In this blog entry, the professional Raleigh residential door lock repair and commercial door lock maintenance team here at DKNY Locksmith will describe some useful tips for maintaining your door locks to help you increase their longevity.
Ensure Doors are Properly Hung
If you’re unaware what a properly hung door appears like, ask a residential locksmith to inspect your door. Ensure that your door isn’t sagging, and sits evenly within its frame. An unprolery-hung door can place a huge amount of pressure on your lock, which can cause extreme issues. Properly hung doors won’t have binding or uneven gaps. Gaps in doors should be uniform along its sides and around its top – between 1/8th of an inch, or less than 1/4th of an inch.
Regular Lock Lubrication
If you want to make sure that your door locks remain properly functional, lubricate them twice a year. Dry lubricants are easy to apply to doors, and will make sure your lock keeps working for years to come. Apply the dry lubricant, and move a key in and out of your lock a few times to ensure it’s uniformly distributed within the lock mechanism.
Lock Cleaning
Make sure to regularly can your door locks with a mild detergent and slightly wet rag. Don’t use chemical or abrasion based cleaners – and make sure never to use a cleaner with a petroleum base.
Don’t Copy Key Duplicates
Make sure to only make copies of the original key. Don’t copy duplicate keys, as this can magnify distortions in the key to an exponential level, and even damage the lock itself, much less being able to operate it at all.
Deadbolt Inspection
Ensure that you can lock your deadbolt without having to push or pull your doorknob in. if you have to move the doorknob or door to get the deadbolt to lock, the door frame or lock was poorly installed. You also want to make sure that your lock deadbolt fully extends out when locked.
Strike Plate and Screw Inspection
Make sure that at least one single screw in your top door hinge is long enough to fix your door to the wall frame itself. This will help to prevent door sagging, and provide you more robust security. Consider installing screws of at least 3 inches of length to each hinge.