An estate agent in Twickenham got in touch about a garden door that was locked shut after the key snapped in the sash lock. The property had recently been sold and the new owners were due to move in, so the door needed sorting quickly.
I collected the property keys from the agent and, once on site, found the top of the broken key still sitting inside the lock.
Normally I would first look for a non-destructive way to open the lock, but the door was old, clearly had not been used for some time and the lock itself was already in very poor condition. The resistance that had caused the key to snap was a good indication that trying to save the existing unit was unlikely to be worthwhile.
I therefore opened the failed lock and removed it rather than spending time trying to preserve something that was already beyond sensible reuse.
I had a suitable sash lock in van stock, fitted the replacement and tested the door and key operation.
The garden door was working properly again and ready for the new owners.
