The front door of your home is a special place. A place where people enter, meet and greet. The hardware on that front door is not just a point of security but can be decorative and have a certain style. For some people the traditional key in knob, passage and deadbolt is good enough but for others a gripset is the most ergonomic and attractive choice. There are some factors to consider when choosing the right gripset for the door. You may really like the looks of a specific set but should you buy it? I am going to give you the best advice right here.
How thick is the door? 1 3/4" is the standard. If the door is thicker, then you must know that what you are purchasing will fit the thickness. Know what backset the door is prepped for and are there 2 1/8 bores? More than likely the gripset you are purchasing will require two 2 1/8 bores and somewhere 8 to 10 inches below the bottom bore there will be a smaller hole to accomodate the bottom of the grip handle. Schlage gripsets have an adjustable mounting post to meet an existing hole. Even with a 2 3/8" backset you must check if the deadbolt and any of it's trim will fit between the door edge and any window frame if the door has a window? Can the deadbolt be keyed to your existing key or keying requirements? Is the lock cylinder a brass pin tumbler? It should be! The good old brass pin tumbler is the most reliable and servicable. Sometimes things that seem smart are not really smart. Many finishes to choose from. Oil rub bronze. Pewter. Satin chrome. Brushed nickel. Polished brass. Matte black and so on. I don't think your decision here should be swayed by a "lifetime warranty". Good luck collecting on that one. Factors to consider also include the paint on the door. If you are replacing an existing worn out gripset there will be an outline or impression or paint flakes peeled off. Can the new grip cover the old imperfections? Maybe painting the door first and then installing the new hardware is the best choice. When it comes to the install be prepared to deal with the door frame and how the strike plates align. Weather stripping and hinges also are involved with the whole door swing and latch alignment. Make sure you know before your next move. A locksmith or carpenter might be more helpful and worth considering for the installation.
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I'm glad to be back writing again and hello. At this time of year when the days get darker and the temps are cold I find myself inside with more time to reflect on the year.
There are people out there I am indebted to immensely and want to wish from the bottom of my heart a Merry Christmas season and a great new year. Like the lady that paid for my coffee when I turned my truck off at the drive through or the security guard Murray at the BMO. All the good folks at those lock companies in Waterloo , Guelph and surrounding areas. Customers, cousins and coin collectors. Family, friends and foes. This year of 2017 has been steady and I see 2018 as becoming a promising year for many. Happy New Year to all. So It probably came around in the 1700's when financial institutions were found in populated areas. As I write this I can say that I have never studied the history of banking. I'm sure they were around in ancient times of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Safe deposit boxes have evolved into a small secure compartment that you can rent from your local bank or credit union. They are the most secure and provide the best security for your valuables. If you have rare coins, jewellery, gold, silver, documents sitting around then I highly recommend a safe deposit box. Safe deposit boxes are located in the bank's vault. There is no master key to your box. You are the only person with the key to your specific box. The bank carries a prepatory key which is required for the dual custody presence when opening. But you are the only one with a key. Safe deposit boxes are made of 1/2" plate steel and are secured with a pretty solid cast and brass dual custody lock. My favourite way to open them is to strategically drill and pick it open. With a small repair nothing is damaged. So called professional companies go in with a screw and crowbar causing unnecessary damage. So it is inevitable that people loose their sd key sometimes and the services of a locksmith are required. That's me! I have worked on safe deposit boxes for 25 years and consider myself well knowledged in this field. Over my time I have seen and experienced some interesting moments when it comes to safe deposit boxes and now I share with you some of those.
Once upon a time I was called to open a box and when I opened it and handed the tinslide over to the customer they screamed in horror. Their jewellery was missing and proceeded to call her husband to say the locksmith must of stolen the items with smoke and mirrors I suppose. Turned out the bank had me drill open the wrong box. I remember opening an estate sd box with a lawyer present and a lot of items were documented including hockey cards such as Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe etc. I have opened sd boxes only to find the spare key inside. Or a paper clip. Years ago I refurbished nests of sd boxes and one time in Windsor I was painting the vault after hours. I could hear sirens getting louder and louder so I stepped out of the vault to have a look. In the ATM foyer was the Windsor fire department ready to break in. This had all come about because someone using the ATM called 911 concerned about the paint fumes. As far as I know I have never heard of a theft from a safe deposit box. It would be extremely difficult given the branch protocol and physical barriers. Hollywood movies make it seem possible but in reality a safe deposit box is a sure thing for security. Be sure. Keep it secure. Time delay is an interesting topic. Most retail stores, restaurants and merchants utilize time delay. By adding time delay to your safe, depository or compartment, you are protecting your cash and valuables ten fold. The number one source of theft is from anyone with access. Employees included here. Even if your employees know how to gain access to the safe, time delay can help to thwart them. Now add audit to your lock and sleep well knowing that if theft does occur you will know who and when it happened. The main use of time delay is theft prevention. In a hold up / robbery situation the thief will not wait 15 minutes. And forget about your local bank vault. It won't open until whenever they have set it to. These locks can be set for 144 hours. That's six days! Time delay locks come in various shapes, sizes and features. Deadbolts, levers, slam latch, including dual custody and audit trail. Almost any application of time delay can be added to what you need to secure. Mechanical is just as secure as digital. The one problem to note with time delay is time. You will not be able to access contents quickly. The same goes for the locksmith. When I am on a call dealing with time delay I know I'm going to be a while regardless of how simple the problem is to fix. I've decided to not show pictures of any examples of time delay locks for obvious reasons but if you were considering time delay, give me a call. I will most certainly discuss your time delay requirements. Happy new year to everyone out there and thanks for reading this blog. This is the place where I always try to relay stories and experiences from a locksmiths point of view. And so now it is 2017. Out with the old and in with the new. 2016 went by fast. I thought. I had read somewhere that for a lot of folks, good riddens. Who would have thought we would see Donald Trump be president or that new construction building codes call for 38" doors in public places but that is where we're at. Every year brings on new changes and challenges. So recently I had a chance to help some folks out with getting rid of the old and stepping through the new. The old brown door and frame was from 1956 and was quality built. It was still working but showing signs of rust and rot. Out with the old and in with the new. Here I have replaced the door and frame. This particular job site had a few other door makeovers pictured here. Locksmiths cover a wide array of duties and we wear a few hats. One of them is door replacement. After all you can't have a lock on it without a door.
