Posted by Bryan Thomas on Dec 21, 2015
Safeguarding your home can be tricky, especially if you are living areas prone to thieves or burglars. When choosing a door lock, many homeowners consider price rather than the quality of the lock. This is because most contractors or homeowners are not lock experts. However, you can make the right choice if you understand what to look for in a lock for your home and what options are available. In order to choose the most secure locks, you have to look at it from the thief’s point of view. It is worth noting that burglars prefer breaking into a home through the door since it is both faster and easier. The good news is that with a high quality lock, you can deter intruders as well as thieves.
In most cases, thieves can access your home through a door using a wide range of ways, including unlocked door, spreading the door frames apart with a spread bar, or even obtaining a copy of the house key from a relative and use it to unlock the door. This explain why it is important to install strong door locks as well as locking your doors and windows whether you are within the house or outside.
Resources:
Fountain Hills Locksmith Pros
homedepot.com
ansi.org
Here are what you should look for in a lock for your home:
The Door Lock Type
There are different locks on the market today, but not all of them are secure and safe. For this reason, it is wise to choose a lock that can provide maximum security regardless of the prevailing situations. The most common and secure door lock used by many homeowners is a door lock with a deadbolt type bolt.
The type of the bolt has a huge impact on the lock’s strength. There are two types of bolts: deadbolts and latch bolts. However, there are a locks that combine the two locks into one for maximum protection.
Key control
This refers to the act of controlling or regulating who has copies of keys to your home. In most situations, door keys can be copied at a retail store or local hardware. However, several lock makers now provide locks with keys that cannot be copied at local hardwares except by the designated locksmiths or manufacturers themselves.
When you buy locks with key control, you can deter anyone from copying keys apart from you or the person you designate. For key control to be effective, you should visit a lock manufacturer for rekeying services. This way to will be able to ensure that the key to your home is safe.
ANSI Standards
Select door locks that meet the standards set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). This grading system is used to evaluate the durability and and security of the door locks. All the locks with grade 1 are considered the best in terms of safety and durability.
Different models of locks are assessed differently under the American National Standards Institute requirements. Locks tested under these standards include mortise locks, interconnected locks, auxiliary locks, and other types of locks. These standards can be used to compare one lock to another so as to make the right choice at th end of theday.
Security Strike Plate
Security strike plate features in most of the door locks if not all, and are made of thin gauge metal. These strike plates can provide security as play a crucial role in enhancing your home exterior design. They come with 2 one inch screws to fix it securely to the doorframe.
Today, high security strike plates can be found on the market. These plates has a heavy metal gauge metal strengthening the plate as well as 3” long screws to secure the strike to the wall rather than to the doorframe jamb.
Captured Key Deadbolt
Thieves can break into your home through a locked door by breaking the glass in the door sidelight to unlock the door. To solve this problem, you can install a deadbolt locked with a remarkable feature known as capture key. This type of the lock has a thumb turn on the interior side of the door which can be removed from the lock to create a double cylinder deadbolt condition. To remove the thumb turn, you should have the key to the lock. It is advisable to leave the thumb turn in the lock whenever you are in the house.
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Posted by Bryan Thomas on Dec 18, 2015
A mailbox might be a simple part of your house, but it holds your mail and it’s very important to protect its contents against theft. So how can this be achieved? By ensuring that high quality lock is in place to keep all your information intact and safe. This can eliminate all worries of someone getting hold of your mail, along with endless possibilities of damages and inconveniences that can occur.
There is already an alarming increase in the incidents of mail and identity theft, and looking into various types of mailbox locks available today or may be an entirely new mailbox with a new locking mechanism might be essential. To be able to choose the best one that will serve its purpose, meet all your needs and will give you complete peace of mind, you need to consider number of things. Thanks to the guys over at Beverly Hills Locksmith for providing us with this information:
Type of Mailbox
Well, there are basically two types of mailbox, a curbside locking mailbox, as the name implies, is typically placed on the post near the curb of your house. The opening where the mail is dropped is not locked. Instead the cavity where the mail drops is kept secure with the help of good mailbox lock. The wall-mounted secured mailbox is designed to attach your gate, house, or garage. It is best for neighborhood where postal carrier would simply drop mail into the box.
