Wednesday, December 10, 2008

If you have a sliding back door you need to know this.

Outside of your door locks, the sliding back door is one of the most likely places you could expect a break in. The back sliding door is very attractive to a house thief because of its location and also the wide potential opening once the door is opened or the window is smashed. Here are a few things you can do to make this a less attractive target.

Look into getting the sliding door glass protected with a security film. Security film deters smash and grab thief's because it prevents the glass from shattering and takes a lot more effort to get through. If your a thief and you encounter a sliding door that does not shatter after you hit it with a bat you are more likely to flee the scene and try to find a house that does not pose as much of a problem to get in.

Get a security bar to prevent the door opening if the latched is picked. Most locks on sliding glass doors are not hard to get into, so you should get a security bar that prevent the door from opening when it is engaged. The only way to get in a sliding glass door if the lock is picked is to shatter the window. If you have a security film on the glass then you made it very difficult for that to happen.

While you are at it, look at your other windows. I will cover that in another post.

Monday, December 8, 2008

The easiest lock for the average person to get into

Did you know that there is a lock on almost every house that the average person could get into even without any experience? Did you know that if that is the only lock on your door the security of your house is very compromised? And the lock I am talking about is your door knob lock. If you only have your door knob locked and not a deadbolt then your house is easy pickings for the average house thief.

Most door knob locks can be kicked in with very little effort? Even Deadbolts can be kicked in but if the deadbolt is installed right and if your door frame is in decent shape then kicking in a deadbolt requires a lot more effort.

If the only lock you have on your exterior door is a knob, then it is time for you to get a deadbolt installed. There are house thief's that walk in neighborhoods just to see if there are any houses that look easier than others, and one way to stand out is to only have a knob on your door.

If you already have a deadbolt and you really want to increase the security of your house then I would recommend that you upgrade your deadbolt to either a pick resistant lock or a high security deadbolt. These locks make it very difficult for someone to break in using the front or back doors and as a result the potential house robber will move on.

There is an excellent deadbolt out there called the ultimate lock. Here is the web-site. http://www.theultimatelock.com/mls-4000.html

Installing one of these can be a bit tricky, even if you already have a deadbolt, so I would recommend having a professional do it. Pop-A-Lock has installed a lot of these around the country and is also the Locksmith recommended by ultimate lock to install it.

Another good lock is the schlage Primus or even the Everest. Both are much better that you can get in the box stores and the Primus has a restricted key-way, which means only the locksmith who put the lock in can make a duplicate.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Picking and bumping

No it is not what you do when playing an instrument. I am referring to a couple of techniques that are used to open a lock without your key. The fact is it is incredibly easy to pick the average lock found on most homes today. Did you know that the locks found on most U.S. homes are banned in Europe? They knew what a lot of people in the U.S. are starting to know. Standard pin locks are not as secure as we think they are.

In some areas of the country Bumping is an epidemic. With the advent of Youtub your average thug can learn how to make a bump key in 15 minutes and the worse part is he can learn to use it in as little as 5 minutes.

To illustrate my point, last year I was in a group of business owners telling them about the bump key epidemic. I took 5 minutes to show them how bumping works and then I passed around a lock and a bump key to see if they could get it open. Over 60% of the people or 15 out of 25 people in the room was able to open the lock in less than a minute. Let me just say that everyone in the room was a believer.

In the next post I will talk about Picking and cover some of the things you can do to make your house bump and pick resistant

Thursday, December 4, 2008

One of the most important things to do after you buy your home

Congratulations, you just closed on your new home or condo. Here is the first question. Do you Know who has your keys? Are you 100% certain that no one else has a copy of those keys? What about the son or daughter of the previous owners who just got out of rehab?

The best way to ensure that no one else has the keys to your new home is to get your locks re-keyed. You may be asking what is a re-key? A re-key is a way to change the keys that work in the existing locks but not completely change the whole lock hardware out. They are a very effective and inexpensive way to secure your new home.

Re-keying your house works great as long as the existing hardware is not defective or broke. In some cases it may make sense to change the hardware if the existing stuff is low end junk that can easily be picked or bumped. ( we will cover picking and bumping in another post) You also might want to change out the hardware for cosmetic reasons, which is a great reason too.

When Hiring a Locksmith to re-key your house you need to make sure the following questions are answered.

