day in the life of a locksmith

[billdeserthills]

I pulled off the 10 locks and rekeyed them, and put them back on, all that time the police had allowed the squatters to move their 3 dogs and 2 cats and lots of stuff out of the house.
When I left they finally kicked the squatters the heck out of there, along with their pets, leaving a houseful of boxes and who knows what left in the place.

That is a lot of locks, must have been a large house. Do you charge by the hour when you have to wait on the police to sort things out?

I only had to wait 10-15 minutes, so I charged $20 in wait time, I try to take it easy on the owner of the house in these cases
the whole thing usually has quite good entertainment value, which offsets my boredom level. You shoulda seen the cops trying
to get the renter's wife to admit there was a gun somewhere in the house. She was polite as was her husband thru out the entire
affair and if they hadn't been I'm sure they would have wound up in jail and all their pets turned into the humane society

[billdeserthills]

That's all I did for the first year or so as a locksmith. I worked for a residential real estate company in southern CA. They'd buy 5 to 8 houses a day at foreclosure auctions. It was my job to take possession of the houses if they were vacant, or handle the eviction if they were occupied. I've been in some nasty, nasty houses.

What was annoying was the people who destroyed the house because they were pissed they were evicted. Of course, the owner/lender that evicted them no longer owned the house, so it was the buyer who got shafted. Not so bad when you're a company spending.$1,000,000 a day on houses. But if you're a mom-and-pop operation trying to flip one house at a time, it could bankrupt you.

I have seen rental homes that were treated just as badly,
I was in one in The Boulders, a very upscale gated entry, the realtor told me he went ahead and turned the water on, and saw
water running out from under the garage door, while waiting for me to come pick open the house & rekey it--When I arrived we
found the water heater had been removed, along with the cooktop & built-in microwave in the kitchen, plus all the ceiling speakers
had been ripped out.

Another place I was at, the renter had stolen the motor out of the cooler, along with every doorknob throughout the house

The amount of damage that can be caused in a rental home is truly sad, there is no way anyone can charge enough of a deposit
cover all that damage.

[shutterstuff]

I have seen rental homes that were treated just as badly,
I was in one in The Boulders, a very upscale gated entry, the realtor told me he went ahead and turned the water on, and saw
water running out from under the garage door, while waiting for me to come pick open the house & rekey it--When I arrived we
found the water heater had been removed, along with the cooktop & built-in microwave in the kitchen, plus all the ceiling speakers
had been ripped out.

Another place I was at, the renter had stolen the motor out of the cooler, along with every doorknob throughout the house

The amount of damage that can be caused in a rental home is truly sad, there is no way anyone can charge enough of a deposit
cover all that damage.

I was called to rekey a home a few months back the same day it closed. The new owner had walked the house the day before. That morning when she arrived, all of the appliances, a few light fixtures, pellet stove and ceiling fans were all gone! Fortunately for her it was listed as included. So the seller (insurance?) had to replace everything! The mystery was there were no renters involved and no sign of forced entry. But it was an estate sale, so someone was watching for the perfect time to do this that probably had a key (or an agent did not lock up...).

I added deadbolts to all 3 exterior doors while I was there. Nice job for me and I made a new homeowner happy by the time I left. I have since been back to replace the front door locks for cosmetic reasons. She hated the bright brass.

[Tyler J. Thomas]

Been doing mostly ride along while I've been up here. Kinda nice, reminds me of my apprentice days. Too bad it's not always feasible because I do enjoy the chances to work with someone.

Also got a chance to go to Fenway last night:

[ltdbjd]

Unfortunately I've seen some jacked up ways to mess up a home other than just theft. I've had people pull the outlets and switches, then cut the wires at the back of the junction box so basically the house has to be rewired. Motor oil poured in the swimming pool. Breaking every travertine tile so not only domthenhave to be replaced, they have to be pulled up too. Smashing every countertop. Breaking out every window. Pouring and splashing paint on every surface, including the ceiling. Punching holes in bathtubs and smashing sinks and toilets. Breaking every closet and pantry door. Salting the front and back yards and planting areas. You name it, they've done it. I took possession of a house where the damages were estimated to be over $80,000.

The cops wouldn't do anything. Said it was a civil matter. I said it wasn't. He was no longer the owner of the house, and had already been evicted. It was a felony. They basically said "too bad." Thanks for nothing.

[mseifert]

Unfortunately I've seen some jacked up ways to mess up a home other than just theft. I've had people pull the outlets and switches, then cut the wires at the back of the junction box so basically the house has to be rewired. Motor oil poured in the swimming pool. Breaking every travertine tile so not only domthenhave to be replaced, they have to be pulled up too. Smashing every countertop. Breaking out every window. Pouring and splashing paint on every surface, including the ceiling. Punching holes in bathtubs and smashing sinks and toilets. Breaking every closet and pantry door. Salting the front and back yards and planting areas. You name it, they've done it. I took possession of a house where the damages were estimated to be over $80,000.

The cops wouldn't do anything. Said it was a civil matter. I said it wasn't. He was no longer the owner of the house, and had already been evicted. It was a felony. They basically said "too bad." Thanks for nothing.