Type of Mail
You would know best the type of mail which you normally receive. The locking curbside mailbox is best for larger mail such as packages, envelopes and magazines. Otherwise, you can opt for wall-mounted mailbox if you get smaller type of mail. The quantity which you normally get is also a big factor in choosing a mailbox because it should be able to hold your mail while you’re away. Some will easily hold week or two worth of mail while others can last little longer and will take several months before their contents reach the brim. Most important, a good and ideal sized mailbox can easily maintain high levels of security at all times.
Types of Mailbox Locks
In line with numerous styles, designs, materials, sizes, and types of mailbox, it’s lock is the most beneficial and prominent feature. There are different types of mailbox locks available that are suitable for mailbox, and its best to seek advice of experts in this field. Most of them recommend the five-cam lock that features removable cams and five-pin tumbler. It’s not only reasonably priced, but also have added points for easy-clip on style and dust cover for easy mounting on exteriors. Wafer locks and pin tumblers come with various key possibilities and cams to fit in a mailbox. The reality is, all of them look very similar until you’ve installed one personally on your mailbox and use it. Therefore, if you suspect you have a faulty lock and need a new one, keeping old one is a good idea and factoring it if it turns counterclockwise or clockwise will be very helpful in finding a new one.
Regardless of the type, it’s important that mailbox lock you choose has excellent quality because a flimsy lock won’t be helpful as it will be vulnerable to theft. Even if you have a good one in place, it must always work in top condition. So watch out for any malfunction in your older lock. If you find this stamp on the face of any mailbox: USPS-L-1172C, it indicates that it’s a new style of mailbox lock and is also built upon a differently sized hole.
It may be hard to find a replacement lock for this, but they are made of the highest standards. Hence, it is imperative that you know of professional mailbox lock services who would know exactly what to do. They’re familiar with different types of mailbox locks and can suggest one that perfectly matches and fits your current mailbox. Whether you need emergency service to open your mailbox lock, or it’s not functioning properly and needs repairs or replacement, you can surely rely on their experience and expertise of working with different types of mailbox locks. They have necessary equipment and tools and can finish the job within a short time in a most efficient manner. They also guarantee quality of their work and will make sure an effective mailbox lock is in place.
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Posted by Bryan Thomas on Dec 14, 2015
Keeping your home protected starts with your door locks. For any homeowner looking to purchase locks for his or her home, the number of options available in the market today is overwhelming. Before settling on a specific type of dock locks, there are several security factors that one may need to consider. This article will explain the most common home door locks and the security features that need to be considered. The four most common types of home door locks include padlocks, knob locks, deadbolts and lever handle locks.
Resources:
lock and key guys at www.arvadalocksmith.net
homedepot.com
lowes.com
Padlocks
Padlocks are the only type of home locks that are normally not permanently fixed to anything else. Padlocks are available in different sizes, are easily portable, free standing, and are one of the most conspicuous types of door locks. There are two main varieties of padlocks: keyed and combination. Keyed padlocks have numerous alternatives to consider. They can be rekey-able or non-rekey-able. For non-rekeyable padlocks, you cannot change the key that opens it. For instance you cannot make it use the same key as your house. Combination padlocks feature one or more number dials that open the lock after entering correct combination. These types of locks are shim to open and easy to decode.
Furthermore, padlocks can be key-retaining or non-key-retaining. While a non-key-retaining padlock allows the key to be removed while the padlock is open, a key-retaining padlock does not. Lastly, padlocks may feature a shrouded shackle in their design. This added security feature is an extension of the body that makes it much harder for bolt cutters to cut the padlock.
DeadBolts
In general, deadbolts are installed on external door and contrary to padlocks they have few more options to consider. There are three main varieties of deadlocks: single, double, and lockable thumb-turn. The single cylinder deadbolts are the most commonly used variety of deadbolt. They use a thumb-turn on the inside to close or open the lock and a key cylinder on the outside. This type of deadbolt has one major weakness. If someone has access to the inside (for instance through a nearby window or even via the peephole by use of simple tools), he/she can open the door using the thumb-turn. On the other hand, a double cylinder deadbolt lock uses a key cylinder both on the outside and inside to close or open the lock.
The third type of deadbolt is a fusion of a single cylinder and double cylinder deadbolt, and is usually referred to as a lockable thumb-turn. The lock has a thumb-turn on the inside that functions like the normal single cylinder deadbolt, with one exception. You can lock the thumb-turn using a key so that it cannot unlock or lock the door. In a residential situation, this means that you can leave the thumb-turn in unlocked position while inside the house, and will function like a typical single cylinder deadbolt. When leaving the house, particularly for long period of time, you can easily lock the thumb-turn so that even if someone has access to the door from the inside, the lock cannot be unlocked. This variety of deadbolt offers ultimate security and flexibility in most situations.
