worn or lose adjustment. A wood or metal blocking device will keep the door from being pried open. Keeping the door rollers adjusted and in good condition plus the installation of a pin that extends through both the sliding and the fixed portion of the door will keep a burglar from lifting the door out of the frame.
Do NOT leave an extra key outside hidden to let the kids in. a planter box or under a rock will be the first place a burglar will look. It is much safer to leave keys with a neighbor.
A master key system is a key system that is designed to open a lock with an individual key as well as with a “master key”. The “master key” is used by managers, maintenance workers etc.
Master key systems are usually used in apartment buildings, commercial, industrial and educational facilities.
When you stand on the exterior side of the door facing it, if the hinges are on the right side, it is a right-hand (RH) door, if the hinges are on the left side, it is a left-hand (LH) door.
No, in most cases you don’t. You can call a Locksmith and have him remove the broken key. The Locksmith can than make you a new key for the lock.
A backset describes the distance from the faceplate of the lock or latch to the center of the spindle that passes through the latch or lock. Please note it is NOT the length of the latch or lock.