Multiple front door locks
 

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?
--

Mike

Multiple front door locks
 

Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a
few quid. They are easy to fit yourself.


--
Algernon

Multiple front door locks
 

On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:33:42 +0100, Algernon Goss-Custard
wrote:

Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

By leaving them permenantly held back.
Something that the plumber and his mate weren't sure about when they
left at the end of the day.

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a
few quid. They are easy to fit yourself.

They're not that ordinary. One is a "KEN" and the other a "Century".
The Ken has a bezel the other not. I don't know how standard or
interchangeable they are.
--

Mike

Multiple front door locks
 

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).

Multiple front door locks
 

In article ,
Algernon Goss-Custard wrote:
Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a
few quid. They are easy to fit yourself.

With some standard Yale type locks you can buy the key part only.

--
*The colder the X-ray table, the more of your body is required on it *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Multiple front door locks
 

In article ,
Mike Halmarack wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:33:42 +0100, Algernon Goss-Custard
wrote:

Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

By leaving them permenantly held back.
Something that the plumber and his mate weren't sure about when they
left at the end of the day.

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a
few quid. They are easy to fit yourself.

They're not that ordinary. One is a "KEN" and the other a "Century".
The Ken has a bezel the other not. I don't know how standard or
interchangeable they are.

Given you weren't given the keys means someone else still could have them
- and that applies to your mortice lock too - I'd want to make it secure.

You could look on Ebay for new lock barrels for your night latches. Or try
a decent locksmith. Having a locksmith do the work can be very expensive.

--
*I went to school to become a wit, only got halfway through.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Multiple front door locks
 

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?

Take them off and repair the holes, just remove the part on the door
jamb so the male part can't latch into anything, remove your male
parts(!), or replace the locks with new. All options are pretty
straightforward.

Multiple front door locks
 

Very much depends on the locks and the expertise of the locksmith. Obviously
if you could just buy Yale keys from a number every burglar would have a
set!

Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Mike Halmarack" wrote in message
...
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?
--

Mike

Multiple front door locks
 

I wondered if perhaps they have levers that have to be locked by the old
double turn of the key, which would make it very hard to get locked out if
you don' have a key!

Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Algernon Goss-Custard" wrote in message
...
Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a few
quid. They are easy to fit yourself.


--
Algernon

Multiple front door locks
 

On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 11:11:48 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Mike Halmarack wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:33:42 +0100, Algernon Goss-Custard
wrote:

Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

By leaving them permenantly held back.
Something that the plumber and his mate weren't sure about when they
left at the end of the day.

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a
few quid. They are easy to fit yourself.

They're not that ordinary. One is a "KEN" and the other a "Century".
The Ken has a bezel the other not. I don't know how standard or
interchangeable they are.

Given you weren't given the keys means someone else still could have them
- and that applies to your mortice lock too - I'd want to make it secure.

Good point, I had given that a bit of thought in the past but now you
mention it, it's gone much higher up the priority list.

You could look on Ebay for new lock barrels for your night latches.

That may well be the most economic option.

a decent locksmith. Having a locksmith do the work can be very expensive.

That's why I asked here, to avoid that if possible/
--

Mike

Multiple front door locks
 

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Algernon Goss-Custard wrote:
Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a
few quid. They are easy to fit yourself.

With some standard Yale type locks you can buy the key part only.

here you go

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yale-Essent...df_B01NCEHIGM/

Multiple front door locks
 

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.
--

Mike

Multiple front door locks
 

On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:38:36 +0100, "tim..."
wrote:



"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Algernon Goss-Custard wrote:
Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a
few quid. They are easy to fit yourself.

With some standard Yale type locks you can buy the key part only.

here you go

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yale-Essent...df_B01NCEHIGM/



Looks promising, thanks.
--

Mike

Multiple front door locks
 

On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:25:05 +0100, "Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)"
wrote:

I wondered if perhaps they have levers that have to be locked by the old
double turn of the key, which would make it very hard to get locked out if
you don' have a key!

Brian

My fondest hope is not to be locked out without a key, so thanks for
the tip.

Multiple front door locks
 

On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:21:57 +0100, 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?

Take them off and repair the holes, just remove the part on the door
jamb so the male part can't latch into anything, remove your male
parts(!), or replace the locks with new. All options are pretty
straightforward.

Thanks, invisible repairs of holes in doors I've always found to be
quite difficult. But I do prefer that to removal of my male parts,
merely ornamental as they are.
--

Mike

Multiple front door locks
 

On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:23:30 +0100, "Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)"
wrote:

Very much depends on the locks and the expertise of the locksmith. Obviously
if you could just buy Yale keys from a number every burglar would have a
set!

Brian

I think Tim's Amazon link is going to be the best solution.
Even with all the keys a burglar is going to take long enough to open
that many locks, for me to get my Assegai honed.
--

Mike

Multiple front door locks
 

On 30/04/2021 10:42, Mike Halmarack wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:33:42 +0100, Algernon Goss-Custard
wrote:

Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

By leaving them permenantly held back.
Something that the plumber and his mate weren't sure about when they
left at the end of the day.

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a
few quid. They are easy to fit yourself.

They're not that ordinary. One is a "KEN" and the other a "Century".
The Ken has a bezel the other not. I don't know how standard or
interchangeable they are.

For now I would remove the inner locking part. These typically
sit surface-mounted in the inside of the door and usually held
in place by a couple of screws into the edge of the door and one
more at the far end.
This should leave the actual lock barrel in the door with a
flat 'tail' poking into the inside of the door, that engages with
the lock slider.
I suspect the lock barrels are standard and easily replaced with
new ones from any decent hardware store.

