Advice for securing new house

[Jlo]

Hi All,

Well finally exchanged contracts and moving on the 4th May to our new house (Well 11 year old house)

A few questions to you locksmiths out there?

I plan to change the cheap union cylinder for either:

A Banham L111 rim lock http://www.directlocks.co.uk/banham-l11 ... -1134.html

a) Will this easly retrofit in place of a standard union rim lock and hole in the door 60mm) as it uses a euro cylinder.
b) Is the 6 pin cylinder got more than just spool pins etc (eg sidebar system as its very expensive) I know some have dimple keys but the picture looks like its just a normal 6 pin)

or

A CHUBB 4L67 (BS3621) http://www.directlocks.co.uk/chubb-4l67 ... p-625.html rim lock. Much cheaper, not such a secure door strike as Banham but does have the AVA lock system and is much cheaper

or

An ingersoll SC 71 http://www.directlocks.co.uk/ingersoll- ... p-628.html

Will they all retro fit easly as looking at the Banham lock it uses somthing similar to Euro lock cylinder with a Guard but will this fit through the hole where the hold union cylinder used to be?

Thanks for your help

Jlo

[taylorgdl]

I can only answer some of your questions, I'll leave it to others to finish.

All three are good locks, well made, and hard to defeat.

The Banham has very fine manufacturing tollerences which makes it a very hard pick. You are in part paying for the name (well you are on all of them) but if you want the quality then this is the one for you. Not sure how easily it will replace your union though. They do use dimple keys, but in this case I think its a standard pin tumbler.

The ingersoll and chubb are again good, (and cheaper!) and use different types of locking mechanisms.

Make sure you get enough keys with all of these, as getting extras cut will be very costly.

And lastly, look at the state of the door you are fitting these locks to. There is no point fitting a high quality lock to an old and rotten door, with weak hinges and frame.

(Oh and don't forget the rest of your house, your front door might be very secure, but what about the back door, windows, garage etc etc)

Hope this helps,

G.

[Jlo]

Thanks.

That was the next question I was going to ask.

The House is 11 years old and has wooden double glazing, which only has a lock in the window handle. Would you advice to have a extra window lock fitted say on each downstairs window.

The back door is wooden and has top and bottom rack bolts and I plan to get the existing 5 lever sash lock replaced with a Chubb 114 bs 3621 2004 lock.

The house also has a patio door where the euro lock sticks out loads on the outside. Will replace this with a Chubb M3 biaxial cylinder but will ask a lock smith to fit internal bolts and make sure the window can't be lifted.

Apart from putting an alarm on the house I shall leave it at that.

If anyone can help with how hard the Banham rim cylinder is to fit then please let me know. I may have to order it and then fit it myself or ask a lock smith to fit it as there are no Banham dealers in Worcester .


Thanks again for your reply

Jlo

[taylorgdl]

Personally I would fit extra window locks, but hey, you should see my front door !
The missus goes nuts each time I upgrade !



I don't know much about alarms, but I think this might help

http://www.nsi.org.uk/jkcm/scripts/show ... &selLevel=

G.

[Jlo]

Thanks for the alarm link.

Cheers

Jlo

[Tattoo Guy]

For me it would be the chubb on the front door, I've come up against one of these once and ended up going in through the back door (no jokes please) the ingersol is a good lock but if it hasnt been deadlocked with the key from the outside can be opened quite easily (if you know what your doing) . As for the banham I cant comment as I have never come across one (kinda hoping I never do) .

[Jlo]

Thanks,

I like the sound of the Chubb as its the least expensive, BS Aproved and has the very secure AVA 10 disk locking system. The Banham is just silly money for me although would love to have one on my door!!

Even a replacment cylinder the the Banham L111 is over £70.


Thanks

Jlo

[EvoRed]

the ingersol is a good lock but if it hasnt been deadlocked with the key from the outside can be opened quite easily (if you know what your doing)

...and if it has?

[illusion]

the ingersol is a good lock but if it hasnt been deadlocked with the key from the outside can be opened quite easily (if you know what your doing)

...and if it has?

Then you drill it using the drill point. Barring that you would pick it.

[EvoRed]

And that makes it easier than the other two does it?

[illusion]

And that makes it easier than the other two does it?

I never said that, and made no mention of such an intention. I simply stated two ways by which Ingersoll locks can be opened.

Being a locksmith I'd imagine you could answer your own question better than I can.

[haldor]

I used to be a London Locksmith and came across all three of these locks frequently. I'm not great at picking but I couldn't pick any of those cylinders. The chubb can breakdown, been called to 4 problematic cylinders in the past 2 years ( that's a lot considering they're uncommon).
The banham is excellent as is the Ingersol. Both must be double locked for good security.

All of those locks cannot be straight swapped for a normal nightlatch and will need carpentry. The cylinder hole sizes are different but not too difficult to adapt.

Have to say Banham is the top lock for reliability and with the correct cylinder is very secure. Pricey though .

Hope this helps.

[EvoRed]

Illusion, you've got me wrong mate, I wasn't having a pop, just wanted to state that, I agree, if the Ingersoll isn't double locked then it poses few problems. However, if it is then it's a different matter...

Let's be honest though, how many people double lock such locks on a regular basis?

I wouldn't really want to come across any of the three mentioned picking wise but people need to get realistic and realise burglars aren't in the habit of picking and the door, frame or window will be gone long before...

[illusion]

Oh... I took it the wrong way then, appologies.

I see what you mean about few people double-locking them regularly since it's more convenient to not bother.

Well the Banham from what I gathered from the website is only a 6 pin euro cylinder. The Chubb AVA looks intimidating, and a decoder would be needed, unless you are a demon with bent pieces of wire. It would be a tie-break between the Ingersoll and the Chubb AVA to be honest - both are really good locks, the Chubb perhaps winning it.

As far as opening the Ingersoll goes... impressioning, picking, or drill points would seem the best bet - and I imagine few burglars going to these lengths when, as you said, there is a thin glass window nearby.

[Jlo]

THanks all once again for your replies.

If the Banham came with the latest Dimple lock then I may be tempted, the 6 pin euro may be excellently made and but I agree for the price of the Chubb or Ingersoll I am going to go for one of those.

Will get a lock smith in as I will also need to get the patio door checked and extra locks fitted as from what I can make out when I looked around it only has a hook throw bolt and a cheap euro cylinder that sticks out a mile (Just ready to be snapped).

Will also ask to have extra window locks fitted to all ground floor windows and get the back door 5 lever replaced wiith the latest Chubb 20mm throw bs 2004 lever lock. (Wooden door has top and bottome rack bolts)

Front door will probally leave leave the 5 lever lock that is already there but WILL change the cheap rim cylinder to a Chubb or ingersoll.

Thanks for all your help.

PS Any recomendations for good locksmith in Worcester or Worcestershire could you PM me?

Jlo