Mortice lockout: Uxbridge, UB8
Five-lever mortice on a timber door off Hillingdon Road, keys left inside. Picked in place through the keyway: nothing drilled, nothing swapped, the same keys back in use and the lock left exactly as it was found.
Recent Work
Real Jobs, Photographed on Site
Every job on this page was photographed on the day, at the door, by the locksmith who did it. No stock imagery and no library shot of a stranger's van: the locks, the doors and the towns are the ones actually attended across the 25-mile patch.
- 24/7 cover
- 30–60 min
- No call-out fee
- DBS-checked
- Insurance-approved
Ingersoll rekey: Ruislip, HA4
Old keys unaccounted for after a change of occupier, so the Ingersoll rim cylinder was rekeyed rather than replaced. The new set works, the old set is dead, and the chrome furniture on the green door stayed put.
Ultion upgrade: Pinner, HA5
A break-in attempt next door prompted this one. The plain euro cylinder that stood proud of the handle came out and an Ultion three-star anti-snap unit, measured flush to the plate, went in. Around twenty minutes at the door.
uPVC gearbox repair: Northwood, HA6
The Fullex SL16 gearbox had failed, so the door only locked when the handle was forced up. New gearbox into the existing strip, the cylinder upgraded while the strip was out, and the door realigned on its hinges so the hooks meet the keeps.
Container lockout: Denham, UB9
The only key to a site container had gone. The container was opened without damage to the door or the hasp, then fitted with a high-security lock box and a fresh set of keys so the site could carry on trading the same afternoon.
Fire-exit hardware: Iver, SL0
Steel fire doors on a commercial unit that had to open instantly from inside and still let staff in from the yard. Panic push bars fitted inside, an outside access device with its own cylinder outside, and the escape route kept clear.
Bramah install: Amersham, HP6
A period oak door fitted with a Joseph Bramah cylinder pull beside a black rim deadlock. Hardware chosen to suit the age and weight of the door rather than to standardise it, with the original timber untouched around the new pull.
BS3621 deadlock: Winchmore Hill, N21
The insurer wanted a BS-rated deadlock on a black timber door. An ERA five-lever BS3621 mortice went into the door edge beneath the existing furniture, the strike plate was cut into the frame, and a full key set was cut at the van.
How These Jobs Are Recorded
Taken at the Door, Not Afterwards
Nothing here is staged. Each photo was taken at the point in the job it shows, which is why some have a pick still in the keyway and others show a lock strip lying on the doormat. Addresses are never published; the town and the postcode district are enough to place the work, and the area page linked under each card describes the streets and door types that town tends to bring. The brand names are the ones on the hardware, not a shopping list: Ingersoll, Fullex, Ultion, Bramah and ERA appear because those were the locks on those doors.
Eight jobs is not eight jobs a year. It is the set with a clear photograph and an owner happy for the door to be shown, chosen so that each of the six services and a spread of the patch is represented once. The page is added to as suitable jobs come up.
Got a Door Like One of These?
What to Photograph Before You Ring
A couple of pictures on WhatsApp usually let the price be fixed before the visit. The useful ones are:
- The edge of the door, open. The lock strip or faceplate, and any brand stamped on it (Fullex, Yale, ERA, Winkhaus, Mul-T-Lock, Ultion) or a BS kitemark.
- The handle and keyway from outside. Whether the keyhole sits in the handle plate (a euro cylinder) or in the door itself (a mortice), and whether the cylinder sticks out past the plate.
- The whole door and frame from a step back. A dropped door or a gap at the top corner shows up at this distance and points to alignment rather than a new lock.
- Any key you still have. The head of the key often carries the maker's name and, on restricted keys, the profile that decides whether it can be copied at the van.
If you are locked out, skip the photos and ring; the door is described on the call and the price fixed the same way.
Featured Job
An Antique Milners Safe, Opened Without Damage
A Victorian Milners of London safe with a long-lost key was opened non-destructively: no cutting, no forcing the door. Once open, the lever mechanism was serviced and re-keyed so the safe could be used again rather than scrapped. Safe work is precision manipulation, the same skill that opens a jammed front door, scaled up.
Got a Door Like One of These?
Send a photo on WhatsApp or describe it on the phone: fixed price, then the van.