How to Maintain the Door Locks of Your Home Effectively?August 24, 2021

The doors of your home may be made from various materials. However, to ensure that they can offer privacy, safety, and security, you must opt for materials that can withstand excessive force from intruders and burglars. You must likewise pair them with accessories that can support their functions. The privacy, safety, and security of your doors, fortunately, can be improved through integrating quality door locks.

Door locks made by reliable locksmiths typically feature durable materials and complex mechanisms that would make them safe and secure. But for them to be effective, they must be maintained optimally. Some things that you can do to maintain your door locks are the following:

Ensure Proper Door Installation

One way to maintain the door locks of your home is to ensure that your doors are installed appropriately. Doors that bind or sag can put some pressure on the latch or bolt of your locks. Without resolving this issue right away, your locks may suddenly fail to function, locking you and other family members in or out of your property. As a guide, your doors must have a uniform gap with their frames across the top and sides of around 1/8 inch and less than a quarter-inch, respectively.

Check Screws and Strike Plates

Another way to maintain the functionality of your door locks is to check and set up the hinge screws and strike plates effectively. Optimally, the hinges of your door should have at least one long screw to the door frame so that they can be connected firmly to the wall framing around the door. Aside from the hinges and their long screws, you must also check and see if the strike plates are secured to the wall framing. To ensure that they remain intact, you must add and pair them with long screws. Adding long screws to the hinges and strike plates can prevent burglars from entering your home.

Inspect Deadlatch and Deadbolt

Some door locks maximise deadlatch, a spring-bolt latch that can automatically lock itself once the door is closed. For your deadlatch to be effective, it must not fall into the strike plate. Otherwise, it could become damaged, causing your door lock to fail.

Similar to deadlatch, your deadbolt must also be inspected carefully. The deadbolt, which is found in other types of door locks, can often be locked and unlocked through a key. When inspecting the deadbolt, you must ensure that its hole in the door jamb is deep enough for it to extend fully.

Clean and Lubricate the Locks

Two more things that you should do to maintain your locks is to clean and lubricate them. Your door locks can be easily cleaned by wiping mild detergent on their exterior parts. Lubrication, alternatively, is necessary so that the interior components of your door locks can last longer. With compatible lubricants, you must spray them towards the keyway. Afterwards, you must insert the key in and out of the door locks and remove any debris that the key will obtain.

To know more about locks and their maintenance, you can contact us at Altona Locksmiths.

Altona Locksmiths

15c Slough Road, Altona
Phone: (03) 9315 0522
Email: altlock@bigpond.net.au

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