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Point out that you are not dropping the price whatever any surveys say and that may weed out a few. I did much the same and when a buyer tried to haggle I to them no sale and why. Boy was that fun.
ooh 😮
I figure someone kicking in my front door is likely to be quite noticeable.
It is, but the point you're overlooking is, no-one cares. I hoofed my front door through at about 1pm on a sunny Thursday, no-one blinked.
what do you do with the sodding great hole the night latch leaves in the door?
Leave the external bit in situ? TBH you could just remove the strike plate from the door jamb and forgeddaboudit, no need to touch the door at all.
I'm surprised at all the people who think getting locked out is difficult.
Unless you mean it's hard to get locked out *unless you have slam latches*. In which case, yeah, fair enough.
hmmm, it’s a design that is inherently insecure , the keep is held by three small screws to the frame ,
Speak for yourself, mine is held in with three 110m framing screws! You can kick it as much as you like, it isn't going anywhere without taking the frame with it!
Many many years ago I had a female lodger and someone followed her back from the pub and tried to kick the door in to assault her. It was a really basic Yale model with three short screws. He didn't manage it although it was a bit loose, but still held.
https://yalehome.co.uk/yale-essentials-nightlatch-60mm-in-green/
I now have a monster Yale model held in with framing fixings.
https://yalehome.co.uk/bs1-max-security-nightlatch/
I’m surprised at all the people who think getting locked out is difficult.
Unless you mean it’s hard to get locked out *unless you have slam latches*. In which case, yeah, fair enough.
Nope, lived in a house with one of those shite Yale locks for years in my mid teens to mid twenties and never managed to lock myself out despite being hammered or high 90% of the time.
People who question how hard it is to get locked out clearly don't have teenage kids.
Mine happily head out to school / work / mates and wave as they trot down the drive. I then head out on my bike, they come home and don't have their keys. That is why I have a key locker.
I don't like self slamming Yale type locks but I also question the wisdom on needing a key to lock or unlock the door from inside. If I was running out of the house with my face on fire in the dark, I wouldn't want to have to root around for keys if they hadn't been left in the door. I don't understand why they cant put turn knob on the inside instead of having the key slot open.
I don’t like self slamming Yale type locks but I also question the wisdom on needing a key to lock or unlock the door from inside.
With eurolocks you can get a thumbturn option on the inner barrel half.
Personally I like the Yale night latch + Chubb deadlock combo. If I'm leaving the house empty all doors deadlock so if someone bricks a window and climbs in they're taking my bike back through that window (if it will fit). But when we're in the house, we never use the deadlock, and you can always get out without a key using the night latch.
I’ll repeat myself , the keep design on yale locks , has screws that aren’t really embedded in the frame , they are in superficially , ive had to repair countless broken frame mouldings due to these being kicked in , just the way it is . You won’t kick a mortise lock in though , need a door breaker for that .
And thumb turns should be on all interior upvc doors for safety ......no one can break the glass to get at them , kicking the panel in is easier , whoops shouldn’t really be encouraging paranoia
And thumb turns should be on all interior upvc doors for safety ……no one can break the glass to get at them , kicking the panel in is easier , whoops shouldn’t really be encouraging paranoia
When I replaced all my eurolocks with matching keys I didn't go for a thumb turn on the front door because I reckoned someone with a skinny arm could reach in the letter box and turn it.
Nope, lived in a house with one of those shite Yale locks for years in my mid teens to mid twenties and never managed to lock myself out despite being hammered or high 90% of the time.
Well I've lived where I am for 11 years and I've locked myself out once and was grateful for my hidden key.
If we assume my family members do it at the same rate as me that's once every 24 months, and they do it a lot more than me.
I don't think we're especially moronic, it's just a fairly easy mistake to make.
If you’re doing it on a regular basis you need to move in with an adult. Can’t fathom why you’d want to hide a key somewhere. Surely if you can lock yourself out on a frequent basis you’re not remembering where you hid that key.
Or perhaps different people have different experiences to you or live their life differently?