So if you need a New Year's look on security, locks and doors. An upgrade may be in store. Please give me a call and I will help you get the right solution. Be sure keep it secure! Merry Christmas to all and have a safe and happy new year. I would like to give you something because I care. Advice.
If you play by the rules generally everything takes care of itself. We are very fortunate to live where we do in the world. Almost all of us in our society functions well with one another but be aware of the holiday tricksters and scammers. Use of credit and debit cards are vulnerable always but especially this time of year with Christmas shopping and online activities. It is a shame in my opinion that their are those who think nothing of others. Recently a couple of customers relayed to me a couple of similar stories. It goes like this: I wanted to know how much it would cost to change some of my locks so I called what appeared to be the best locksmith around. He showed up and said it would be a ridiculous price. I told him thanks for the quote but then things became uncomfortable. He demanded money claiming there is no free quote and that he is prepared to do the work. In both my customers cases they felt intimidated. These guys are not really locksmiths. They are hardware salesmen that hussle and intimidate for a living. Maybe we should buy them a mirror for Christmas so they have something to look at in the morning. So my gift to you is advice. Be sure keep it secure. Looking back at this year I do have to say that most everyone that I had dealings with were wonderful and it is great to have a lot of awesome people around. We really do live in a great society. Merry Christmas, Mark Keys, keys and more keys please. We have had keys for centuries. So many types and so many kinds a keyless world would lose our finds.
Lets face it. As much as some would think technology will eliminate things like keys, I would disagree and say we still need them for quite some time yet. Consider the fact that keys have been around for a few thousand years. Also consider that keys have been made of almost anything malleable from wood, steel, aluminum, brass, copper, tin, stone, cast iron, plastic, rope, gold, silver, the list goes on. It is endless when you think about it so it is very well possible to see keys in the future made from other sources such as electricity, gasses, force, quantum particles, cells, light. Who knows. Keys have been around us for so long we just take them for granted. Looking back at this month the theme for me has been all about keys. The first phone call of the month was a key enquiry. An odd double side mailbox key. Next I got approval to install a key lock on a safe. Then off to deal with a master key issue. This month also dealt with high security keys, picking up key blanks and extracting broken keys. Other keys include donkeys, monkeys, turkeys, whiskey, hockey, jockey, turnkey, lackey, mickey, hickey, flunkey, bunkey, punkey, pokey, pinkey, doohickey, honkey, malarkey, cockey, hokey. There is also the Black Keys, Alicia Keyes, Florida Keys, typewriter keys, and musical keys. The locksmith trade alone has thier fair share. Spline keys, chuck keys, submaster keys, change keys, code keys, bump keys, allen keys, bit keys, tubular keys, high security keys, flat keys, master keys and so many more. Need a key? Give a locksmith a call. Be sure keep it secure. Mark's Lock and Safe is definitely the place to contact when it comes to the business of securing goods and valuables. There is no fooling around when it comes to burglary and fire. I have seen the results of both in my time and I know what ideas and products can be put in place. Since my last blog, a couple of jobs I looked after had reminded me how much fortification was a thrilling aspect of the business. I really do enjoy 'beefing' things up. Customizing or finding the right fit for the need. Recently our company supplied and installed a vault door for a customer that wanted some serious security. I had to take some pictures to show what this job looked like. I'm very proud to know that this customer has a quality product installed properly. This door is Canadian made and is burglar and fire resistant built into a 10" concrete wall. The whole job went as planned and I know it will be there 100 years from now. Here is another example of fortification. I was called out to an institution that had a door problem. Someone had been ramming themselves and applying much force to a steel door at night. The frame was starting to show damage and the door was starting to bow. There was also a small window made of Lexan giving way to repeated blows. A few more attacks away from a breach and the cost of replacing the door and frame. I love these calls because the door was salvageable. Some custom fortification was in order. The frame and bottom of the door had an extra quarter inch of steel plate added and bolted to prevent further bending. The window frame was attached a little firmer by way of carriage bolts. I feel real good about this one. It will stand up to a good beating for quite some time. |
AuthorHi there. My name is Mark Johnson and I am in my 26th year of locksmithing. Every day brings new adventures. Archives
January 2018
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