An estate agent I work with got in touch about a property in Isleworth where there were no keys for the existing lock and it needed replacing.
Before I arrived, somebody had already tried drilling the cylinder from both sides. The attempt had not worked, and broken drill-bit tips had even been left behind on the floor. The lock had drill-resistant components for a reason, so attacking it with more drilling was not going to be my first choice.
Once on site, I removed and replaced the cylinder without needing to drill it out.
There was also an important safety consideration. This door was the property’s only exit in the event of a fire, so I replaced the previous key-and-key cylinder with a fire-rated thumb-turn lock. That meant the door could still be secured from outside while allowing keyless escape from inside.
The new lock was fitted and tested, giving the tenant both working access and a more appropriate escape arrangement than the previous setup.
