UKC

had to get a locksmith out last night for my tenant after he got locked out, long story but no real alternative in the end. he decided very quickly that he couldn't pick the chubb lock and drilled it instead - not a big deal, but I'm curious if any others have seen chubbs picked, or if drilling was the only real solution. i probably could have drilled it myself, kinda hoped for a locksmith and not a yahoo with a drill.

In reply to d508934:

It depends on the lock... Chubb is just a brand after all.

A pin lock should be easy for an experienced person to pick or bumpkey, a mortice one is harder and needs more expensive tools, but doable if the person knows what he's doing, the high security ones like the ones with the indentations on the sides or the 3d shaped keys are neigh on impossible to pick.

Not all locksmiths are what they should be though, drills are the gaffa tape of the locksmith profession.

In reply to d508934:

Our local locksmith (3rd generation same family) is completely disparaging about "locksmiths" who have to resort to drilling. He's opened a 5-lever Chubb mortise lock for us, no problem, and for other people we know. He's got into a neighbour's safe without wrecking it, too.

He says that there's hardly ever a need to drill a lock and that a lot of so-called locksmiths are just "drill cowboys" with no real locksmithing skills who quickly resort to drilling and charge a bundle for it.

He also carries a stock of hand-made springs (that he makes himself) for Victorian internal door locks...brilliant. I've renovated about 6 of our non-functioning internal locks with them.

And he's actually cheaper than a lot of the "cowboys" around.

In reply to Mr Lopez:

ah i see what you mean about chubb after some googling - this was a mortice deadlock. not sure how many levers.

vaguely remember watchdog doing something on locksmiths years ago, monitoring in secret some call outs and getting very angry when the first question locksmith asks on arrival is 'where can i plug this drill into?' with little or no attempt to apply a bit of finesse.

In reply to d508934:

By drilling he can then sell you a new lock don't forget

In reply to woolsack:

interestingly he didn't do that, maybe he really was just a dude with a drill and nothing else to offer.

just found this which sounds familiar now: http://www.durolock.co.uk/blog/choose-a-locksmith-who-can-pick

with hindsight would have done a bit more phoning round. my landlords learning tip for the future is to include a decent locksmith in contact list alongside good plumber, electrician etc rather than wait until one is needed!

In reply to woolsack:


Good point.



(A traditional three-lever mortice is something your teenager could learn in one afternoon in his bedroom with a couple of bits of wire but five lever and the new fancy stuff is proper complicated.)

The day we got our first house my wife snapped her key in the lock. She called a locksmith and he wanted to drill it. The lock was a simple rim lock. I refused permission (by phone) for him to drill, as he could fish out the bit of hers and wait for me to get home. He still charged about £50 for the call out but we saved the new lock price.

In reply to d508934:

If it was a euro cylinder type lock as found on the majority of uPVC /GRP doors then it could be cheaper to drill out the lock and replace the cylinder considering how cheap the cylinders are and the time taken to pick the lock.
This obviously changes depending on the type of lock you want and how many keys you want, although, saying this if you have a posh lock then it's probably not pickable