Two Reasons To Avoid Replacing Your Own Doors Locks
Whilst there are many tutorials on the internet that provide instructions on the subject of DIY door lock replacement, you should not use these tutorials to replace your own external door locks. Instead, you should get this work done by a locksmith. Here are some reasons why.
The locksmith will do the work quickly
Whilst after viewing some lock replacement tutorials, you might think this looks like a simple process that will take you no time at all, it's important to understand that the reason it might look easy and quick in the tutorial videos is that those demonstrating the replacement probably understand how door locks work and have performed this task many times before. If however, you've never replaced any door locks before and you don't have much time to do this work, you should consider hiring a locksmith as they'll be able to do it far faster than you could.
This is because this knowledgeable professional won't make the blunders that you easily could, which would then take several minutes or more to correct. For example, one common error that DIYs make when doing this is misaligning the lock and the strike plate, which can result in them having to remove the newly installed lock so they can resolve this alignment issue.
Furthermore, whilst you might have to continually put down your tools to go and revisit the video tutorial to get a specific piece of information (such as how to correctly align the lock components), a seasoned locksmith, who has probably done this task hundreds of times, will fly through every step of the process and get the new locks fitted in a fraction of the time you could have. As such, if you'd prefer to get the door locks replaced quickly, it's best to book a locksmith for this job.
You could damage your doorframe and render the new lock unusable
If the new lock that you'll be fitting has a larger strike plate than the old one, then you'll need to extend the size of the strike plate hole, into which the new strike plate will be placed. If you've never done this before, you could end up damaging the doorframe and rendering the new lock unusable. If for example, when trying to enlarge the strike plate hole on the doorframe, you chip away too much of the doorframe material or accidentally take a large chunk out of the area around the strike plate hole with your tool, not only will you be left with a visibly damaged section on the frame but neither the old, small strike plate nor the bigger new one will fit into this hole. This could result in you either having to repair the doorframe or get it replaced and in the meantime, you would not be able to fit any lock on this door.
Conversely, if a locksmith enlarges the strike plate hole for you, they'll do this in a precise way with specialist tools, which will result in this opening being extended so it's an exact fit for the new strike plate. Most importantly, they'll do this without inflicting any unnecessary damage on the doorframe and will ensure that the new lock functions perfectly.
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