Lock maintenance

A communal entrance lock is opened and closed hundreds of times a week. The community pool gate sits idle all winter and in June everyone uses it. The meter room door is hardly ever touched and on the day it is needed it will not turn. They all have one thing in common: they fail at the worst possible time.

Lock maintenance means inspecting locks regularly, cleaning them, adjusting them and replacing whatever is worn before it breaks. We are locksmiths from Torrevieja with 15 years of experience and we work with residents’ associations, property managers, businesses and owners of rental homes.

Who this service is for

• Residents’ associations. Entrance doors, pedestrian garage doors, bin rooms, meter rooms, lifts, shared storerooms, pool and garden areas.
• Property managers. Who manage several communities and need a go-to locksmith who knows each building.
• Businesses and offices. Entrance doors, offices, archives, plant rooms.
• Shops and commercial premises. Front door, service doors and roller shutters.
• Holiday lets and second homes. Where different people come and go and the lock should always be in good condition.

What an inspection includes

On every visit we go over the agreed locks:

• We check that the key goes in and turns smoothly, without play.
• We clean the lock cylinder and lubricate it with a suitable product.
• We check that the bolt and the latch engage properly in the strike plate.
• We adjust the door if it rubs or does not close by itself, and the door closer if it has one.
• We look for signs of forcing or tampering.
• We note down anything worth replacing in the coming weeks, so you can budget for it in good time.

When we finish, we leave you a written summary of what was inspected and what was done. That way, if you are a property manager, you can take it to the residents’ meeting without having to explain it from memory.

Why it matters more on the coast

The salt air in Torrevieja and the coastal urbanisations corrodes lock cylinders and springs far faster than inland. Sand gets into ground floor locks and pool gate locks. And many urbanisations are half empty for much of the year: doors that go unused for months seize up, and in high season they all start failing at once.

Maintenance before the summer prevents a good share of those breakdowns.

Key changes and control of copies

In residential communities it is common to lose count of how many keys to the entrance or the pool are in circulation. When that happens, or when the caretaker or the cleaning company changes, the sensible thing is to change the lock cylinder. If you also want each neighbour to open only what they should with a single key, there is the option of a master key system.

For holiday lets, changing the cylinder every so often is a good habit. There is more information in holiday lets.

Common mistakes in residential communities

• Putting oil or thick grease in the entrance cylinder: it traps sand and seizes it up.
• Jamming the latch on the entrance door so it does not close, which damages the lock and leaves the building open.
• Waiting for the pool lock to fail in the middle of summer before changing it.
• Not knowing who has a copy of the meter room key.

How we work with property managers

If you manage several communities, we can keep a record of each building with its locks, models and keys. When an emergency comes up, we already know what is there and which part is needed. We let you know before any work that has not been agreed and do not carry on without your go-ahead. There are more details in property managers.

What is not included

We work with locks, lock cylinders, deadbolts, hinges, door closers and manual roller shutters. We do not do access control, video entry systems or motors for garage doors or roller shutters. If something like that is failing in your community, we will tell you so you can take it up with the right company.

Emergencies between inspections

Maintenance reduces breakdowns, but it does not eliminate them. If something breaks between visits, we are available 24 hours a day, every day. If we are your maintenance locksmith, we already know the doors and that makes everything simpler.

How to get started

Message us on WhatsApp with the list of doors you want to include and, if you can, a few photos. We carry out a first inspection, tell you the real condition of each lock and suggest a frequency that makes sense. Fixed quote, payment by card, Bizum or cash, and help in your own language.