Opposite... lock ... help?

"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich)
11/29/2016 at 23:54 • Filed to: None

Mrs. BaconSandwich called me while I was at work today. She couldn’t get into the house. It turns out the deadbolt on our front door had crapped out. As soon as I got home from work, I took it apart. It appears that part of the bolt assembly has decided to disassemble itself:

For whatever reason, there’s sort of an extension on the internal bits of the bolt assembly. This has become loosened off from the rest of the bolt assembly, so turning the key doesn’t actually retract the rest of the extension - meaning the door stays locked. Anyone seen anything like this before? (I should have taken pictures of it while I had it apart). Any idea if I need to replace the entire unit?

On that subject, we also take possession of our new (to us) house, and need to get the locks re-keyed. Any idea how much this generally costs? Will a place like Home Depot be able to do it, or do I need a proper locksmith?

I’m almost tempted to get one of those fancy deadbolts with the keyless entry - where you punch in a number instead - for the new house. (I wouldn’t trust a Bluetooth one, or one that only has a 4 digit code - 6+ digits minimum). Any recommendations there?

DISCUSSION (26)

Noodles > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 00:04

I’ve always just replaced the deadbolts. they’re not that expensive. Never thought of re-keying

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 00:04

Those fancy deadbolts are notorious for failure.

Clown Shoe Pilot > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 00:05

You can get a new lock at your local home improvement center. Some brands will have numbered key codes on them so if you need to do several doors just get the same key code and they’ll all be keyed the same. If that’s not an option, most stores will have the equipment necessary to re-key everything to the same key.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Noodles
11/30/2016 at 00:05

I’m thinking I might have to replace the one that pooped. I priced a few similar ones out, and it’s not as bad as I thought.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
11/30/2016 at 00:06

Hmm. That doesn’t fill me with confidence. The reason we’d like one is my mother-in-law often forgets her keys, and it’d be pretty easy for us to text her the code, rather than having her remember her keys all the time.

Noodles > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 00:09

I can see re-keying if you’re only replacing one & you want a single key for all doors, but “new to you” means you don’t know who the previous tenants gave keys to....

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Noodles
11/30/2016 at 00:13

Yeah. We definitely want to change the locks in one way or another. There’s a front door (with regular lock and deadbolt), back door (not sure if it has a deadbolt as well, or just a regular lock and some latches), and the garage door. All of them are keyed the same, as far as I know.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Clown Shoe Pilot
11/30/2016 at 00:14

Good to know. I’m planning on stopping by the nearby Home Depot on my way home tomorrow.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 00:14

Almost every new home I work in gets those fancy deadbolts or the keypad ones. The problem with the keypad ones that if the guy who did your door installation and weather stripping doesn’t do a precise job, it will not fully engage when misaligned. PITA when using in that scenario.

We had a project manager lobby for those $35 deadbolts, but I suppose no one wants their post-modern $800,000 townhouse to be tarnished with one of these:

Kinja'd!!!

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
11/30/2016 at 00:18

$800k for a townhouse? Yikes.

There’s no way in heck I’d trust anything with Bluetooth or any other wireless connection. An MSc in computer science has taught me not to trust a lot of computer stuff. Too much of that stuff is rushed onto the market without being properly tested.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 00:23

Aside: I would love to remotely arm my home instead of setting my alarming and having 30 seconds to get my ass out the door before it starts screeching. But I am pretty wary of that stuff, plus the monthly payment for such a plan was absurd.

Noodles > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 00:25

This thing is pretty cool. It is Bluetooth but...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 07:39

If it’s new enough, and a Weiser, their newer deadbolts can actually be rekeyed without a locksmith...the keys to your other locks have to be Weiser and the right newer type though to match.

TheRealBicycleBuck > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 08:50

Check the brand before you go and call ahead to see if they carry it. The locks on my house are sold to builders, but are not carried at the local big box home improvement stores. I have to go to a supplier on the other side of town to get replacements. Because these things fail at the most inopportune moments, the back door now requires two different keys (deadbolt and knob), the garage door requires two different keys, and neither of the deadbolts match the keys to the front door. If I can just get my wife to pick a style, I will buy a contractor’s pack and replace all of the locks and knobs at once.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > TheRealBicycleBuck
11/30/2016 at 09:21

Good to know!

I remember my parent’s house required two different keys - one for the main locks and one for the deadbolt. But that was more than likely because my parents didn’t want to pay someone to get the deadbolts to match the other locks.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Noodles
11/30/2016 at 09:23

I saw some of these for sale. Pretty pricey, though.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Noodles
11/30/2016 at 09:28

Yikes... https://www.cnet.com/news/have-a-smart-lock-yeah-it-can-probably-be-hacked/

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
11/30/2016 at 09:31

I hear you. I’m sure there’d be some way of hacking your existing system with a Raspberry Pi that would let you do something like that.

TheRealBicycleBuck > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 09:37

My mom’s house was that way. Three doors, six keys. It was this way from the time it was brand new. Lazy builder....

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 10:40

Easiest to just buy new locks! Probably close to being cheaper than getting a locksmith in this city too.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/30/2016 at 14:22

Yeah, I might just end up doing that.

So fun thing - we’ll at least be living on the same side of the city now. New house is in Copperwood. And it has a garage!

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/30/2016 at 15:44

Haha I’m in the North! Ohhh fancy fixing stuff space

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/30/2016 at 21:05

Hah! For some reason I thought you were in Riverstone. Right now we’re down in the south, house sitting. Before that we weren’t far from the hospital.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > BaconSandwich is tasty.
12/01/2016 at 09:27

So an update on the situation: Still need to replace the dead deadbolt. It turns out the new house has a whole mix of keys - like almost a different key for every door, despite 2/3 being those Weiser ones that can be re-keyed if you have the tool. Which I don’t. Home Depot had an electronic deadbolt on for a Black Friday sale, so I ended up picking one up. It’ll go on the front door, but I’ll still likely have to replace the locks on the back door and the garage door so that they all match the key from the deadbolt. Because they are different brands, I’m guessing I will have to buy new locks.

The joys of home ownership?

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > BaconSandwich is tasty.
12/01/2016 at 10:10

Lived at the in-laws for a while in Riverstone, bought a house on the North (Compton) side.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
12/05/2016 at 16:13

Ha ha - Compton.

It’s not that bad, is it? :P