Practical writing about locks, keys and the situations that bring people to a locksmith. No sales pitch, no price lists - just what we would tell you on the phone.
What to do when you lose your only car key
Losing every copy feels like a disaster. It is a solvable problem, and here is the order to solve it in.
Read →You just bought a house. Rekey it before you unpack
You have no idea how many copies of that key exist. Neither does the seller.
Read →Why storefront doors fail, and what it costs you
An aluminum storefront door opens hundreds of times a day. Here is what wears out first, and why.
Read →Smart locks: what actually matters when you buy one
The app is the least important part. The mechanical fit decides whether you like it.
Read →Locked out? Four things not to do, and one to do first
The damage is usually done in the short window before the locksmith is called, not by the lockout itself.
Read →Rekey or replace? How to tell which one you need
Two different problems with two different answers, and people routinely pay for the wrong one.
Read →What these are for
Almost every emergency locksmith job we attend was a routine one a week earlier. A lock that had started sticking. A key that had been getting harder to turn. A single car key with no spare anywhere. A storefront door that needed a lift before it would lock. None of those are emergencies on the day you notice them, and all of them become emergencies eventually.
So these are written to be read before you need them. They are the things we end up explaining at the door once the immediate problem is solved - what actually failed, why it failed then rather than a year ago, and what makes it not happen again. If you would rather ask than read, calling and describing what is happening works just as well.
The short version of most of them
Do not force anything. Most of the damage we are called to repair happened in the few moments before someone decided to call - a window, a screwdriver in a keyway, a coat hanger down a car door. The lock was almost always openable without any of it.
Have a spare, and keep it somewhere that is not with the original. A spare key is the single difference between an inconvenience and a day rearranged around a vehicle that cannot move.
And when something starts feeling different - stiffer, looser, needing a knack - that is the moment it is easiest to deal with. Locks announce themselves for weeks before they fail.
Need a locksmith today?
We would rather hear the problem in your words than read it off a dropdown. We are a mobile locksmith - we come to you. No walk-in shop.