Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with locksmith

Looking for a Northern Virginia Locksmith

i love cheese — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:37:36 -0800

Can you recommend a good locksmith in Northern VA? I'd like to have the locks on my house replaced. I'm a bit leery of locksmith listings (for obvious reasons), and was hoping someone had a good experience with a locksmith in the Vienna/McLean/Falls Church area.

I've checked http://www.findalocksmith.com, and of the two results to my search, one, "Colonial Lock Supply" has a new name (Baldino's), and mixed reviews on Yelp. The other doesn't list a name, only an address.

So, do you know of a reliable, reasonably priced locksmith?

Disputing a locksmith's exorbitant charges?

fogster — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:21:50 -0800

Disputing a locksmith's exorbitant fees? I'm asking for a coworker, because I've been overhearing this saga for two weeks and vowed to get involved.

A coworker had her front door lock jam the other day. She had to climb in through a window, and discovered that the lock was jammed on the inside, too. She researched local locksmiths and went with a firm that says on their site that they'll match any competitor's offer. She called for a quote and was told that the locksmith would give a quote before beginning work.

Lo and behold, the locksmith just began work and told her not to worry about the estimate. He unscrewed part of the doorknob and used a hammer to unstick it, and then removed the defective doorknob and lock. He asked if she wanted him to put a new one on; she asked about price and was told that new doorknob was $300. Shocked at the price, she declined, and the guy billed her $200 (plus a reasonable service fee for coming out), effectively for banging her doorknob off with a hammer.

She paid, but was surprised at the cost, so she called competitors. Every competitor said they'd have done the whole job—including installing a new doorknob, and including the parts costs of that—for under $200. So she contacted the company, and has spent the past two weeks getting the runaround.

Part of the tricky part is that the services were rendered, and she did pay it, so trying to get the credit card company to reverse the charges seems unethical.

What other options are there? We can be vengeful and raise a big stink on online review sites and with various other groups like the Better Business Bureau, but she wants to get this resolved, not to try to harm them. Any ideas, hivemind?

I've lost my keys, am stuck inside, and not sure what to do.

iamkimiam — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:03:28 -0800

I seem to have lost my keys. I wish it were just that simple. Yesterday evening I came home from work. I went to unlock my inside door, only to find that the tumbler that was progressively getting looser, had finally tumbled. I called my landlord, the emergency line for the property management, and two locksmiths. I was eventually able to get one locksmith to come out. He sprayed and toggled some stuff, and wrote up a bill for $90 (I will be submitting the bill to my landlord for reimbursement). The locksmith left.

I then stepped outside to empty the garbage. I am *pretty* sure I didn't bring my keys with me. I attempted to go back inside, only to discover that my fixed door lock now automatically locks when the door shuts. I was locked out again, this time entirely my fault.

I spent a half an hour with my upstairs neighbors, where we schemed plans to shimmy down the bathroom chute. Called the landlord and the property management co. again. No avail. Eventually my upstairs neighbor found 1 spare key in the basement. He unlocked my door and let me in.

Stupidly, I went and did other things, assuming that I had left my keys indoors the whole time.

Now, today, I have been attempting to leave my apartment for the last three hours, but I cannot find my dang keys! Naturally, I think I've looked everywhere.

I'm not sure at this point what I should do. My landlord and the property management company still hasn't called me back–which is very typical of them. I don't want to bug my upstairs neighbor again (for the key they found yesterday)–partly because I'm embarrassed and also because the relationship between them and myself has been stressful since I've moved in (2 months ago).

None of this matters however, because the keychain contains 5 keys to the building, only ONE of which lets you in from the outside (and that one is actually a "credit card" that needs to be programmed–my landlord also charges a hefty fee for replacement...not that I can seem to get a hold of him anyway).

Seriously, what is my smartest option here? I can't seem to think clearly and I feel very trapped.

Making a key from scanned image or xerox

debedb — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:09:36 -0800

Is there a way to find a locksmith (in particular in NYC) who'd make a key from, say, a scanned image (kind of like here: http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=3525896) -- for when you just need it faster than Fedexing the key...

Locked my keys in a Ford Explorer

chrisWhite — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 21:14:28 -0800

I'm currently barrowing a car from my aunt and uncle and I just managed to lock the keys into the car. They are on vacation and I can't find a spare key. I'd really rather not pay a locksmith right now (college budget) and I don't have AAA. Does any one have any tips? Is there anything I should know before contacting a locksmith, any way to keep the prices low? I'm open to any suggestions, if it were my car I'd just go in with a coat hanger, but the doors are sealed up pretty tight and I don't want hurt the car. While it's not in a bad part of town, I'm also a little nervous about leaving it for more than a night with keys laying right there (as well as my PDA and my external hard-drive, which I'd really hate to lose). Thanks in advance!

