no garage door key

AdrianC

molerat wrote: »

Does the door not open from inside, locks do not usually prevent the inside handle from working.

Assuming it's not the only access to the garage, of course...

Brute force will get you in there in seconds flat. A flatblade screwdriver shoved into the slot will "unlock" it as quickly and easily as the key. Replacing the handle is indeed cheap and easy. These locks are utterly insecure, they really offer a little bit of peace of mind against the casual handle-rattler, and no more.

JencParker

Same happened to us when we bought our house 25 years ago. I still don't have a key to it - have never needed one (garage does have a side entrance). But having read this post, maybe I should think about getting one in case I want to sell and the buyer is worried by it!

jbainbridge

molerat wrote: »

Does the door not open from inside, locks do not usually prevent the inside handle from working.

As above. You've said the garage is accessable from the house - can you not open the door from the inside and test the mechanism that way?

EmmyLou30

I'm sure the OP is just concerned about whether the door actually works as oposed to a £20 lock change. Most up and over doors are operable from the inside by pulling the cord. That's how we open ours so we know we don't forget to lock it when we shut the door afterwards! We do have keys mind you. Try the door on your next viewing, if it doesn't open then knock at least £500 off the offer price to have it replaced.

societys_child

Garage is accessible from the house and there is a side door.

I've never come across a locked (up and over) garage door that couldn't be opened from the inside.

The basic doors normally have a wire that opens the locks when the handle is turned - from inside the garage, simply pull the wire and the locks disengage.

Electrically operated/ remote control doors, ususaly have a button on the control unit - press it, the door opens.

Edit: if the door mechanism is faulty (basic manual up and over) they're very simple to repair.

SailorSam

In my last house the lock on the up-and-over door broke. The door opened Ok but i coudn't lock it. All i did was bought a heavy duty hasp, a scewed that to the driveway and the bottom of the garage door and got a good padlock.

diesel100

EmmyLou30 wrote: »

I'm sure the OP is just concerned about whether the door actually works as oposed to a £20 lock change. Most up and over doors are operable from the inside by pulling the cord. That's how we open ours so we know we don't forget to lock it when we shut the door afterwards! We do have keys mind you. Try the door on your next viewing, if it doesn't open then knock at least £500 off the offer price to have it replaced.

yes spot on....I have asked vendor a few times but now they concede they have no key; but still wont let me try open the door. will ask the surveyor to check this out

chickens11

I expect the garage is full of cr*p and they dont want the hassle of paying to get rid of it.................
.( was shegar)

Mrs_pbradley936

On our door we open it by rotating a latch in the middle of the door like this one:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=up+and+over+garage+door+machanism&FORM=HDRSC2&id=089BBB319B86C7177238F29A2D3E33A2828E1643&selectedIndex=0#view=detail&id=089BBB319B86C7177238F29A2D3E33A2828E1643&selectedIndex=0

AdrianC

diesel100 wrote: »

I have asked vendor a few times but now they concede they have no key; but still wont let me try open the door.

Can you confirm or deny that there is other access to the garage, please, because I'm bloody confused!

If there isn't any other access, then there could be just about anything in there, from a pit of crocodiles to decomposing corpses to long-forgotten gold bars.

If there is other access, then the most likely thing they're hiding can be that the door falls off the runners if you try to open it.