Something playing up, or a problem right now? Jump straight to the guide for what you're dealing with — grouped by where the trouble is. Each one is written by the master locksmiths who fix these every day.
Coming home to a break-in is frightening and disorienting. Here's the calm, ordered sequence — staying safe, calling the police, the crime reference number, documenting the scene, insurance, and securing your home again — from the locksmiths who attend the aftermath.
Keys inside, keys lost, key snapped, or a handle that won't lift — four different problems with four different answers. A locksmith's guide to handling each one, and the first-ten-minutes mistakes that turn cheap jobs expensive.
Broken off, snapped, stuck or won't turn — different problems with different fixes. Why superglue is the internet's worst advice, when pliers are safe, and what professional extraction involves.
Search from the last certain moment, sweep in zones, check the strange-but-true regulars — and the 24-hour rule that turns a lost-keys hunt into a security decision.
The key won't turn — or it turns but nothing happens. One quick test tells you whether it's the door, the mechanism or the cylinder, and what to try before you force it.
A lost car key is almost always replaceable without a tow or a dealer bill. How the process works, what it costs, and the one question that changes everything.
Most car lockouts are an inconvenience, not a danger — and a mobile auto locksmith opens the car without a scratch. What to expect, and when to call 999 instead.
Most “key won’t turn” cases are simple and free to fix — the steering lock is the usual culprit. The checks to try in order, and the one mistake that snaps the key.
Most dead-fob problems are small and cheap — usually the battery. The checks to run in order, and how to tell a flat remote from a chip the car no longer recognises.
The right first steps, in the right order: make people safe, clear the glass, secure the opening, and protect your insurance claim. When to call emergency boarding-up.
Most window-locking faults are a quick fix, not a new window. How the espag and gearbox work, what each symptom means, the DIY checks to try, and the part-matching trap.
The front door gets the attention; the windows are often the real weak point. Which window locks actually work, restrictors and the fire-escape rule, and what insurers expect.
Before you force it — why windows jam, the safe way to free a stuck handle, sash or seized mechanism, and why it is usually the lock that has failed, not the whole window.
A spinning handle and a stuck latch are usually a small, cheap part — until they're forced. The finger test that finds the fault, the likely culprits, and how to avoid a door-off job.
Two different problems wear the same words. How to tell a door-and-mechanism fault (a garage-door engineer's job) from a lock fault (ours) — and why the springs are the one thing never to touch.
A stiff door is an early warning, not a quirk. The 30-second test, the seasonal damp-cloth trick, the dropped-door gap check, the right lubricant, and the moment it becomes a security problem.
The 30-second test that tells you whether it's the door or the mechanism, why forcing the handle turns a quick fix into a lockout, and what a repair really involves.
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