Parts of locks

There are many locks in the world, but throughout the world there is usually a basic set up of a knob lock on the bottom and deadbolt on top.  Here in New York City everyone who lives in an apartment building usually has a jimmy proof deadbolt on top and mortise lock on the bottom.  People who live in houses usually have a tubular deadbolt on top and regular keyed entry knob set on the bottom.  So the jimmy proof consists of a drop bolt type of lock which is on the inside and a keyed cylinder which is on the outside.  When you turn your key in the cylinder the mechanism inside the cylinder lines up and your able to turn your key.  The cylinder is inserted into the deadbolt with a tail piece, so when you turn the key the tail piece turns and your are able to lock and unlock the drop bolt.  The bottom lock which is known as the mortise lock has six parts to it, it has the cylinder, the outside escusion plate, the inside escusion plate , a knob set, a spindle, and lock body.  Inside the mortise lock body which is inside the door, all the lock system is concealed.  For the house locks its usually the deadbolt on top and knob on the bottom.  The deadbolt has the bolt and the cylinder and thumb turn.  The knob on the bottom is two pieces the key part on the out side and thumb turn piece from inside.  If you live in an apartment and you only have the bottom lock and no top deadbolt, your apartment is half protected, please call your local locksmith and have them install a drop bolt.  If you live in a house and have two locks on the door, but they the regular cheap brand from home depot please call your locksmith and upgrade the deadbolt to a high security deadbolt and have them add a super strike.  Many locksmiths in Queens carry the high security deadbolts.

key finders

Always help

I did a locksmith service for a very old lady in Woodside Queens.  Everyone should know what I explained to this old lady.  So she is been living in this apartment for the last twenty five years and she said that her lock never worked right.  When I went to help her she was locked out, apparently her bottom lock collapsed and locked her out.  Normally the bottom lock on an apartment door is a mortise lock.  This lock is designed with two plates that hold all the mechanism together like a VHS video tape and sometimes these plates come loose and guess what? all the mechanisms jump out of their tracks and end up jamming into each other. So this exact thing happened to this old lady.  I had to drill the cylinder out and literally wrench out the deadbolt because it was jammed up so bad. Normally the bottom lock is the responsibility of the management, so I explained to the lady that she can take my receipt and get reimbursed from the land lord because by law the land lord has to either fix the bottom lock or pay to have it fixed. When the mortise lock is ready to collapse it usually gives you clues such as the lock not locking or unlocking smoothly.  When you feel your lock is working very tight you should call your local locksmith to come look at it for you.  Usually good locksmiths provide free estimates for their work.  The few very good locksmiths in Queens are Abco, Admiral, Jstein, Around the clock, Armor, and Joseph locksmith.  I personally have worked for these locksmith and yes they do provide a free walk through when a client requests it.

How not to loose your keys

I recommend using either the Mul-T-Lock or the Medeco Freedom.  There are many reasons for my recommendation.  Mul-t-Lock and Medeco Freedom gives you protection against being picked open, drilled , and also from being kicked in.  Both of these high security locks are designed with internal pins that does not allow raking of the pins.  Usually you would pick a lock open by raking the pins and then turning the plug.  The high security lock pins don't allow the raking motion.  The Medeco cylinder has hardened steel pins that not only have different length cuts but each pin also has a different angle.  This combination gives too many combination to manipulate.  The Mul-T-Lock has a double piston pin system.  Every cylinder has an outer piston and then an inner pin.  So on the key there are two small dimple size cuts where each piston and pin falls into before turning.  So I recommend these two high security locks because of all these security functions but my number one reason I recommend these two locks is that both come with a code card which allows you to make a copy of your key without having the key.  So if you loose your key or leave it in the office but you have your code card in your wallet you can just stop by your local locksmith and copy your key and go open your door.  Most locksmiths hate to see the Mul-t-Lock or medeco when it comes to emergency locksmith service because they are very hard to open.

