Recent Locksmith Work in Sheffield
As a locksmith covering Sheffield and the surrounding areas, I'm out on jobs across the city every week. Below are some of my recent call-outs, from emergency lockouts to lock upgrades and full multi point lock mechanism replacements. Below you'll see the kind of work I do and the standard I do it to after 30 years in the locksmith industry.
Euro Deadbolt Lock Installation - Hillsborough, S6
A customer in Hillsborough, S6 asked us to fit euro deadbolt locks, finished in polished chrome to match their existing door furniture. As with every installation, care was taken to make sure the locks not only work smoothly but sit well against the rest of the door hardware.
Window Gearbox Replacement -Millhouses, S7
A customer in Millhouses, S7 got in touch after two of the gearboxes on their windows failed in the locked position. This meant they were unable to close or lock the windows. A new gearbox was fitted to each window. I adjusted the striker plates on both window frames, leaving everything opening, closing and locking properly again.
Yale Nightlatch, Sash Lock Upgrade & Keysafe Installation - Darnall, S9
A customer in Darnall, S9 wanted the reassurance of knowing their door was automatically locked every time it closed. So I fitted a fresh Yale nightlatch to give them that peace of mind.
While I was there, I also upgraded their old 3 lever mortice lock, which had become worn and difficult to use. I replaced it with an insurance approved Union Strongbolt BS3621:2007 5 lever sashlock. The difference in how smoothly it locks was immediately noticeable to the customer, and the upgrade also brings the door in line with home insurance requirements.
The property also has carers visiting, so I also fitted a keysafe outside the front door for easier access, along with new chrome handles to finish the job neatly.
Commercial Door Handle & Hinge Repair - Ecclesall Road, S11
A commercial customer on Ecclesall Road, S11 was struggling with broken handles on a heavy door. The root cause turned out to be loose door hinges, one of which had only one of its four screws still in place. With the door's weight and the fact it was badly misaligned, it had got to the point where it needed a real slam just to close. The extra strain finally snapped the fixings on the bolt-through handles.
We fitted new longer screws with a double thread for extra bite, realigned the hinges, and replaced the handle fixings. The door now opens and closes easily with no rubbing.
Worn hinges and loose fixings are a common cause of doors that seem to need "forcing" to shut. Left long enough they'll usually damage the handles or lock.
Jammed Mortice Lock Opened & Replaced -Endcliffe, S11
A customer in Endcliffe, S11 was locked out after their mortice lock failed in the half-locked position. This meant the key was unable to turn in either direction. This usually happens when the lock is badly worn, or when the bolt thrower breaks off inside the lock and leaves the bolt partially withdrawn and stuck locked.
I opened the door without causing any damage, using a by-pass hole, then replaced the faulty lock. New chrome bolt-through handles were also fitted for a more secure fixing than the originals.
Letterbox Replacement - Totley, S17
A customer in Totley, S17 had a corroded and peeling letterbox on their composite front door. I attended last month to replace their worn and loose door handles. I upgraded them to a set of Ultion Sweet satin nickel handles. They liked the result so much they wanted a matching letterbox to finish the door off. Sweet is a range of products with a really nice curved design, so I fitted a letterbox from the same range which now matches their door handles. The whole door now looks amazing.
Emergency Avocet Mechanism Replacement - Norton Lees
A customer in Norton Lees had a key stuck in their cylinder late on a Sunday evening. This was caused by a failed Avocet locking mechanism that had jammed and trapped the lock cam in the wrong position, leaving them unable to lock their front door.
The original Avocet 4 hook 4 roller mechanism is now obsolete, so I had to fit a 2 hook version instead, which meant modifying the hook positions on the door and frame to get it working correctly.
New sprung Ultion Sweet handles were fitted at the customer's request, and the original cylinder was refitted rather than replaced as it wasn't necessary despite being over 10 years old. It was still working well, so there was no need to charge for a part that didn't need changing.
Chubb Detainer Lock Repair - Nether Edge, S7
A customer in Nether Edge, S7 called with an unusual fault on their Chubb detainer mortice lock. The bolt thrower, the part the key sits inside, was intermittently spinning and blocking the keyhole.
When I removed the lock case to inspect it, the cause became clear straight away. The lock had no levers inside it at all! Without levers, any key, even an uncut key blank, would turn and open the lock, which explained the intermittent fault the customer had been experiencing.
The customer told us another locksmith had attended several years earlier and "fixed" the issue at the time. Removing the levers and applying some WD-40 might stop a lock sticking in the short term, but it leaves the door with effectively no security at all, and a fault that was always going to resurface.
This is one of the most bizarre jobs I've ever attended.
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