DIY locksmithing

masymas — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 17:17:28 -0800

DIY locksmithing? I locked my keys in my car tonight. Before dropping $70 to have someone open it, can I do this myself? Tools/techniques/tutorials?

the key issue

grumblebee — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 15:40:41 -0800

Every year my parents visit, and they want to be able to come and go at will while I'm at work. So I have to give them my keys to the building and my apartment. This makes me nervous, because if they lose my keys, I'm screwed. The obvious solution is to get copies but... My keys have "do not copy" printed on them. Several people have told me that locksmiths don't care. As-long-as I pay them, they'll make copies. So based on that, I took the keys to three locksmiths. All of them were WILLING to copy the keys, but none of them could actually make copies. They just look like normal keys to me, but apparently none of the locksmiths had the correct "blanks" for the particular size or shape of my keys.

I asked my landlord for another set, and he wants to charge me $75 dollars for them!!! $75 for two keys?!? No thanks.

Any ideas? Any SPECIAL locksmiths I should know about? I live in NYC.

Locksmithing as a career

frogmoses — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 05:17:21 -0800

I am interested in studying to be a locksmith. Does anyone know how much schooling is involved and an average salary for a locksmith in the Northeast (Northampton County, PA)?

The deadbolt from hell - how do I open it?

metaculpa — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 12:56:04 -0800

So, I've broken my deadbolt- and it's locked. How do I get the damn thing out again? As I was installing the new deadbolt on the back door, I gave it a couple of whacks to get it to seat properly. This was dumb, because it broke the pin that retracts the bolt. Thus, the lock would push the bolt out for locking but wouldn't be able to retract, because it had nothing to pull against.

However, I could simply push the bolt in by hand - so it was simply an insecure lock. I decided not to worry about it until tomorrow, shut the door, and locked the bolt. This was also dumb, because now I can't retract the bolt again.

Shit.

It seems that the mechanism that prevents you from shimmying the bolt open is also broken - and now prevents retraction even when the bolt should be in the unlocked position. So now the door is VERY locked; I can't unlock it with the key, nor the internal latch, nor by taking the whole thing apart and using a screwdriver. And even though I have access to the outside and inside, I can't dismantle it without opening the door.

I guess I have to go to a locksmith, or take the door off it's hinges or somesuch. But I'm not sure there's enough space to do even that, with the bolt in this far. Any hints, o you handy handy people? Save me from the fate of a locksmith!

How do you get a "do not copy" key copied?

spacewrench — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 22:37:01 -0800

I live in a condo complex with a pool, and there's a key to get into the pool. Naturally, I've lost the key. The condo management wants $150 for a new one, which seems a little excessive. Unfortunately, it's a Medeco key, and from Googling around, it looks like they've done a good job of locking up the market so that people like my condo manager can jack you up. I'm sure the $150 fee discourages people from getting extra copies to give to their non-resident friends, but really, it's not like the facilities are worth driving across town to use.
Does anybody have a source for Medeco key blanks? Right now, I'm willing to try filing my own key (I can borrow one to copy).

Stupid House-sitting Mistake

lychee — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 10:04:23 -0800

Stupid House-sitting mistake: I've locked myself out of my friends' house that I'm looking after for the next two weeks. I think I've exhausted all avenues of possible help and am planning on going in through a window tonight. Is there anything I can do today to prepare or any precautions I need to take, in regards to safety, lawfulness, property damage, etc.? (MI) I feel horrible about this, as I can't help but think that I've let these people down, but there's no point in beating myself up about it til I'm back inside the house. The couple and their family are abroad and/or unreachable, and none of their friends in town have any information that can help. Calls to the locksmith, alarm company, and non-emergency police have been fruitless, as I need written proof that I can access their house, which I do not have. There are pets inside the house, as well as ALL my ID, cash, and keys. I'm going to go in through a back window tonight, but is there anything I'm overlooking today? What should I expect if the cops are called? I'm planning on explaining the situation to the neighbors before I do anything, but who knows if they'll believe me.

How could I be my own locksmith next time?

humuhumu — Sat, 19 Jun 2004 04:31:29 -0800

So I locked myself out... [more inside, now I'm finally here] Called a locksmith who came and was in after about thirty seconds. He used a piece of very thin, very flexible, and seemingly very unbreakable plastic to slide between door and frame and jimmy the lock open. 'Where can I get some?', I asked. 'Oh, this is a specialist security product. You can't just buy this in the hardware store.' So, this being the interwebbynet thing where I can buy just about anything, anyone know what this stuff was and where I can get some? Bonus points for UK-based locations!