Hello all, question about locks

Hello, I've been lurking in the group a few weeks. It's interesting reading to be sure!

I'm having a professional replace my front door, and along with that, I'm getting new handle/locks. In the past, I had a special lock that I loved. It was "always" locked. That lock was replaced in the past, but, I still miss it.

If you opened the door from the outside with a key and then closed the door, it was automatically locked (without having to hand-turn the little tab to lock it again). If you opened the door from the inside, it was always unlocked.

So, basically, you never had to remember to lock the door, but, you always had to carry your key. If you wanted to be able to leave the door unlocked (say, if moving furniture in and out or having guests over), you could turn the little tab in the inner handle and the outside would be unlocked as well. As soon as you turned the tab back to 'locked', it would work the way I originally described.

When I asked the hardware guy in home depot, he didn't know of any locks that definately worked this way. Looking at the "Lock functions" at Schlage's web site

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, it shows that "Storeroom locks" work a bit like what I want, but, it doesn't appear to have a function to leave it unlocked.

Anyone updates on what I'm looking for would be appreciated.

Gwen

Reply to
Gwen Morse
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Stop at a lock smith's shop. I'll bet they will have what you want. You will also find much higher quality locks that you are going to find at Home Depot.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

At a much higher price I bet too. If a ne'er do well wants in bad enough a lock wont stop him.. Save your money

Reply to
bigjim

How much higher?

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Do what Mr. Meehan said. Go to a locksmith. If you want referrals, ask at some small merchants where you shop regularly. Somebody has to know the name of someone they like.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

It depends on what you want. You get what you pay for. You may find that you are not paying much more at all and are getting a much better lockset. Stop by and see what they have and what they charge. They will not force you to buy it. :-)

BTW my father, who was a locksmith, had a good saying. No one will stop someone who really wants into your home, but all you need do is make your home look less attractive than the home next door. Better locks, and less affluent looking properly are both parts of that deal.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

DEADBOLTS generally dont work as the original poster wanted. deadbots are much more secure and you cant accidently lock yourself out of your house.

honestly deadbots are the far better choice

Reply to
hallerb

Very true however it depends on the level of the ne'er-do-well. The high school kid with time on his hands is quite different than the professional. The second may not be deterred by any lock; the first may be discouraged by a quality lock in a quality door set in a quality frame (the lock is only part of the system).

Reply to
HighFlyer

I didn't expect bigjim to answer the question, Joseph. If he actually could provide a dollar figure, it would only be accurate based on the one transaction which produced the number. And, it wouldn't matter to me anyway. There have been times when I've needed a locksmith, and I had no problem paying for the service. Last time was when I wanted 3 locks keyed alike, and Home Despot didn't have 3 of the same style, with the same keys. They sell a "re-key it yourself" kit. Right. Just what I need - being unable to work my locks because I screwed them up. A locksmith charged me $30 to do 3 locks, with a total of 8 keys. That was a bargain.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

It's still a good idea to have two locking points on the door.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Schlage has what you're looking for, at Home Depot even. I have Schlage lever-type locks with this feature. But I agree with other posters - go to a locksmith.

Reply to
Bob M.

I should add that my experience with locksmiths and locks is too far out of date to give any meaningful information about specific pricing.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Really? A bargain? Every Home Depot and Lowe's I've ever shopped at (several of each) has rekeyed locks for free. Granted several times I've had to offer them a little guidance, but each time it got done just fine at no charge beyond the regular cost of the locksets. This includes one time with four leverset / deadbolt combos, 8 cylinders total. These were all decent midrange Schlage units, not cheap junk.

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

For certain transactions, I want to be able to actually find the person who did the work later, just in case. Big box stores do not guarantee that option. And, if you had to offer some guidance, then you've provided further insight into why I wouldn't want to deal with those people.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

And have a key with you when you go out, whether you think you've left the door unlocked or not. It's also convenient when you go out the back door and want to come in the front.

Reply to
Mark Lloyd

I'm gonna have to diagram this idea to be sure about it. :)

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Alrighty though I can't imagine any reason you'd need to find the one specific person who rekeyed a lock. It's not like it's any particular advantage for burglars or anything and you as a customer should be pretty anonymous. Also not like rekeying a lock has any bearing on failures or warrantee coverage.

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

Simple: In case something's wrong. It would be worthwhile to me to have a locksmith come to my house to fix the problem, rather than my having to waste my time trying to find the so-called "expert" at Home Depot, who's hiding in a corner picking his nose, or playing expert in some other department he knows nothing about. I shop at the store, but never if I need assistance with my purchase.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

But she's not looking for quaility, as you seem to assume. She's looking for a design she likes. It may just happen to have higher quality and cost more, but you have to spend money to get what you want.

As far as wants in bad enough, you're right, someone could dynamite the wall of my house. But a cheap lock keeps out most people, and a lock with screws that go deep into the jam keep out a few others.

My best friend's parents never locked their doors, up until they moved

2 years ago. But they never got burgled either. Locks work, and most people need them.
Reply to
mm

Absolutely.

And although using the same key has advantages, so does using different keys.

Reply to
mm

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