Locksmith Chelsea

Front Door

Your front doors are the primary route of entry and exit into the house.

You can improve home security by making simple adjustments to your front door.

Front wooden doors and frames

Front Wooden Doors

A standard rim nightlatch (Yale type lock) on its own is not sufficient.  A nightlatch conforming to BS 3621 (British Standard) will comply with most insurance policies.  The door should also be fitted with 1 or preferably 2 BS 3621 mortice deadlock.  Insurance companies will accept one lock conforming to BS 3621 on your door but for better stronger doors a minimum of 2 locks and preferably 3 locks is more common.

Advice on front door security while the house is occupied will vary, depending on whom you speak to.

Fire Safety Officers will advise that, for safety reasons, the key operated mortice deadlock should not be engaged when the house is occupied, as locating and engaging the key can cause unnecessary delay in escaping from the scene of a fire.

If you would feel more secure engaging another lock while you were in the house or going to bed, a lock operated with a turn from the inside can be fitted. This would enable you to get out in an emergency situation such as a fire without using a key.  The lock commonly used to do this job is called a BS Euro Key and Turn deadlock or sashlock.  For your convenience we can make all your locks on the front door operate on 1 key, this saves money on getting multiple keys cut and also time when searching for the correct key to open the locks.  This is called keying your locks alike or keyed alike locks.  We can not only key alike your front door locks but also every lock in your house, front door, back doors, gates, padlocks, garages.  

Imagine the convenience!

Call your Local Locksmith Chelsea on 07876 230 652 or email us if you require more information.  

Crime Prevention Officers may suggest that a standard rim nightlatch on its own is insufficient in providing adequate security and that engaging the deadlock would increase this, as well as the safety of young children in preventing them from wandering. Clearly these are issues which need to be considered. If you feel fire safety is the priority, additional security can be obtained by fitting BS Euro key and turn deadlocks or sashlocks to the door.

Quality locks are only as strong as the doors and frames to which they are attached. Ensure that the frame is sound and the door suitable for external use; for instance, a wooden hollow core door would not be suitable. It should be of substantial construction, at least 44mm (13/4") thick to support the mortice lock and hung on three strong 100mm (4") hinges. The rim nightlatch and the mortice lock should be equally spaced apart on the length of the door. In the door itself recessed or decorative panels are a weak spot and are commonly kicked through to gain access to the property.  Decorative panels should nowadays be fitting on top of a minimum of a 44mm thick door.

Consider fitting a London Bar to strengthen and support the nightlatch keep/strike box and this also strengthens the mortice lock keeps/strikes.  A Birmingham bar should be fitted to support the frame on the hinge side,  when fitted with hinge bolts this gives a lot more strength to the hinge side of the frame.  The London Bar and Birmingham Bar are made of metal and help tie the whole length of frame together.

If the door is weak consider fitting a sheet steel plate or door reinforcer on the outside covering the lock area.

Timber frames should be sound and securely bolted or screwed to the walls every 600mm (23") around the whole frame.

Glazed panels

Doors with glazed panels are inherently less secure than solid doors, hence the need for a deadlock. Consider replacing ordinary or toughened glass panels with laminated glass - two pieces of glass bonded together with a sheet of laminate - as they offer much greater resistance to attack.

Letter boxes

Letter boxes can be used by the criminal, either to extract goods from within in close proximity to the door, commonly door and car keys, or to work vulnerable locking devices from the inside.

Letter plates should conform to British Standard. They should be positioned not closer than 400 mm from the door lock and under no circumstances should they be fitted to the bottom rail of the door. An internal cover plate offers additional security, as does a letter basket, though you might wish to consider removing the bottom, allowing the mail to fall to the floor and thus preventing theft of the mail.

For added safety and security fit a spy hole and door chain or limiter. These will enable you to deal with callers to your front door whilst retaining a level of security.

For all your Front Door security fitting services call our Locksmith Chelsea today on 07876 230652.

UPVC Front Doors

Upvc is an abbreviation for Unplasticised PolyVinyl Chloride.

Upvc Front Doors are generally made of plastic with an aluminum subframe and can offer better strength and energy efficiency compared to some wooden doors.

UPVC front doors generally have what are called multi point locking mechanisms, as the name suggests the mechanism locks in multiple places.  The locking mechanism is usually operated by a pair of handles and locked/unlocked with a cylinder.

The locking mechanisms can lock in a variety of ways such as:  

Wind on mechanism, this mechanism is locked by turning the key multiple times to wind out the locking parts.

Lift and lock mechanisms, this mechanism is locked by lifting the handle to engage the locking parts then turning the key to lock the locking parts in place.  You know the door is locked securely if the handle is solid from either side.

Auto locking mechanism can be locked automatically either by just shutting the door or by lifting the handle to automatically lock.  If you have a handle on your door the handle should be solid when locked or your door isn't locked correctly.

