The message from Huge contains these words:
It's the getting out again that's the difference.
It's one thing to break in by smashing a small window and climbing in. Getting out that way with a stereo and a telly under your arm takes ages and is far more likely to attract attention. If the door can be opened from inside without a key they can just walk in and out as if they owned the place.
Sod the insurance company. I don't care if burglars nick the DVD. I do care if I find the remains of my charred family by the locked front door.
Christian.
Ah, good point, and one that hadn't occured to me. All our doors have mortice deadlocks anyway.
Or if the scrotes wake them up and ask none-too-nicely for the key.
Part of the house initiation should be showing the escape routes and where to kick and how hard to get out. Admittedly there are rather more important things to get on with when moving in. People only get trapped by wooden doors when they dont know what theyre doing, or are very frail.
NT
I'm sorry but that's a load of C****.
Euro locks as recommended are absolutley the solution to this problem and it astonished me that this thread got to something like 20 posts long before someone made the most sensible and obvious solution. In fact shame on the lot of you as DIY'ers that you all came up with such usefless suggestions.
There is absolutely no reason at all why they cannot be fitted to wooden doors - I've fitted one to a modern wooden door and one to an old wooden door without any thoughts of their being difficulties. Euro locks are a dead lock operated externally with a Yale type key and internally with just a turn knob. Further more they are cheap - =A37 out of Screwfix.
Rob
My father always insisted that if you stayed somewhere new - hotel, etc. - there were two things to be identified immediately, where to have a pee and where to get out in an emergency. The first I've always considered the more important and pressing (on occasions!), but have always noted the latter as well.
Rob
When I stayed in the Regent Palace Hotel[1] and on the 7th floor I thought it would be a good idea to check the fire exit.
So I did, and discovered a sweet trolley[2] across the door at the bottom. Phone call to Hotel Security. "Oh it won't be there for very long sir." "It shouldn't be there in the first place."
Reassuringly though the fire alarms worked. Intermittent bells every half-hour throughout the night.
Owain
[1] Doesn't everyone stay there *once*? [2] As immortalised by Victoria Wood, "is it on the trolley?" and all the waiters/resses say "I'll send Maud over with the trolley" and Maud turns out to be the only person on the staff who can push the trolley because it's so heavy, and one glance at her thighs suggests she'd be useful on a farm if the tractor ever broke downThe message from Owain contains these words:
Not having been behind the scenes to do some work there, no.
The message from Owain contains these words:
I used to work in a small electronics workshop in Warren Street on the second floor. The fire escape came out into Grafton Mews and the doors were recessed into the side of the building so it was possible to park across them without stopping them opening - but once open you couldn't go anywhere.
There was a Golf that was parked right across the doors every day - we spoke to the driver and got a mouthful of abuse. The local rozzer reckoned that though he could do something it might be easier if we just dealt with it ourself.
So we set off the fire alarm, all piled down the stairs to the bottom, opened the door and turned the car over.
Much amusement that afternoon when the bod flipped his lid. Local police were very polite to him and pointed out that if he liked he was welcome to pursue us through the courts and wished him the best of luck.
| |Christian McArdle wrote: |> >> You can get cylinders for Euro type locks which have key on one side and |> >> a knob on the other : |> >>
|> >>
|> > That seems a possible solution too, thanks. |>
|> They are useful if you have a Euro lock type door, typically a uPVC or |> aluminium type. Mortice and latch type locks are normally fitted to wooden |> doors. |>
|> Christian. | |I'm sorry but that's a load of C****. | |Euro locks as recommended are absolutley the solution to this problem |and it astonished me that this thread got to something like 20 posts |long before someone made the most sensible and obvious solution. In |fact shame on the lot of you as DIY'ers that you all came up with such |usefless suggestions. | |There is absolutely no reason at all why they cannot be fitted to |wooden doors - I've fitted one to a modern wooden door and one to an |old wooden door without any thoughts of their being difficulties. Euro |locks are a dead lock operated externally with a Yale type key and |internally with just a turn knob. Further more they are cheap - ?7 |out of Screwfix.
Except that they are designed to work more complex locking mechanisms with several bolts and such like linked to the lock, mine has about seven.
I must be missing something here, why can't you use the back door if the front is unopenable for whatever reason. There should be, and in modern properties there must be, an alternative exit method. There should not be a safety issue if the front or any other door is not accessible.
They are for universal use:
I like the feel of old chubb keys/deadlocks - but europrofile is superior for the above reasons.
In message , at 17:58:24 on Tue, 22 Aug 2006, Christian McArdle remarked:
Your uninsured DVD (well, you may be paying the premium, but they won't pay a claim).
Yes, as I was pointing out, there are conflicting issues here.
In message , at 07:21:24 on Wed, 23 Aug 2006, Edward W. Thompson remarked:
Yes, what you are missing is that the insurance company wants all external doors to be locked, and no keys accessible (let alone on the lock).
My original question was about a flat where there isn't any *easy* alternative access.
Security latches like the PBS1 do allow you to lock the handle. This means you can use two modes, leaving on latching operation at night, so you don't all die in an inferno and locking the handle when out.
Christian.
Obviously you don't know the meaning of the words "typically" and "usually". They do not exclude other possibilities. I didn't claim that they were not available.
However, Euro type locks on wooden doors are quite rare. They frequently require considerable modification to the door, as they generally incorporate espagnolette mechanisms, or considerable hollowing out of the door for a mortice type.
I've certainly seen simple Euro cylinder based mortice locks available, but haven't come across one claiming BS3621 approval, which is an absolute requirement for front door security.
Actually, I have now found one, the Chubb 3C24/C. The total cost being around 80 quid. However, I believe this is not allowed to be a Euro turn handle cylinder, as I suspect BS3621 requires any lever/turn to be lockable.
Christian.
We have a back door. The front door is at the bottom of the stairs. The back door is through the back room and kitchen, both very likely rooms for the fire to be in, either from cooking, malfunctioning appliances or forgotten candles.
Christian.
Indeed. My 7 year old knows exactly how to get out of the house. She knows that she must leave everything behind. Explaining how insurance worked helped here, as she was very resistant to the idea of leaving stuff behind. She knows how to open her window, which leads onto the conservatory roof. She knows the absolute golden rule of house evacuation: DO NOT HIDE!
Unfortunately, the 2 year old and 6 month old aren't quite ready for this information and even the 7 year old could not possibly kick open our stout inward opening front door. I'm not sure I could, TBH.
Christian.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.