Surveyor let himself into my flat and bedroom while i was sleeping, as agent forgot to tell me apt

housebuyer143

AskAsk said:

Shelldean said:

Section62 said:

AskAsk said:

Section62 said:

Sapindus said:

AskAsk said:

pumas said:

Door chains should only be used on opening the door, to see who is there. (Fire) hazard if trying to escape quickly.

i always lock the yale lock when i go to sleep so that no one can enter with a key.

I leave the key in the lock (non-Yale) so no-one could use a key and I could unlock it quickly if I needed to get out, but then my neighbour put the frighteners on me saying someone had burgled their house by reaching in the letterbox and taking the key out.  So now I leave the chain on as well.  Can undo it in a second. 

A friend locked herself out when she left a spare key in the inside end of a euro lock so the key she had with her wouldn't work on the outside.  The expensive locksmith spent a few seconds opening the door using a very simple tool (I've since made one for myself).

Some learning points -

1) Don't leave a key in the lock inside of a front-door - if you forget (or the door slams behind you) you can be locked out even if you have a key with you.

2) You don't need a key to quickly and quietly unlock a door unless there is some form of internal deadlocking being used.

3) Avoid locking yourself out on a Sunday afternoon.

some doors don't self lock when you are on the outside and you have to use your key to lock it, so if the key is on the inside, you wouldn't be able to lock the door from the outside.

But relatively unusual for a front door to not have some kind of mechanism (e.g. split spindle) which makes it impossible to open the door from outside without the use of a key.

My front door only locks from outside with the key. Or inside via the latch.
If I take the rubbish out and it slams shut I just push it open again.
Whereas my last house had that happened I'd have been locked out.

Daughter's front door is the same  won't lock if slams behind you, but her has a keyhole on the inside as well so can lock from inside. And even if a key is in the lock inside you can still use a keys to get in...... Took a while to get my head round the doors not locking when slammed tbh

i have across a few properties where the door won't lock when slammed close but you would need a key to lock it.  i think this is better as it means you can't be locked out by accident.

I thought his was common place? All houses I have lived in have locks like this. You can't lock yourself out by the door slamming shut. 

 I got a new door and it was suggested we have a thumb turn lock (the ones that lock themselves and don't use a key inside), but I have a child and there is nothing to prevent them just turning it and walking out the house. They are not secure in my opinion in this way so I opted for one that needs the key to lock inside again.