Door locked - No key!

Tayus

I have a door in my house that is on the 1st floor that is locked and i dont have a key for it, it a upvc door opening to a juliet (i think thats what its called) balcony.

Any ideas or pointers on how to get it changed cheaply?

phill99

Cheaply means smashing it open with a hammer. Properly means getting a locksmith in.

vaio

drilling the barrel out is the DIY way to go, google will show where to drill

crazycrazy

This happened to a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago. Called the locksmith out who charged him £40 +vat to open the door and supply new lock and keys!
locksmith was there all of 10 minutes. He actually did exactly what i was going to do, had my mate waited till I finished work, in that he snapped the lock but instead of using a hammer like I was going to do he used some hook on tool.

pinkteapot

That price sounds about right. When we moved into our house, the previous owner had lost the patio door keys. The patio door had two separate locks on it. Locksmith charged about £100 (inc VAT) to replace both locks.

yangptangkipperbang

Google "lock bumping" to open that door - then replace all your locks with those that are bump resistant/proof !

GrowingUp

unscrew the handle from the door, pull out the door lock barrel and then push in a new one / rescrew the handle on...

then turn the key and hey presto

martyn05

Most locksmiths practise Non Destructive Entry (NDE) and so he should be able to pick the lock, open the door and remove the euro cylinder for you. He should be able to supply and fit a new euro cylinder for you, but if you wish you can supply your own lock.

Be careful drilling your own lock, if you do not get it exactly right you can cause damage to the gearbox which the lock sits in.

As a locksmith I have been to a few houses where someone has tried to drill the lock themselves and messed it up. If the locksmith messes it up then he/she is responsible for putting it all right.

I would say you are looking at between £50 - £70 to get it all done.