Lock Change Locksmith in Christchurch

Christchurch has sent me more work than any other single postcode district this summer, and a good run of it has been lock changes. The jobs here have their own character. Around the Priory and the conservation streets it's period timber doors that want a British Standard mortice fitted sympathetically, in the existing mortice pocket, not hacked in. Out at Mudeford and along the seafront the salt air corrodes cylinders and mechanisms from the inside, so locks simply wear out faster than they do inland. And through Somerford and Burton it's standard uPVC and composite doors where the right answer is nearly always a better cylinder than the one that came with the door.

Cylinder or the whole mechanism, an honest answer

On uPVC doors people often ask for a lock change when what's actually failing is the multipoint gearbox inside the door. A new cylinder won't fix a gearbox that's grinding or a door you have to lift and wrestle to lock. When I look at your door I'll tell you which it is before any work starts. If it's the cylinder, that's the quick, cheaper job, and I'll fit a TS 007 three-star anti-snap one. If it's the mechanism, I carry the common gearboxes on the van and you'll get a straight price for that instead. Either way you're not paying for the wrong repair.

Locks for how Christchurch actually lives

Requests that come up here far more than anywhere else on my patch:

• Families ringing on behalf of a parent whose keys have gone missing, wanting the locks changed the same day
• Keying a house alike so one key does every door, easier for older hands and for family who hold a spare
• Police-preferred key safes fitted properly for carers and family access
• Fresh locks on holiday and second homes at Mudeford between lets or after a key has gone astray
• Salt-worn seafront locks swapped before they fail shut in winter