Knob Locks
Knob locks are mostly installed in residential settings on all types of doors; exterior doors, rear patio doors, bedroom doors, etc. These locks feature knobs on both sides: one side has a lock while the other side has a key hole. However, it should be mentioned that knob locks should practically never be used as source of primary security on exterior doors. The shortcoming lies in the fact that the lock cylinder is contained in the knob rather than the door. This means that they can be easily broken off with a hammer entirely bypassing the locking cylinder.
Lever Handle Locks
Lever handle locks are commonly used for inner doors in business settings. It is easier to open lever handle locks than it is to open the knob locks. This is mainly because they feature a large push-down style handle instead of a knob that you must grab and turn. Lever locks also frequently find application in situations where handicap accessibility is crucial. Frequently, excessive pressure is applied to the handle to force the lock, making them target of torque attacks. However, some levers are designed to be “clutch” levers meaning if excessive force is applied on them, they simply turn rather than apply pressure to the lock.
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Posted by Bryan Thomas on Dec 8, 2015
As a business owner you need to ensure high security measures are taken in order to secure your assets. Well, this will only be made easy if you use the right locks for your enterprise. Normally, commercial locks are by far different from residential locks, it is for this reason you need ideas on the right locks to suit your commercial needs. Therefore in here have been availed a variety of commercial door lock options for business owners.
Resources:
Phoenix Locksmith Pros
homedepot.com
schlage.com
Types of commercial door lock options for business owners
Although they do not provide maximum security against burglary theft, lever handled locks are still good options to company enterprises with the need to keep away unauthorized access from snoopy employees. Moreover, this type of locks will serve you best in situations whereby one needs to adhere to local business rules and regulations. They are most appropriate in interior door locks which do not necessarily need much protection against professional burglary theft.
Also known as interchangeable core cylinders, these locks are usually appropriate in cases whereby you’ll need to upgrade security within your enterprises as well as be able to change the locks frequently whenever need be. For instance in a situation whereby an employee quits and takes the lock key with them. All you’ll need to do is to contact a mobile locksmith to do a little adjustment. This will involve switching the core without necessarily having to replace the whole lock; by so doing you are enhancing general security within the company with a lot of ease.
Though used at residential buildings, deadbolts are also good recommendations for business enterprise external lock. Reason being, they have been designed to prevent forceful entry into buildings making it even a better option for external security. The traditional deadbolt may not offer the required security level but that is the reason most business people prefer the latest versions which come with features like steel door frames and deadbolts made of strong steel alloy to prevent breaking in.
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Keyless door locks and entry system
As technology advances companies advance technologically too. That’s why most business enterprises today will opt for keyless lock system. These lock systems are ideal in ensuring top security. These keyless lock systems will require the installation of a keyless door; therefore you need to consult a locksmith on the keyless system available. The keyless system can use; card access system, entry codes or biometrics to permit entry.
Padlocks are temporary locks which are not fixed onto something else unlike most locks. They can be used for temporary security measures meaning one can use and reuse them wherever they want. Padlocks come in a variety of different sizes and shapes which are operated with combinations or keys or even both. Most importantly padlocks will provide you with the ultimate security you need for that particular time.
These types of locks are usually automatically or remotely controlled. They come in mortise or cylindrical styles, can be used as fail secure locks or as fail safe locks. Appropriate to be used in offices, stairwells and hallways or any other place in business that will needs safety code compliances.
These locks are often required in small areas in business that needs to be secured. These can be mailboxes and filling cabinets. They provide a wide variety of options for lengths and locking mechanisms, so business owners can adjust their locks for specific purposes.
There are more of commercial locks one can go for ranging from the standard locks to those sophisticated locks that will enable you restrict your business access to employees only as well as be able to lock out unauthorized individuals. But understanding your line of business and the kind of protection your business deserves is an open clue to deciding on the type of lock to install.
Summary
Ideally, business security is the owners’ key concern, and therefore choosing the right commercial lock for your business will ensure you meet all your security demands, both in and out. Therefore in order to ensure you meet those needs you need to consult with a locksmith if you are not sure on which type of commercial lock will work best for your enterprise.
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