Lock changes in Wimbledon

Most lock changes finish inside 30 to 45 minutes on site, plus around 30 minutes to reach you. A standard cylinder swap is closer to 20. A heritage mortice fit on an original Victorian door takes the full 45.

Almost certainly yes if you're on a standard UK home policy. BS3621 is the British Standard most insurers cite for the primary lock on the final exit door. We fit BS3621-rated locks as standard and provide the certificate for your insurer.

A 1-star cylinder meets the basic TS007 standard but typically needs pairing with a 2-star security handle to defeat snap attacks. A 3-star cylinder (Diamond rated, like Avocet ABS or Yale Platinum) defeats snap, pick and bump attacks on its own, regardless of the handle. For most Wimbledon front doors we recommend 3-star. The price gap is small and the security gap is large.

Sometimes, but it's rarely worth it on the kind of locks that come standard on UK doors. Most domestic cylinders aren't designed to be rekeyed in the field, and once you've paid for pulling the cylinder, ordering matched pins, and refitting, the saving over a fresh BS3621 swap is usually small or none. We'll be honest on the call about which makes sense for your specific door.

Yes, common job. We can fit a new cylinder so the outgoing tenant's keys no longer work, and provide three fresh keys for the new tenant or for the agent to handle. If you're the landlord and not on site, we just need someone (the agent, the incoming tenant, a neighbour) to let us in.

The same-day email receipt itemises cylinder cost, key-cutting, labour, and any uplift on separate lines, in the format an agent or tenant can audit cleanly. If the receipt needs to be in the tenant's name rather than yours (or vice versa), tell us on the call before the job and we'll write it that way. Payment on the day is the landlord's; the receipt format is whatever serves the billing chain.

The new lock is covered for 12 months from fit. That includes the cylinder, the mortice, and any handle or hardware we supply. The labour itself is covered for 6 months on adjustment-only work (a keep realignment, a strike-plate adjustment, a multi-point retune without a new gearbox). On a fresh fit, the 12-month parts warranty effectively covers both because we come back to put right any fault that develops inside the year, with no extra labour charge.

Three usual reasons, often together. Cylinder pin wear from years of use slowly drops internal tolerance. The door and frame move with the seasons, particularly on Victorian timber that swells in summer and shrinks in winter, which shifts the bolt's path through the keep. And graphite or dirt has built up inside the keyway. We can usually fix it by adjusting the keep and lubricating the cylinder; if the cylinder is past saving, a fresh BS3621 unit takes the door back to factory feel.

That's the multi-point gearbox starting to fail. The lift action engages the hooks and shootbolts up and down the door edge; when the gearbox cam is worn or the door has dropped slightly on its hinges, you need two lifts to fully engage the throw. Left alone, the gearbox will eventually fail mid-lock, often when you're trying to leave for work. We carry the common Yale, ERA, Avocet and Fuhr gearboxes in the van, and a swap takes under an hour.

If your front door is the only thing between the street and your hallway (a flat door or a front door directly onto the pavement), a 3-star cylinder is worth the small price difference. The £35 Spider snap tool defeats 1-star cylinders in seconds; a 3-star Avocet ABS or Yale Platinum stops it cold. If you're behind a communal door already (a flat inside a managed building), the entrance cylinder is usually the priority and a 1-star plus a 2-star handle is acceptable. We'll be honest on the call about which makes sense for your specific door.