Can I remember my safe hiding place? That's like asking can I remember my pin number or phone number - if its something I use fairly frequently it will not be a problem. If you put a key somewhere and never touch it again for 5 yrs then perhaps you'll forget.
Yale locks are not as uncommon as some of you think - particularly on rental properties.
Do I always take my keys every time I leave the house? No. Sometimes intentionally (if I'm going for a run and someone will be in when I get home why bother). Just like people who prefer not to have cash jangling around, some prefer not to have a bunch of keys unless needed. Do other people's plans change, or my 10 minute trip to the shop get delayed? of course they do - presumably people who are outraged that others might have a way to manage this all live alone.
Lockdown and WFH amplified the problem - we went for months where there was always someone in the house. So no need for keys.
Personally I don't leave a key out all the time . I put one there if I am going for a run and don't want to carry a key or I'm going out and I'm not sure if someone else who left before me has got their keys..
So what we can take from this....
Is don't leave your key in any of the obvious places on dracs 30 year curated list
Remove all rocks and heavy loose objects from your garden
Don't have windows
Don't have doors .
I’ll repeat myself , the keep design on yale locks , has screws that aren’t really embedded in the frame ,
Depends on the design, the beefier ones have a deeper frame plate on the keep eg mine screws right into the solid wood frame, not into the moulding.
If I was running out of the house with my face on fire in the dark
Don't see the problem tbh, if your face is on fire then it's not dark. Couldn't get a better headtorch.
Speak for yourself, mine is held in with three 110m framing screws!
So that's the weak link. You don't need to pull 110mm of screw out, just shear the head off. Even my cotton bud legs can manage that.
Thumbturn locks may be safe but they are not secure. At all. They are so easy to bypass it's not funny.
Thumbturn locks are incredible in that they are not actually locked. All you need is the right tool to bypass the pins and engage the cam and you can rotate the back of the Thumbturn through the keyway - the lock is open!
https://uklockpickers.co.uk/thumb-turn-bypass-tool.html
Given how many folk have had professional thieves after their cars, bikes etc. I'm honestly surprised at how happy some of you are to have such inherently insecure locks. Unless I had a remote letterbox I wouldn't consider it, I'd just keep the key in the door when I'm in the house which achieves the same goal without the unattended security risk.
So what we can take from this….
Is don’t leave your key in any of the obvious places on dracs 30 year curated list
Remove all rocks and heavy loose objects from your garden
Don’t have windows
Don’t have doors .
😂😂 spot on trail rat !
Thumbturn locks may be safe but they are not secure. At all. They are so easy to bypass it’s not funny.
You beat me to it.
I deal with computer security professionally, and physical security as a hobby. I would not under any circumstances have thumbturns on exit doors. My keys live near the front door, they aren't accessible externally but I'm confident I could find them in an emergency. I figure, if someone's managed to get into the house and is looking for my car keys, I'd rather they found them and ****ed off than turned up in my bedroom with a knife.
if your face is on fire then it’s not dark. Couldn’t get a better headtorch.
🤣🤣👏👏 You win the Internet, go home.
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I would not under any circumstances have thumbturns on exit doors.
Out of interest why not? Because if scrotes have easy exits they may remain longer?
Clearly they're of no use near a letterbox or similar but elsewhere they *seem* pretty benign?
Out of interest why not? Because if scrotes have easy exits they may remain longer?
Not to hinder exit but rather to hinder entry. You don't need a letterbox to use the first set of bypass tools I linked to.
For millions of elderly / frail and others with conditions , thumbturn locks are a very welcome device that may very well mean the difference between life and death .
There is always a compromise between fort knox and safe escape , then again many elderly havent got all these expensive gadgets that need protecting .
Fire brigades have good advice on this sort of thing .....
Out of interest why not? Because if scrotes have easy exits they may remain longer?
Clearly they’re of no use near a letterbox or similar but elsewhere they *seem* pretty benign?
Because if you can gain access to the back of the door, you no longer need a key. The gadget our nutty friend linked to is one of many such devices.
