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DIY Lock Maintenance to Keep Your Locks In Good Repair

keeping locks in good condition

People don’t think about the lock maintenance in houses or cars until something is wrong and you need a lock repair or replacement with the new one. After it happens, we don’t have too much time as door locks are things we use all the time and we cannot allow ourselves to live at home without a door lock or to leave the unlocked car outside.

It might take a while for someone to come and help you fix locks and by then you will be nervous, stressed and in a really bad mood. Don’t worry, we are here for you and we will help you with any issue that you may encounter. Our Locksmiths Locator service technicians will gladly come whenever you need it. However, there are some rules that you might want to remember, and which will help you avoid that kind of situation. It will help you stay calm as you know you are doing everything to keep your locks in shape.

keep your keys clean to prevent lock damageLubricate the Lock

This is probably the most important rule — use the lubricants for the locks. Either it’s the door lock or the car lock, they are being used every day, at least a few times. If we don’t do anything about them, after some time they will stop working properly. Cylinders of the locks have small pins and springs which move freely so they operate as they should. However, it can only work like that if it’s lubricated from time to time. It is also very important to know how to put the lubricant properly. The product needs to be put in the keyway, so all the pins and springs will start to move again. It is impossible to put too much of the lubricant, so you don’t have to worry about that. After you do it, just put the key inside and turn it a few times to help the lubricant spread. The bolts on the side of the door can be lubricated as well.

Adjust Hinges

Every time we open and close the door, hinges move as well. After some time, they can stop working properly, sometimes they need to be replaced with the new ones, however, usually, it is a matter of maintenance. Every hinge has 6–8 Philips head screws that might get loose. The only thing you need is the Philips head screwdriver to tighten the loose screws. You should remember to do it on both sides of the door. If we do it from time to time, we will not have to worry that one day we will be forced to buy new hinges and waste our time on replacing them or spend our money on someone who will do this for us. This rule is more connected with the house door, however, we shouldn’t forget that the car door needs to be checked from time to time as well.

Adjust closers

If you are using the door closer, you will need to adjust them from time to time if you want them to work properly. If it’s not adjusted, it might pull the door too slowly or the door might go too fast. We don’t want that so if it is loosened, we have to make it tighter. There usually have to be three adjustments to make: swing speed, latch speed, and back-check.

The swing and latch speed should be done according to the weather conditions. If it’s often windy, you will have to adjust it in a way it will close faster so it will not damage anything. The adjustment of the back-check is the few seconds before the door closes and the lock’s latch falls into place. It’s not in every closer, however, it is crucial to adjust it and check if we didn’t leave the door open by accident.

lock maintenance can prevent rusty locks

Other adjustments that should be done

The daylight between the frame and the door should be checked as well — if you can actually see the daylight, this might mean that the frame is damaged. You don’t have to call the expert immediately, this is something that you will be able to do by yourself. You need to check the frame and the floor. If the door is dragging on the floor or against the frame, you might need to tighten the hinges to avoid it in the future.

Also, crash bars and exit devices need to be lubricated as well. You should remove the head and soak it. It will help you avoid calling the emergency number. The strike, part of the frame where the latch or bolt falls into, has to be checked too. It will not work as it should if there are debris or dirt inside. If the latch is exposed, you will see the gap between the frame and the door. In that situation, you should think about buying a latch guide which will protect the door from being forcibly open.

These rules are connected both, with the house and car locks. There are, of course, different ways of dealing with that, however, we should remember of keeping every lock in shape. Locks are exposed to rain, frost, dirt and quite often force, which makes the quality of the locks lower.

We can offer you a wide range of inexpensive locksmith services. Whatever the issue you have with your door locks, in your house or car, you can call us, and our technicians will be glad to help you.