This is why I will never own another rental property .. Seems like every time the tenant moved out they did extensive damage.. Not all the stuff you mentioned but some of it.. I will have to add the salt thing to my ... "The neighbor pissed me off list"

[Silverado]

I find it funny how the law, to "serve and protect", does practically nothing along the lines of service or protection when it comes to stuff like that. I'm not putting a bad rap on law enforcement, they do what they can. It's just that the legal system doesn't have much of a concern when it comes to protecting an individual's livelihood or property.

I was robbed blind, every single thing I owned was taken from me a couple years back. I have evidence and proof of the person(s) who stole everything and around every corner the general consensus for legal action is basically "too bad".

They even stole all my locks! Could have been good practice locks, haha.

[billdeserthills]

Unfortunately I've seen some jacked up ways to mess up a home other than just theft. I've had people pull the outlets and switches, then cut the wires at the back of the junction box so basically the house has to be rewired. Motor oil poured in the swimming pool. Breaking every travertine tile so not only domthenhave to be replaced, they have to be pulled up too. Smashing every countertop. Breaking out every window. Pouring and splashing paint on every surface, including the ceiling. Punching holes in bathtubs and smashing sinks and toilets. Breaking every closet and pantry door. Salting the front and back yards and planting areas. You name it, they've done it. I took possession of a house where the damages were estimated to be over $80,000.

The cops wouldn't do anything. Said it was a civil matter. I said it wasn't. He was no longer the owner of the house, and had already been evicted. It was a felony. They basically said "too bad." Thanks for nothing.

Those were some sad, sick people right there

I know the incident is over, but the right private detective could have likely helped you convince the police
that it was in their best interest to take that case

[billdeserthills]

I find it funny how the law, to "serve and protect", does practically nothing along the lines of service or protection when it comes to stuff like that. I'm not putting a bad rap on law enforcement, they do what they can. It's just that the legal system doesn't have much of a concern when it comes to protecting an individual's livelihood or property.

I was robbed blind, every single thing I owned was taken from me a couple years back. I have evidence and proof of the person(s) who stole everything and around every corner the general consensus for legal action is basically "too bad".

They even stole all my locks! Could have been good practice locks, haha.

It is a shame to see that people who swear an oath to follow the rules need to be encouraged sometimes to do that
They actually have people who can make a stubborn policeman see the sense in doing things your way, but they are
usually rare people, who know someone who will give a da mn and make a phone call in your favor

[Tyler J. Thomas]

Got my new truck - get to spend the weekend stocking it with hardware/tools. I'll make sure to include pictures as I progress. They set this thing up beautifully. LED lights, the inverter is hooked up to the ignition so that it will only run when the truck is running (no more dead batteries!), and they really double downed on mounting the cabinets/racks. Bluetooth audio, rear assist camera, and a nav system too!

[Raymond]

Sounds too good to be true. All those pretty new toys to play with. Does it have a recliner or hammock? How about a drill press, milling machine, and lathe?

Too bad they didn't add a second deep cycle battery so you could run the invertor with the engine off. Mine is set up this way. It charges while the engine is running and cannot discharge the vehicle battery when stopped. But, I don't have to keep the engine running.

Congrats

[cledry]

Don't like the way they hooked up the inverter. I can't imagine having the engine running for an hour while I work on something. Dual batteries and an isolator are the way to go IMO.

[GWiens2001]

Congrats on the new truck! Look forward to the pics.

Personally, could not imagine working in the truck for ten minutes, let alone an hour, without the air conditioning running. But then again, it gets to 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Centigrade) here. A car or truck becomes an oven (literally) in minutes.

Gordon

[Tyler J. Thomas]

Don't like the way they hooked up the inverter. I can't imagine having the engine running for an hour while I work on something. Dual batteries and an isolator are the way to go IMO.

I hear ya.

Last two trucks I worked out of had inverters that worked independently from the engine. I also wired the overhead light to stay on everytime the inverter was on. That said, didn't have input in this trucks design - it was spec'd by corporate before I even interviewed. That's probably the only thing I would change at this point (aside from relocating the LED light switch). Hell, I haven't even read the inverters instructions so there might be a way to do it. Never worked with an inverted this modern looking. It has a small LCD display on it to give status symbols. Fancy.

Does have two sliding doors though so no more baking in a steel oven. Good cross ventilation.

I'll hopefully have some pictures tonight. Still working part time at the college to help them transition to the new guy/girl so I'm cutting keys all day. Woo!

[cledry]

Congrats on the new truck! Look forward to the pics.

Personally, could not imagine working in the truck for ten minutes, let alone an hour, without the air conditioning running. But then again, it gets to 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Centigrade) here. A car or truck becomes an oven (literally) in minutes.

Gordon

We aren't inside the truck. We have ours set up to have fold down exterior work surfaces and awnings. We stopped using vans a few years ago in favor of trucks with caps. Both have advantages and disadvantages. I sometimes wish I was back in a van when it is raining, but the rest of the time I don't miss it one bit.