He Blew His Head off with a shot gun

Mortise lock on Apartment door

Computer Chip car keys



Infinity smart key



Inside of Mortise locks

Throughout my fifteen years locksmith career I have not come across something so sad as this.  Today I had the unfortunate chance of dealing with a case where the person who lived in the apartment that I was changing cylinders on had killed himself with a shot gun. Now I ask myself what would lead a person to kill themselves?  As I was changing the cylinders on the apartment door many of the man's neighbors came out to sort of find out what had happened inside on that fateful day when their neighbor had blown his own head off.  So some of them would peek into the apartment and then start to tear up like they wanted to cry.  A lot of them seemed surprised that this man could have done what he did.  To them this guy was a very happy and out going person. 
Our locksmith company works for many city agencies and this job was for one of those agencies.  In Queens Abbaslocksmith  provides all locksmith service emergency and non-emergency.  We provide residential, commercial and auto locksmith services in all of Queens and all of NYC.  

Big House One key! Is it Safe?

So I have done jobs in Queens for houses that have two doors and I have done jobs for homes that have five doors.  When you have a home security and convenience are two things you should worry about.  If you just bought a house and it has a front door and a back door then its as easy as one two three.  For a basic set up I would do two high security heavy duty deadbolts with the same key for the front door and back door.  Then I would do the knob sets in a standard key and keyed them alike.  This type of set up saves you money and make life a little less complicated.  So in essence you have two key for the whole house, plus you have the high security pick proof deadbolts. 

Now lets say you buy a huge house that has five doors.  One in the front, one in the back, one on the side, one in the basement and one on the terrace patio.  What do you do and what is best to do.  Well the first thing I would do is call a local locksmith to come over and advise you on your door security.  A good local locksmith will always recommend the best options.  In Queens

 

there is Abco Master Lock and Key in Forest Hills, White's locksmith in Corona, Admiral lock and key in Astoria, Around the Clock locksmith in Rego Park, Jstein locksmith in Jamaica, Joseph locksmith in Jackson Heights, Safe House locksmith in Fresh meadows, Armor in Flushing and of course Abba's Locksmith in Queens. These locksmith companies are experienced and have been in business for a long time.  Their employees are all licensed locksmiths.  When you have these companies at your home ask them what they recommend and guaranteed that they will suggest high security deadbolts and regular knob sets with same keys.  Having a heavy duty deadbolt with the same key for five doors gives you the convenience you need to be able to enter from any door in the house with having to carry ten different keys.  Always ask your locksmith for a new homeowner discount. 

Due Diligence

When I travel to a customer's house, apartment or business I go with the intention that I am going to help them with whatever issue they have with their locks.  There are times when a client just wants his/her cylinder changed, so they call a locksmith to go over and change it.  When I arrive to a client who wants their cylinder changed the first thing I do is ask them a few questions. One is the lock in working order? Do you want the cylinder changed to get new keys? or is the cylinder not turning that's why you want it changed?  Most of the time they tell me that they lost their keys and they want different keys that is why they are having the cylinders changed. Once I know that information I either go ahead and put in a new cylinder or I go and show them a few different quality cylinders they can choose from.  When I remove the old cylinder from a clients lock I make sure to pay attention to the lock it self because there have been times when I removed the old cylinder and the lock was broken from the inside. 


Heavy duty Apartment door bottom lock



Segal 900 Lock



Aerial view of New York City

Woodhaven Queens



Map of Queens

The normal set up on an apartment door in New York City is a jimmy proof deadbolt on top with a plate and a mortise lock on the bottom with knob set.  When I change cylinders on either one of the locks in an apartment I make sure to check the other lock also.  Clients appreciate due diligence.  When a locksmith observes due diligence they show the client that they are a professional locksmith and not someone who wants to do a quick job, collect money and leave.  Last week I went to a service call out in Elmhurst Queens for bottom lock cylinder change.  I got to the location ask the client what they needed and they told me to change the bottom lock cylinder.  I went ahead and asked the client why they wanted to change the cylinder.  So She tells me that sometimes when she wants to unlock the lock and open the door she can not.  Once she told me that I knew right away that it is not just the cylinder that should be checked out.  I informed the client that in order for me to diagnose the problem I have to take the complete mortise lock out. I told her that if I take out the lock and am able to repair it, that it would be $125 for the repair but if it is not repairable than the replacement would be $225, she agreed and I went ahead and took the lock out.  Once I opened the lock up it became apparent that the bolt spring was broken.  In a mortise lock once the bolt spring breaks the lock never works right.  So lucky for the lady I make my own bolt springs, so I went ahead and made one for her lock.  After installing the bolt spring inside the lock I reinstalled it back in the door, without changing the cylinder.  Checked all the other locks in the apartment, lubricated her hinges and wrote out a receipt. Another satisfied customer.  Abba's locksmith in Queens we always work with due diligence when it comes to fixing lock problems, feel free to call for your next home service call 718-820-2744