On 30/04/2021 12:41, Mike Halmarack wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:56:54 +0100, newshound
wrote:

On 30/04/2021 10:28, Mike Halmarack wrote:
The main door of my flat has 2 yale type locks and a Mortice lock.
The mortice lock key is the only one I ever received.
It's only when the plumber came to do some work that I realised the
possible problem of having two potentially self locking devices on the
door with no key to open them from the outside.
How do I overcome this? Will a Locksmith be able to provide the means
of making these locks fully functional, with minimum cost and work
involved, or will a complete replacement be necessary?

Easy enough. Remove the latch bit, leaving the cylinder in place for
cosmetic reasons. Or remove the part on the door jamb.

It's easy to replace the cylinders (they are all a standard size
irrespective of manufacturer). The most difficult part is that you will
probably have to cut short the flat tang that engages with the knob. You
may possibly have to shorten the screws that hold the cylinder in place,
although you can usually re-use the screws from the old cylinder. But
why would you want a door that needs three keys (unless you are a
character from Line of Duty).

Thanks for the advice. I'm not exceptionally paranoid. I just like to
make what's already there functional, with minimum bodging.


Fitting new lock barrels should be easy. Changing the whole lock
for a new one might involve some diy woodwork, and in my experience
application of plastic padding type hard to make it look like an
original fitting, which you can then paint over.

Self-locking 'yale' locks are a pain if you live in an apartment
above ground floor level. If it slams shut while you are collecting
the post etc you are stuffed.