Post a photo for us to confirm what you have.

Multiple front door locks
 

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.

Multiple front door locks
 

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.


PS Did your replacement Sharp meecro-warve (with an accent over the
trailing 'e') turn up and is it as good as the old model ?. I'm still
looking for a decent combi microwave to replace my half-dead one.
The only people who seem to make anything similar are Bosch, AEG
etc but they are all built-in ovens costing £800+

Multiple front door locks
 

On 30/04/2021 12:49, Mike Halmarack wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:21:57 +0100, 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?

Take them off and repair the holes, just remove the part on the door
jamb so the male part can't latch into anything, remove your male
parts(!), or replace the locks with new. All options are pretty
straightforward.

Thanks, invisible repairs of holes in doors I've always found to be
quite difficult. But I do prefer that to removal of my male parts,
merely ornamental as they are.


Removing the female part from the door frame is easier, but will
still leave an insightly rebated dent.

You caould also remove the male part, extract the actual slider
with the bevelled lock and put the casing back on the door. That
way you will never lock yourself out.

I take it the plumber has replaced spagetti junction with a
continuous run of blue mdpe pipework ?

Multiple front door locks
 

On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 13:19:29 +0100, Andrew
wrote:

PS Did your replacement Sharp meecro-warve (with an accent over the
trailing 'e') turn up and is it as good as the old model ?. I'm still
looking for a decent combi microwave to replace my half-dead one.
The only people who seem to make anything similar are Bosch, AEG
etc but they are all built-in ovens costing £800+

The original Sharp was beyond excellent. The cloneish replacement was
slightly lower wattage and the outer walls were not stainless steel,
but described as "Silver" like so many items seem to be these days,
unless it's a grey painted car, then it's likely to be described as
Platinum.

Apart from the above the new Microwave is pretty good and has the same
range of features as the original.
It cost £349.96 GBP from Buy it Direct Ltd.
When it arrived the packaging had been heartily bashed and there was a
small dent in the side of the microwave. Got a £55 refund for that as
I was too needful of its services to send it back.
--

Mike

Multiple front door locks
 

In article ,
Mike Halmarack wrote:
a decent locksmith. Having a locksmith do the work can be very expensive.

That's why I asked here, to avoid that if possible/

A French family live across the road. Very nice neighbours. They did a
house exchange with her sister (who lives in Paris) a while back. And gave
the sister the spare keys. New night latch, so presumably had extra cut as
they have two kids.

And the key didn't work. She'd obviously been told to contact me if
problems. Luckily had no problems getting into the house and opening the
door.

Bit of online showed B&Q stocked the same lock. So I offered to get a new
one and swap them over.

Sister decided to get a locksmith in. Cost three times as much as me
changing the lock for them at cost.

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Multiple front door locks
 

In article ,
Mike Halmarack wrote:
Take them off and repair the holes, just remove the part on the door
jamb so the male part can't latch into anything, remove your male
parts(!), or replace the locks with new. All options are pretty
straightforward.

Thanks, invisible repairs of holes in doors I've always found to be
quite difficult. But I do prefer that to removal of my male parts,
merely ornamental as they are.

It should be possible to find new locks that match the centres.

--
*I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Multiple front door locks
 

On 30/04/2021 12:36, Mike Halmarack wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 11:11:48 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Mike Halmarack wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:33:42 +0100, Algernon Goss-Custard
wrote:

Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

By leaving them permenantly held back.
Something that the plumber and his mate weren't sure about when they
left at the end of the day.

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a
few quid. They are easy to fit yourself.

They're not that ordinary. One is a "KEN" and the other a "Century".
The Ken has a bezel the other not. I don't know how standard or
interchangeable they are.

Given you weren't given the keys means someone else still could have them
- and that applies to your mortice lock too - I'd want to make it secure.

Good point, I had given that a bit of thought in the past but now you
mention it, it's gone much higher up the priority list.

You could look on Ebay for new lock barrels for your night latches.

That may well be the most economic option.

a decent locksmith. Having a locksmith do the work can be very expensive.

That's why I asked here, to avoid that if possible/

house insurance? but bear in mind, if you are burgled and you have not
changed the locks, then its all down to you.

Multiple front door locks
 

On 30/04/2021 13:12, Andrew wrote:
On 30/04/2021 10:42, Mike Halmarack wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:33:42 +0100, Algernon Goss-Custard
wrote:

Mike Halmarack posted
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 you mean, "possible" problem? How do you get in at the moment
without having keys to the Yale latches?

By leaving them permenantly held back.
Something that the plumber and his mate weren't sure about when they
left at the end of the day.

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?

If they are ordinary Yale locks you can buy replacements at B& Q for a
few quid. They are easy to fit yourself.

They're not that ordinary. One is a "KEN" and the other a "Century".
The Ken has a bezel the other not. I don't know how standard or
interchangeable they are.

For now I would remove the inner locking part. These typically
sit surface-mounted in the inside of the door and usually held
in place by a couple of screws into the edge of the door and one
more at the far end.
This should leave the actual lock barrel in the door with a
flat 'tail' poking into the inside of the door, that engages with
the lock slider.
I suspect the lock barrels are standard and easily replaced with
new ones from any decent hardware store.

Post a photo for us to confirm what you have.


and send your address.