It's coming up to the end of January and this is only my second blog of the year! Sorry about that, but I've just been run off my feet. It's been 12 to 15 hour days all month. That might sound like I've been too busy, but really it's been a relief, as the boiler broke in our house, so it's been freezing in our house. To be honest, I felt I was better off out and about in the van until it was fixed.

I saw when of the most awfull jobs done last Monday in Kingstanding, Birmingham. A couple had phoned a national "locksmith" company on Saturday night. The "locksmith" turned up and told them their lock had to be drilled not picked. He told them it would cost £250!!! He then proceeded to drill a 20mm in their door. I may add it was a composite door, the type with a metal plate over the whole front of the door, so he was drilling into metal, so he can't even fill it back up. Also it was a deadlock, so can't even hide the hole under door handles.

His hole didn't work anyway, as even with a 20mm hole, he missed the drill point by over 15mm! So he decided to put another hole in the door. Why I don't know. By this time he'd totally buggered the lock up so he decided to route the two holes together. 3 hours later he's in! He takes the cash and disapears. Leaving them with a no lock and a nice big hole in their metal door.

I've fitted them a new lock and I've ordered a plate to cover up the 50mm hole in the door he left behind. It really is a disgrace that these people are still allowed to trade as "locksmiths".

Anyway, I've been busy doing all the usual locksmith work, covering all the usual areas; Sutton Coldfield, Solihull, Birmingham, Lichfield, Tamworth, Stratford, Warwick, Leamington Spa etc. As ever I've beeen doing the usual lockpicking, lock fitting, adjusting doors, burglary repairs and all the rest.

I've had loads more failed upvc door lock mechanisms than usual. This is because of the cold weather and the metal in the doors contracting (the same always seems to happen in the summer when it gets hot and the metal expands).

Whilst on the subject of upvc door locks, due to the amount of burglaries there seem to have been lately, I've been fitting lots of the new ICL euro cylinders and sash jammers, to secure the back doors. I did a blog all about these here or for more info click on our Upvc Door page here. But put simply, 90% of the burglaries now are done on the back door and upvc back doors at that. The thieves obviously know how these are arguably the easiest doors to break into. They're normally in in under a minute, with very little noise. Put it this way, I break into houses for a living and I always think "Oh good, Upvc" when I see a house I've got to gain entry into! That's why these anti-snap cylinders, coupled with sash jammers are such a good idea. They're what I've got on my back door anyway and my Mum on hers!

Talking of burglaries, I went to an awful one this week. Got a phonecall at about 11.30pm. I had already been out all day, from 6.45am to 10pm, and the customer says he'd had his door kicked in, in Sutton Coldfield. I get there and it turns out these lads were in the house when it happened! Sitting watching tv when they heard a loud crashing sound, followed by a group of blokes in balaclavas with bats and knives, who prompltly started threatening them and robbed them! Understandably they were somewhat shaken up by the time I got there. Unbelievably the police thought it was a case of the wrong address and they just stole what they could as an after-thought!!! I must say, I was horrified. It was only round the corner from my house! Obviously I changed the locks and we're going to go back and fit extra bolts and a london bar, which will strengthen the door frame.

Oh, before I forget, the main thing I wanted to talk about are hardwood doors. Due to the fact I'm always asked about doors and what I normally do is just give someone elses number out, I've decided to start doing them ourselves, in-house. This way we can make sure the job is done properly. I'm obviously a fully qualified carpenter as well as a locksmith anyway and our  carpenter and cabinet maker Rob (of Rob Lennon Carpentery) will be doing all the hanging, so we can guarentee the highest standards of workmanship. By being a mobile company and not a shop, we can keep the costs of the doors and door furniture below rrp. If you're interested in new doors, feel free to give me a call. Keep an eye on this site, as I will get all the door updates on it soon.

We are fitting both internal and external hardwood doors, only top quality doors. We will obviously know which locks are best fitted on them aswell!