Booked work, not a rush
Lock change in Elda, from old surface locks to new cylinders
New flat, lost keys, a tenant moving out, or a lock that has been getting stiffer every winter. A lock change is something you can plan, and this page sets out the choices before you book.
- Photo first, visit second
- Fitted on a day that suits you
- Price agreed before work starts
Reasons
When a new lock is worth it
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You have just moved in
Bought or rented, you have no idea who else holds a key. A new cylinder settles that for the price of one small job.
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A set of keys has gone
Lost on a night out or taken with a bag. If anything with the address went with them, change the cylinder the same day.
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The lock has been getting worse
A key that needs jiggling, a lock that is harder each winter, a handle that has gone loose. Repaired early, these rarely leave you outside.
What we fit
From the oldest flat door to the newest
Surface-mounted locks on older doors
Elda’s estates of the fifties and sixties, such as San Francisco de Sales with its 580 homes built between 1956 and 1968, are old enough that a front door never changed since may carry its first lock, often one fixed to the inside face of the door. It can be replaced with a better lock of the same kind, or the door can be adapted for a modern lock with a cylinder, depending on the timber. The guide to those original doors goes into the choice.
Euro cylinders, and anti-snap ones
Most front doors fitted in recent decades have a euro cylinder, the part your key goes into. It is the cheapest part to change and the one that matters most. An anti-snap cylinder is built to break at a sacrificial line and leave the lock working, and it is fitted so that it does not stand proud of the handle plate.
Multipoint mechanisms
Newer doors throw bolts at several points when the handle is lifted. When that starts to feel heavy, the gearbox inside is usually worn or the door has dropped. Both can be repaired before the mechanism gives up.
Old town and village houses
Older houses in the castle quarter and in the villages around often have locks no longer made. These can sometimes be repaired; otherwise a lock is chosen to suit the door rather than the other way round.
The climate
Why locks here wear the way they do
Elda is not the coast: there is no salt in the air here to corrode a cylinder. What it has is a dry inland climate, with around 345 mm of rain a year and a swing from cold winter nights to hot summer afternoons. Dust finds its way into cylinders, and timber doors move enough with the seasons to drag the latch and bolt out of line. A cylinder that turns stiffly or a door that has to be pushed before it locks is telling you it needs attention. More on that in the guide to doors through the seasons.
Booking it
Booking a lock change, step by step
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A photo of the door and the lock
Send it on WhatsApp, from the outside and the edge of the door. It usually tells us what will fit.
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A day that suits you
Planned work is booked in normal hours, around when you are at home.
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The price, agreed before work starts
Once the door has been seen, you get the options and the price of each.
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Fitted and tested
The new lock is tried with the door open and shut, from both sides, before we leave. A new cylinder comes with its own keys from the maker.
For a door that has been forced, or to go further than an anti-snap cylinder, see high-security locks. For gates, sheds and sliders on a country property, see locks on a finca. If the door will not open at all, start with opening a door without damage. To book, use the contact page.
Questions
Before you book a lock change
How can I tell whether my cylinder could be snapped?
Look at it from outside with the door shut. If the cylinder sticks out more than a few millimetres beyond the handle plate, it gives someone something to grip, which is how snapping works. A photo on WhatsApp is enough for us to tell you whether it is worth changing.
We have just bought a flat in Elda. Should we change the lock?
Yes. You cannot know how many keys the previous owners, their family, cleaners or estate agents had. A new cylinder makes every one of those keys useless, and it is usually a short job.
Our door has an old lock on the inside face. Does the door have to be replaced too?
Not necessarily. A surface-mounted lock can be swapped for a better one of the same kind, or the door can take a modern lock, depending on the timber and its thickness. We look at the door first and give you the options with a price for each.
Will the new lock fit the holes the old one left?
Usually. Most cylinders and many mortice locks come in standard sizes, and the new one is chosen to fit the existing cut-outs. Where that is not possible, you are told before anything is ordered.
Is this done at night as well?
Planned lock changes are booked in normal working hours, on a day that suits you. If a lock has failed or your keys are gone tonight, that is an emergency call-out, and the door is made secure that same night.
Related work
What tends to come up after this
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Repairs after a burglary
A forced door made to lock again the same day, then a stronger set-up once the police report and the insurer are dealt with.
After a break-in -
Door opening
Wooden flat doors from the sixties, reinforced doors on newer blocks and chalet entrances, opened through the lock wherever the lock allows it.
Door opening -
Locks on a finca
Drive gates, padlocked sheds, well houses, window grilles and terrace sliders on country properties from the hills of Petrer to the vineyards around Pinoso.
Country houses & fincas
Not sure what your door needs?
Send two photos on WhatsApp, one of the lock from outside and one of the edge of the door, and we will tell you the options.