For millions of elderly / frail and others with conditions , thumbturn locks are a very welcome device that may very well mean the difference between life and death .
To be fair, I did say that I wouldn't have one. That's not to say that they don't have their place, say if safety trumps absolute security. You're better off being burgled than burning to death.
What I take from this is that people are incredibly naive in thinking their house is secure, you can slow down a thief but they’ll get in regardless. Unless you’re trial_rat with the best hiding place in the world for his key.
Sorry Cougar/Squirrelling, I'm guilty of not reading every post. That's clear many thanks!
Unless you’re trial_rat with the best hiding place in the world for his key.
I heard you can also use it to hide watches from camp guards.
It's probably not the best place in the world since my garden doesn't extend to the "world"
it's been good enough to not be found even by people(family/friends) who have been told where it is for access when I'm not there.
But even then I'm not sure that makes my house any more impervious to a brick through the window
I think right answer is to hide the whole ****ing house. That way you won’t need a key and you’ll never get burgled.
Or perhaps different people have different experiences to you or live their life differently?
Wouldn’t really call it an experience unless your life is utterly bereft of anything remotely interesting. Live different lives? As in don’t get locked out on a regular basis? I just find it very amusing that the OP and his partner appear to lock themselves out on a regular basis. You’d think at least one of them would learn from the experience.
What I take from this is that people are incredibly naive in thinking their house is secure,
Its the old joke about two men in a jungle when they spot a tiger and one quickly sticks on a pair of trainers.
Against a suitably motivated opponent unless you are backed up by something like the SAS and the opponent isnt a better equipped nation state you will lose but its making it as much of an arse that they will do over the next door neighbour instead.
All well and good if its an opportunist. If its a professional then damn right I'm going to do what I can to **** them off.
Not been mentioned yet but following a burglary a policeman told me never put a keysafe in a shed, for the same reason you never lock an inner door without locking outer/storm doors, it gives a lets a burglar somewhere to work away out of sight.
Also proper burglars will spend time looking for a key, because they get 2 years for breaking and entry, this is reduced a lot with victim negligence in supplying a key to get in..as is your home insurance I suspect.
And just for general strange interest, you can get into most houses within a few minutes by putting a ladder up, going onto the roof, removing bout 8 slates/tiles, making 2 cuts through sarking and stepping into the attic, strange that no one ever does that.
Doors are pretty easy to put in unless its something that has been specifically strengthened. In the joinery aspect off things Ive had to rebuild a number of door frames to testify to that.
With yale locks, once its been broken open, you find its the furthest screw thats gone and the lock has pivoted on the front two allowing the locking bar to slide out of the keeper.
On mortice, its the entire lock keeper that breaks through the frame, repaired by cutting in a dovetailed piece to replace the broken off section.
So if a mortice is fitted, the keeper cannot be too close to the outside edge of the door frame or it will just rip through,and for yale the screws for lock and keeper need to be large and deeply set.
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Personally I think the type of 3 point locking systems found on pvc doors are the most secure.
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As to hiding a spare, I like the in a tin of paint in the shed(if you have a shed) because if you've been daft enough not to take care of your all important keys, there should be a penalty for getting the spare out, by way of having to delve in to a tin of paint and get all messy from it 😀
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Ok, not saying I've experience in this but 🙂 ... A door, even on a strong mortice can be opened by flexing the door from the bottom. If its a back door where the thief is unseen, you lie down, place your feet against the handle side corner and rapidly push it in and out. It places a lot of strain on the locks and can pop them pretty easily, it can also snap the bottom hinge. You can combat this, and although you dont need to use that lock all the time, but if going away on holiday for a while, have a mortice lock fitted about 12" up from the bottom of the door.
I heard you can also use it to hide watches from camp guards.
That deserves more recognition than it got. 👏
I bought a house.
It had a key safe and I didn't get the combination when I moved in.
It took 30 seconds with a hammer to get into it.
My in-laws have the same key safe. It took me 5 Min to find it, with instructions last time I got locked out at theirs.
I'd say it's more about where the key is hidden than a key safe