how much for a locksmith

greyheid

anyone know how much it will be for a locksmith the open a front door and renew a yale and mortice lock.my mate is coming home from holiday tomorrow but he cant find his keys to get into his house

GaryS

When the keys were lost to my place, they were covered on the house insurance.

bookduck

if your friend has a spare set indoors, then get to locksmith to pick the lock.

6-ish years ago my friend lost her keys. The locksmith from the yellow pages came around and drilled the lock out (opening the door) for £160, then she had to purchase a new lock, and get him to fit it and make spare keys, which came to nearly £300.

Picking the lock would have been the same cost and a few quid for the keys to be cut, so ask if they pick locks or drill them.

If your mate has any savvy and is of a yale type, he might be able to pick up a cordless drill + good bits from b&q for £50

silvercar

Depends what part of the country you are in. I recently paid £80 call out plus costs of replacement parts.

Pyewacket338

Drilling out the Yale is easy..... it's the mortice lock that'll be the problem!
I locked myself out a while ago, luckily I had spare keys inside so just needed to jemmy open a window, I squeezed myself through a 10"x10" pantry window, which just shows how bad the security was on my house.
I'd rather kick my door in and repair the damage to the door frame than pay £300 for a locksmith (providing it's a wooden frame of course)

nickj_2

if he has a spare set of keys inside the house it would be cheaper to smash a window and climb in and replace that rather than spend £100s on new locks etc

PasturesNew

There was a Rogue Traders programme on this in the last 2-3 weeks. A proper locksmith will be able to pick the lock in about 20 seconds. Only cowboys drill in their world.

totalsolutions

You have gone back to locksmiths again -- Drill it out, easy D-I-Y. You could try with a thin (1cm) wide plastic strip through the letter box, used to secure large packing crates, look around the street and find a bit discarded.

david_proctor_2

bookduck wrote: »

if your friend has a spare set indoors, then get to locksmith to pick the lock.

6-ish years ago my friend lost her keys. The locksmith from the yellow pages came around and drilled the lock out (opening the door) for £160, then she had to purchase a new lock, and get him to fit it and make spare keys, which came to nearly £300.

Picking the lock would have been the same cost and a few quid for the keys to be cut, so ask if they pick locks or drill them.

If your mate has any savvy and is of a yale type, he might be able to pick up a cordless drill + good bits from b&q for £50

From David Proctor...RE: Cowboy Locksmiths...

We have several properties which we rent to students. Last year we found that one of the "3 lever" bedroom door locks had been changed... the tenants had left and gone home (abroad).... and the door was locked... with no key to be found. None of my "large" range of keys worked. Although I have a better than average knowledge of locks and a tool kit to takle most building jobs .. I did "NOT" have my set of lock picks with me ... so.... I called a few local "locksmiths" listed in the Yellow Pages. I made a point of stating I wanted the lock "Picked" and NOT drilled.... can you do that ..?? some said No ..!! we only drill .... some just hung up ...!! and a few became abusive in so far as "are you a "F***ing" locksmith then.... No was my reply ... but ... I do know what I am about ... they too hung up... after a few more choice words. Having tried "8" listings I gave up phoning and sorted the job myself.... My experience was.... it is a long hard slog to find a "real" locksmith via "Yellow Pages" etc,, regards David.

PT66

totalsolutions wrote: »

You have gone back to locksmiths again -- Drill it out, easy D-I-Y. You could try with a thin (1cm) wide plastic strip through the letter box, used to secure large packing crates, look around the street and find a bit discarded.

Lets hope there are no burglars reading this thread!

Locknut

Firstly I guess I should say Hi and also apoligise for dragging this old thread up but after a google search for something else I felt compeled to comment.

If you are locked out of your house then I would suggest calling an ICL (Institute of certified locksmiths) member we have a policy that if we drill your lock to get you in we will give you a like for like lock free of charge saving you money.

And for a rough guide to price if you pay anything more than £40-£100 depending on what part of the country your in your being ripped off.

for a locksmith goto http://theinstituteofcertifiedlocksmiths.org/findalocksmith.htm

Many thanks

Jon