Outdoor key boxes

Mojisola

Do people have the boxes in an obvious place, ie right beside the front door? Some people advise putting them somewhere "discreet".
If we put by the front door, it will on display to anyone who goes past but I'm sure if someone was hanging around my parents' front door trying different combinations, it wouldn't be long before one of the neighbours noticed. If we placed it out of sight in the alley between the houses, someone could hang around for hours trying the buttons without being noticed.

Savvy_Sue

I'd go for as light a position as possible! Not the alley ...

I say this because we have one for access to part of our work site. It's a bit fiddly and it's dark at this time of year and we get lots of complaints about it!

Hard to see what you are doing in the dark. If there's a light outside their front door, consider siting it where the light falls.

We usually go for a number everyone will know. 1492 for example. "In 14 hundred and 92 ..." Although we've had some new internal locks fitted and within a week I've lost count of the number of people who can't retain a letter, 4 numbers and a letter!

property.advert

Do away with keys and go for fingerprint or retinal scanner ?

floss2

property.advert wrote: »

Do away with keys and go for fingerprint or retinal scanner ?

Probably prohibitive on price for most elderley people and it is likely that some days it will be a different carer who has not been set up on the scanner, so cannot get in, which defeats the object.

mackemdave

I picked up one from Wilkinsons for about £16....Good quality and can be set to a 4 digit code

elsien

My grandmothers is on the door frame quite high up so the idiot carers can't miss it. However it has a black cover and the door frame is painted black so it's hard to spot from a distance.
The other thing to bear in mind is that with my gran's, setting the number is done before the keysafe is screwed to the wall, so you'd have to hoick the whole thing off to change the number. Plus it's a bit small for two keys if you have a double locking system - possible to get them in but it takes a few minutes fiddling.

I have a similar one (due to the number of times I've locked myself out of the house ) and mine is more discreet - low down on the wall of the porch behind a decorative thingy. No use at all to someone with limited mobility though.

babymoo

Contact your local social services, they will be able to fit one for you or get your details passed on to someone who can do it for you. If that fails contact your local volunteer centre or age uk and ask about a local handyvan network. I volunteer at our local centre and we deal with these on a daily basis. They do cost a bit but it varies, its much cheaper if you can get the SS to refer you.

martyn05

They are a good idea, like said above put it somewhere discreet but plenty of light. If SS will not fit one for you then you can get them from B&Q (about £29 i think), you just need someone with a drill to fit it, they are easy to do. Do not put lots of keys in there, just put 1 to the main door. Lots of keys can foul the mechanism.

nigem

We have a Masterlock with push buttons and my Mums has a masterlock with combination padlock type wheels. Amazon sell them for about £20 to £30. Best put where you can see to use them, as its fiddly if you dont have a torch.
Both work well but I marginally prefer the wheels type as easier with 1 hand if you forget a torch or mobile phone.
They are excellent for all sorts of times, not just for carers. Ours is by the garage door and sons use it to put motorbikes away too.

PasturesNew

We had a lifeline fitted last week including the box outside. We paid for it all to be fitted, but they turned up with it and fitted it when they put the lifeline thing in...no idea how much the keysafe bit cost on its own though.