Managed to lock myself out.....locksmith expected cost?

[Rags]

So, I managed to leave my flat with my keys locked in. Clever

So, i presume a locksmith can get in without destroying my lock barrel?

Key type below?




What should I expect to pay?

[Hedders]

£50'ish. Unless you are in London.

[TooLateForAName]

You seriously have a key like that for your front door?

10 mins at the most more like 2.

[jas xjr]

be careful about the locksmith you get in. some will drill out the lock and then charge a silly amount to replace it.
i would try something else first

[Defcon5]

Do you live in a dolls house? That doesnt look like a particulatly secure lock!

[Rags]

haha, good answers.

I have two other big locks on there as well as that. When the door shuts, that is the only key that is required to re enter.

[Mojooo]

50 quid at least

[ln1234]

google *cough* yale *cough* bumping

[robinhood21]

Do it yourself, it's easy. Have a look at This first.

[W66OCH]

If you have double glazing then why not break in yourself through a smaller pane using the hammer/brick/hard object whack method , then replace the sealed unit.... should be <£50 for a replacement.

Just watch out for the

[Meeja]

Depends where you are I guess, I had to use a locksmith to get me into our warehouse in Nottingham (Yale latch and also mortice deadlock) when one of the lads left his keys inside, and let the door shut and the yale latch kept him locked out.

Found a local locksmith via google who opened the door in a few minutes, with zero damage,

Invoiced us for £50 + vat, although he was very local (one mile away from our office)

His USP on his website was that if he damaged a lock whilst gaining entry, he would fit a like for like replacement FOC.

[Hereward]

Decent locksmith will have a master key that can open it in about one second...or is that an urban myth?

[mattdaniels]

I locked myself out of the house a couple of months ago. It was £90 for the Locksmith call out.

The door was just shut on the Yale lock (looks like your key). He showed me how to open the door using a piece of flexible plastic. It really is a piece of the proverbial. The lock is only held into the "catcher" using a spring, you just need a bit of flexible (or curved - eg. cut a slice out of a 2 litre soda bottle) plastic that you can slip in between the door frame and bend round to press the lock back enough to open the door.

Took the locksmith all of 30 seconds to open my door with his bits of plastic, I will never leave it without the deadlocks on ever again.

[Meeja]

I'm not a locksmith, but IIRC the old credit card (or similar) technique doesn't work on modern rim locks.

They have an additional (small) lever that is held closed by the door frame/striker plate when the door is closed, which prevents the locking lever being pushed in to open.

On the pic below the security lever is just above the brass locking lever



If the lock is fitted properly, then the only way to get the locking lever to move in to open the door is either with a key, or by using the internal handle.

[BoRED S2upid]

TooLateForAName said:

You seriously have a key like that for your front door?

10 mins at the most more like 2.

2 id say. Worryingly quick. And £50. Happend to me a while back, he got out his box of tools, I was watching him in action, several pieces of plastic he said can you push hard on the top of the door while he used the plastic less than 2 mins later I was handing over 50 quid.

[Bri957]

2L coke bottle, top and bottom cut off, then cut lengthways.

Feed roll of plastic into yale lock - and you are in.

[Piglet]

Teenager from the street corner? <2 minutes I reckon...

[mattdaniels]

Bri957 said:

2L coke bottle, top and bottom cut off, then cut lengthways.

Feed roll of plastic into yale lock - and you are in.

I think there's an echo in here.

When the locksmith did my door with his plastic strips I mentioned doing it with credit cards and he explained (and showed) why it does not work. Credit cards are too rigid. You need the plastic to go in behind the door frame and bend round the end of the door across the lock.

As he said to me - the phrase Yale "lock" is a bit of a misnomer since it is just a spring loaded catch to hold the door shut it does not lock it.

[ianconscious]

Bri957 said:

2L coke bottle, top and bottom cut off, then cut lengthways.

Feed roll of plastic into yale lock - and you are in.

Really?

Hmmm, I might give that a go tonight...