Locksmith for second homes

In Torrevieja and along the Vega Baja coast there are many homes that are only opened for a few weeks a year. They spend the winter shut, with the shutters down and nobody inside. That has two consequences we see often: locks that seize up from the salty air and lack of use, and homes that catch the eye of anyone looking for an empty house.

What tends to happen to a house that stays shut for months

• You arrive in summer and the key will not turn, or it goes in but is very stiff.
• The terrace or garden door has gone stiff with rust.
• When you come back you see marks on the shutter or the door: someone has tried.
• You do not know how many keys are spread among family, neighbours and former tenants.
• You are worried that squatters will move in while you are away.

Services that suit a second home

Protection against squatters brings together what makes an empty home hard to open: a high security cylinder, an escutcheon, a bolt and shutter reinforcement. It is not about turning the house into a bunker, but about making forcing it take too long and make too much noise.

In bungalows and ground floor homes, the shutters are the weakest point. With shutter reinforcement for second homes we reinforce shutters so they cannot be lifted or bent, even when the house is empty. To find out whether yours can be reinforced, send us a photo.

If the front door is a basic one, door reinforcement with a bolt, anti-lever hinges or an escutcheon takes it to another level without replacing the whole door. And so you do not find the lock jammed when you arrive, lock maintenance before you shut the house up or when you open it again prevents a lot of problems.

How we work even when you are far away

Many people with a second home on the coast live outside the area or outside Spain. That is why nearly everything can be arranged on WhatsApp:

• Send us photos of the door, the lock or the shutters and tell us what is worrying you.
• We give you a fixed quote in writing before we start, and you accept it on WhatsApp.
• We arrange the visit with whoever has your keys: a relative, a neighbour or the person who looks after your home. Before opening a home, we check that whoever is asking has the right to enter; we explain how this is shown when you call.
• If something different turns up when we check it on site, we let you know and do not carry on unless you are happy.

We give you an invoice for the work and you can pay by card, Bizum or cash. If you write to us in another language, we look after you on WhatsApp in your own language.

Tips before you shut the house up

• Lock with every turn of the key, not just on the latch.
• If the house is on the ground floor, check the shutters: they are the first thing people try to lift.
• Ask someone you trust to call in now and then and open and close the door so the lock does not sit unused for months.
• If you have lent the house out or let it for a season, change the cylinder before leaving it empty.

We are Torrevieja locksmiths, born and bred here, with 15 years of experience. We know well how homes on the coast fare out of season.