Please call us your local UPVC Locksmith Chelsea if you need any help or advise on identifying what door or locking mechanism you have.  Lots of people we go to see are not locking their doors properly and some have been burgled because of not locking it properly.

Upvc multipoint locking mechanisms can have a variety of locking parts on them including;

Latch

Deadbolts

Hook bolts

Shoot bolts

Mushroom bolts

Roller bolts

Upvc Door mechanisms come in a massive array of sizes and manufactures.  

The backset sizes alone come in 25mm, 28mm, 30mm, 31mm, 32mm, 35mm 40mm, 45mm.  The backset is measured from the side of the lock to the centre of the keyhole.  

The centres of the mechanism can come in 92mm, 87mm, 72mm, 62mm, 68mm and 48mm.  The centre on the mechanism is measured from the centre of the spindle hole to the centre of the keyhole.

Some of the upvc door mechanism manufactures include ABT, Cego, ERA, Fab and Fix, Fuhr, Fullex, GU, Lockmaster, Maco, Mila, Millenco, Securistyle, Union, Vitawin and Yale.

Mix in the array of locking parts, backsets, centres and manufactures you can imagine the amount of variations you can get.

Upvc Doors can have extra security fitted to them such as spy hole, door chains.

If you have a problem with the UPVC Door lock, mechanism or handles we can help, call or contact your UPVC Door Locksmith Chelsea today on 07876 230 652.

Back Door Security

Wooden back doors security

The wooden back door should be fitted with a minimum of 1x BS lock, usually a BS mortice sashlock or deadlock halfway up the door.  Insurance companies usually specify a lock complying to BS 3621 should be fitted on a back wooden door although we would advise that 2 locks makes the door a lot more secure.  

The lock could be supplemented by mortice rack bolts fitted approximately 150mm (6") from the top and bottom of the door and mortices into the wood.  We can fit similar surface-mounted locking bolts top and bottom.  Both these types of  bolts are only operated internally.  They are generally always fitted at 90º to the grain of the wood, reducing the likelihood of the wood splitting if subjected to pressure.

Any glass panels should be laminated and fitted from the inside to prevent the putty or beading being removed. Grilles could also be fitted to the inside of the panels.

French Wooden Door Security

Also known as French windows, they are intrinsically less secure than single leaf doors, which may reflect on their comparative lack of popularity as compared with the modern patio door. However, this need not be the case provided that suitable security measures are taken.

Both doors should be fitted with mortice rack bolts fitted within the door and operated internally by a threaded key. They should always be fitted at 90 º to the grain of the wood, reducing the likelihood of the wood splitting if subjected to pressure. Alternatively, use surface-mounted locking bolts push to lock, key to open.  Whichever type you use, fit top and bottom to provide rigidity.

If the style of door is capable of it, a mortice sash lock or mortice deadlock can be fitted for extra security, as french doors are usually rebated rebate sets may also be required.

As most French Doors are outward opening, the addition of hinge bolts is also recommended. They should be located 100-150mm (4-6") below the top hinge and similarly above the bottom.

Note: It would be acceptable, for insurance purposes, for a mortice lock plus key operated bolts only to be fitted top and bottom of both doors.

Consider replacing ordinary or toughened glass panels with laminated glass - two pieces of glass bonded together with a sheet of laminate - as they offer much greater resistance to attack.

UPVC French Doors

UPVC French doors use a multi point mechanism to lock the first opening leaf.  This leaf is usually quite secure but if required can have extra security bolts fitted to them.  The second opening leaf or fixed leaf can have mechanism in it and usually locks top and bottom.  If you want additional security on them we can fit extra top and bottom bolts.

Modern designs will usually incorporate deadlock, shoot bolts on a multi-point locking system, both throwing a number of bolts from the door into the frame. Under these circumstances there will not normally be any need for additional devices but can be added if required.

Upvc French Doors come with a massive array of sizes manufacturer's and as described in the UPVC Front Door section above can be fixed, secured and upgraded by us your Local Locksmith Chelsea.

Sliding Patio Door Security

Entry through a Sliding Patio Door is a common means of entry and therefore, it is best to fit extra locks. There are a few different types of Patio Door Locks that can be fitted, they are usually fitted on the bottom and top fixed on the sliding door locking into the frame.

They can be fitted on the fixed leaf and locked through to the sliding door. Most such locks are push to lock and key to open and are therefore easy to use. Make sure there is enough frame to fit them on if drilling is required. If in doubt, consult us or another Friendly Locksmith Chelsea and i'm sure they would be happy to help and advise.

Some patio doors can be lifted off their track. If you can lift it more than 1/4" simply screw wood blocks of a suitable depth into the channel above the opening door to prevent this. Alternatively, anti-lift devices are available from us, your Emergency Locksmith Chelsea.