On top of the Roof

Fire rated doors.  When the fire codes changed in the United States the fire department required all apartment doors, storage rooms in apartment buildings, boiler room doors, basically any room door inside a residential or commercial buildings to be rated at least 90 minutes. This means the door has to be able to withstand fire for 90 minutes before catching fire.  Recently the buildings department has been going around New York requiring building owners to install self closing fire rated doors for elevator machine rooms. The fire rated doors are usually made of at least a 18 gauge steel, with a solid wood core inside. The wood inside is usually treated with a fire retardant.  Usually an experience locksmith would replace an existing door with a fire rated door with an insert iron angle frame. Using an insert frame you avoid measuring the hinges off and insuring a smooth and easy installation.  Also the insert frame usually strengthens the existing frame.  Also when the existing frame has been damaged or worn out a locksmith should use an insert frame. There are times when locksmiths have used iron angle insert frames to strengthen existing wood frames.  I personally have installed insert frames and fire rated doors on many occasions to cover up damaged frames and also to strengthen existing frames. If you live in an apartment and would like to have your existing door upgraded definitely have your locksmith install a fire rated door with an insert angle frame, mortise lock, and preferably a tubular dead bolt.  There are buildings that still have old prewar style doors, I recommend having those doors replaced along with your other reconstruction of the apartment.

 

Iron gates

Iron man gates: http://youtu.be/O8XsOyHuplY

Lost car keys

It happens at the most urgent moments, moments when you are in a massive rush to get somewhere and you need your car.  You look in you pockets, in your house, you turn everything upside down but no luck you can't find your keys to your brand new car.  What to do? You call the dealer they tell you that your car has a special transponder key which will have to be cut by code and then they have to program it to your car. So you ask how long will that take? Well usually two days.  Ok not good enough.  Next you Google locksmith for auto and a bunch of locksmith websites come up.  You start to call and most of the locksmiths are quoting you very high prices.  By the time you call the fifth one you are about to loose your mind, so very rudely you start to ask the person who just answered the emergency locksmith service phone line how much for a car key?  It turned out that the person was a certified locksmith, so he asked you what kind of car is it? By the time you gave him your info he had already started to make you feel better.  It turns out that this locksmith can send out one of their technicians to your location to cut and program the key to your 2015 Toyota Camry. Before you can tell him what kind of key he asks you do you push a button or turn a key in the ignition? You say button so he tells you that's a fob system and it cost $375 you almost faint but the you realize that it is cheaper than the dealer and also no towing the car to the dealer. The technician arrives within the hour and half hour later you have your car key.  Ain't life Wonderfull.  So in case you lose your car key search for emergency locksmith queens and choose a licensed locksmith to come make you a key For your car.

Locksmith stops a burglar

Today I stopped a burglar from breaking into a single mother's apartment.  So I was working in my shop at Abbaslocksmith when a lady came in all panicked.  I asked her can I help you? She said yeah I need a pad lock for my apartment, I asked her you mean a deadbolt? She started crying and sobbed something that sounded like "I don't know someone is trying to come into my apartment".  I knew right away that she was distressed and I needed to consul her and calm her down.  So I told her right away that don't worry you have come to the right place, I will be able to help you out. So I took her over to the display  table I have in the shop where I keep locks that we apply to doors on display. So right away she saw the locks that she has on her door and pointed them out to me.  So it turned out she had two jimmy proof deadbolts on her door but she only had key to one of them.  So I told her that everything will be ok and from what she is telling me she only needs the cylinders.  So hearing that she started to calm down and started to tell me what had happened. According to her yesterday she returned from work and picking up her son to find her apartment door wide open with her dog sitting on the sofa scared stiff.  As you would guess she almost had a heart attack.  Luckily nothing was missing in the apartment.  She called the cops they came investigated made her feel very small and left.  So I asked her did you just move in? she said yes. Did you changed your locks? No I didn't she replied. Well to me that is the first mistake she made.  Locksmith advice number one change your lock as soon as you move your stuff into a new apartment.  Upon hearing this I suggested that we install one high security cylinder in the top lock and regular cylinder in the bottom cylinder. She chose the Mul-t-Lock as her high security cylinder and a segal cylinder as her regular.  She paid me at the store with her credit card.  In twenty minutes I went over and did the installation.  While installing the cylinders she told me that last night someone had attempted to come in to the apartment again because she herd the top lock click open but the middle lock which she had no keys for was locked so the door did not open. Apparently whoever was trying to come in also did not have the keys for the middle lock, Thank God.
We service the greater Queens area, including Flushing, Corona, Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Rego Park, Woodhaven, Whitestone, College Point, Bayside, and many other neighborhoods. Please take your security serious because its the only thing that you have control over as far as how much of or how little your should have.  Most locksmiths offer free advisement on home security options and if they don't they are not really locksmiths, so please don't hire them.  Call your local locksmith and ask them to come to your house or apartment to analyze how secure you are.  If no other locksmith comes to do the service you can always count on www.abbaslocksmith.com for a free advisement on home security.