The symptoms we see here
The side gate cylinder comes first. It takes the rain head on, dust thrown up off the gravel drives works its way into the keyway, and frosty mornings on the western plateau finish the job. The key catches, then has to be hunted into position, then stops turning altogether.
In the old core the commonest fault is the door you have to lift before it will lock. The timber has swollen, dried and taken up play season after season, and the hinges have dropped. The lock is not at fault: the bolt and the striking plate have simply stopped lining up. Adjusting the plate or the hinges often puts that right for several seasons.
In the Pérollier and Charrière Blanche estates the faults are those of standard doors: a soft handle with a worn spindle, a top point on a multipoint that no longer engages, a badly adjusted closer in the hall slamming the leaf and tiring the mechanism a little more each day. These faults settle in slowly, and nobody reports them until the door stops.
The habits that turn a nuisance into a lock-out
All-purpose spray lubricant is the commonest reaction and the most harmful. It leaves a greasy film that traps dust; on a gate cylinder at Les Sources, out in the gravel and the downpours, complete seizure follows quickly. A dry lubricant made for locks, once a year, is what should be used instead. Dust thrown up by the wheels shortens the life of the barrel further.
Never force a key that resists, least of all in cold weather: the blade twists and snaps off inside the barrel, outdoors, at the worst possible moment. If a fragment is already in there, leave it alone and try nothing. Extraction stays far simpler as long as nobody has pushed the piece deeper in.
Finally, do not replace a lock to cure an alignment fault. If the leaf drags or the top point has to be forced, a new lock will meet exactly the same strain by the first damp season. The door, the hinges and the striking plates are adjusted first; the part is only changed afterwards, if it still deserves it.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our locksmith repairs page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Écully.