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Do Your Locks Work Like They Should? Probably Not. It looks fine. It locks. The keys work. What could be wrong? Plenty! Have you heard stories of doors being opened with credit cards? Well, so did the lock manufacturers. Most knob locks now include a deadlatching feature to prevent the old credit card trick from working. Unfortunately, improper lock installation often prevents the deadlatch from functioning. This problem is found on new doors as well as old. In fact, the problem is often found in newly constructed homes with thick insulating material around the frame of the door. Unless the lock was installed by a trained locksmith, chances are good that it was improperly installed. Have you heard of ice picks being used to open deadbolt locks? Again, improper installation will prevent deadbolts from offering the protection they were designed to provide. Unfortunately, this is another problem found on new homes as well as old. The good news is that malfunctioning deadlatches and deadbolts are easy to diagnose. They are also relatively easy problems to correct. But they are problems that require correction if you want any sort of protection from break-ins. It doesn't matter if it is a $10 lock or a $500 lock, improper installation will compromise any lock. A third problem situation occurs increasingly in new homes and subdivisions. Many new home builders install at least one lock that is masterkeyed, sometimes all of the locks are masterkeyed. This is done for their own convenience. If a contractor is working on several homes, it is convenient to have one key to lock and unlock them all. When the home is sold, the new owner receives a new set of keys that only works on the one home. The problem is, many contractors and subcontractors (and who knows who else) may still have keys that will unlock the house. Any lock may malfunction. Almost any lock can be upgraded. Reinforcements are available that will provide more security than a lock alone. But the least you should expect is that a lock should perform as it was designed to perform. Security should not be compromised by improper installation. While rekeying the locks in any new home is a prudent decision, new owners should have a reasonable expectation that they possess the only known working keys for their home.
 | Deadlatch Function
The deadlatch is the smaller part that appears to move in and out with the latch. But when you close the door, it does something different. If the lock is properly installed, the deadlatch will not fall into the opening in the strike plate - it will remain depressed. If with the door open, you depress the deadlatch, you will find that the latch can no longer be depressed. In use, properly installed, this prevents a credit card or similar item from being slid between the door and jamb, depressing the latch, and allowing the door to be opened. If you slowly close the door, you may be able to observe whether or not the deadlatch falls into the opening in the strike plate. If it does, the deadlatch function has been compromised, defeating the security feature built into the lock. |
 | Deadbolt Operation
With the door open, operate the deadbolt. With the bolt fully extended, try to push the bolt back into the lock. It should have locked in the extended position. Operate the deadbolt again, but do not allow the bolt to fully extend. Now, if you push on the bolt, it will easily retract. The bolt will only lock when it is fully extended. Note how far you turn the thumbturn or key to move the bolt to the fully extended position. Now try again with the door closed. If you cannot turn the thumbturn or key as far with the door closed as when it was open, the bolt has probably not fully extended. A knife blade, icepick, or even a plain screwdriver can probably be used to retract the deadbolt. Again, the full level of designed security has been compromised by improper installation. |
 Masterkeyed Locks
Lock cylinders may be keyed to work with only one key, or masterkeyed to allow more than one key to operate it. They may also be construction-keyed. Masterkeying involves the addition of master pins inside the lock. Construction-keying usually involves the use of small balls within the lock that will allow a contractor's key to operate the lock until the owner's key is used. When the owner's key is used, the balls drop into a pocket inside the lock cylinder, which should render the contractor's key inoperable in the lock. Unfortunately, many builders of new homes are using locks that are not only construction-keyed, bt also contain master pins. While this may prevent use of the contractor's key, each master pin left in the lock doubles the number of keys that will operate the lock. Most residential locks have 5 pins. We have found locks on newly-constructed homes containing 4 or 5 master pins, meaning 16 to 32 different keys would operate the lock. We have also found instances where balls used in construction-keyed locks did not drop, meaning the contractor's key would still operate the lock. There is no way to determine whether a lock contains master pins without disassembling the lock. It is possible to rekey a lock without removing the master pins. If the locksmith does not make the extra effort to check for master pins, they can easily escape notice. Altic Lock Service will always make that extra effort.
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