1. What is your trip charge and how much do you charge per cylinder? All Locksmiths charge a trip charge and not all charge the same. This is the cost to move the vehicle and pay for the time it takes to get to your house and back. As of this writing most Locksmiths charge $55 - $65. The cost to re-key a cylinder currently ranges in the $12.50 - $15 range. For example if you had a house with four locks and the trip charge is $55 and the cost per cylinder is $13 you should be looking at a total cost of $107. Considering that a mid-grade lock costs about $35 - $40 that is about a $35 savings, plus all the locks can be keyed to the same key if it is the same hardware.

Is that all there is to hiring a good and honest Locksmith? Nope, You need to check to see if they are part of the BBB or even if you can find some reviews on-line.

Other things that are very important:

  • Are they dressed in a uniform
  • Is their vehicle marked with the company name
  • Do they perform a security audit to ensure that the strike plates are adequate, the frame is in good condition, and the window locks are in working order.
  • How long is the work guaranteed for
  • Are they part of the BBB
  • Are they part of Angie's List

These are the minimum questions you should ask. Price is important but remember you are inviting this person into your house and if they can not pass the questions above you should probably look for another Locksmith to make sure you are truly satisfied.

Again, Congratulations on your new home!!!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

EDU

One of the main Reasons I decided to become an Owner of a POP-A-Lock is because of thier EDU Program, which stands for Emergency Car Door Unlocking.



For the residents of the Twin Cities we will unlock any car for free if a child or pet is locked inside. Other Pop-A-Locks will open up a car for free if an infant is inside, but you may be charged if a pet is inside. There is no better feeling in the world than to be able to help a desperate and concerned parent save thier child from possible injury. Below is a video's that expalin the program in detail.







Locked Out?

OK so you find yourself on the outside of your house or car with the keys locked inside. What do you do now? The easy answer is to call Pop-A-Lock, but most people may not of heard of Pop-A-Lock or worse yet they may not have a Pop-A-Lock in their area. So what do you do then?

You have a few ways to find a good and honest Locksmith.

1. Phone book: When using the phone book make sure you call at least three locksmiths so that you can compare price and ETA. There is more to know besides price and ETA because unfortunately both Price and ETA can and will be misrepresented over the phone by some of the less reputable players out there. I can help you determine if you are talking to what I call a scum bag.

2. Google search: A great place to find locksmiths if you have access to the Internet via phone or computer. You should also call up to three locksmith but you can also look for the locksmiths that have a few reviews. Be careful because some of the review were written by the owners or employees and are just not true. Some of the questions I will share with you later will really help to keep you away from the scum bags.

3. 411: This is also good but you can only get one locksmith at a time and if you don't know the name of a good one then it is kinda a crap shoot. The other issue is your phone will be in the locked car or house.

4. Call a friend or relative: This can be your best source especially if they have used someone and they were happy with them.

Here are the questions you need to have answered before you hire a locksmith to open your car or Home.

1. What is your rate and is that a firm price? If they can not tell you a firm price Do NOT Hire Them!!!! The only reason they won't quote you a price is because they want to jack the price up as high as they think they can get from you when they get there. These are the scum bags of our industry.

2. What is the soonest I could expect someone to arrive? If They won't quote you a firm price on the phone then this is a non issue, but most honest locksmiths will give you a realistic time frame. Don't be fooled by the scum bags who tell you 15 minutes. They will tell you what you want to hear so they can rake you over the coals when they get there 60 minutes later.

3. Are your techs uniformed and driving a vehicle that identifies them as representing your company? If the company can not afford uniforms and marked vehicles, how professional is the company? In fact that is a good indication that the person helping you just may be an independent contractor and not really working for that company.

4. Are you accredited with the BBB? If they are not part of the BBB there might be a good reason. They may have had bad reviews or they don't feel it is important enough to have their business identified with a organization that protects consumers.

5. Do you guarantee your work? If they answer with what do you mean or you don't have to worry about that, then I would again tell you to go on to the next Locksmith. Honest Locksmiths will always back their work, in most cases up to two years.

That about does it for this post. Remember one of the most important things to do before you hire a locksmith is to get a firm quote. If they won't give you one then hang up.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

letting people know about the shady world of locksmithing

I am starting this blog to give everyone a chance to know how to get a good locksmith when you need one. Unfortunately not all locksmiths are honest or above board. If you need to have a locksmith open your car or get you in your house, they need to tell you how much it is going to cost you. If they can't, run, don't walk away. You will be soaked. To many people pay 2 - 3 times more than they need to pay simply because they don't take the time to ask a few basic questions. I will cover that in the next post.