Taking back control of keys that circulate all summer
A home let by the week changes occupant more often than a city-centre flat changes tenant in ten years. With every stay, a set of keys goes out and comes back, sometimes incomplete, sometimes hurriedly copied to cover a late arrival. Add to that the keys left with the cleaners, the gardener, the neighbour who collects the post and the firm that came to fit a water heater in the spring. Replacing the cylinder at the close of the season, or after a change of managing agency, resets that count without having to touch the rest of the door.
Buying a villa or a flat beside the Bassin calls for the same reflex, with one added difficulty: there is rarely a single way in. Garden gate, service door, garage, shed, bike store, letterbox in the lobby — each opening has its own history and its own set of keys, inherited from successive owners. Taking an inventory before ordering a single part makes it possible to decide what should open with the same key and what should stay separate, a decisive question once the property is handed over to third parties during the summer.
A cylinder exposed to the west wind does not age like any other
In a seafront building, the flat's entrance door is sheltered: the cylinder lives in the dry, in an enclosed lobby, and its wear comes mainly from the number of times it is operated. On a villa in Le Moulleau or in the Ville de Printemps, the front door opens straight onto the outside, under a simple canopy where there is one, facing salt-laden air for a good part of the year. The same model will not last as long there, and the exposed parts — escutcheon, door furniture, handle, strike plate — call for attention that a building landing never demands.
Hence a few trade-offs particular to a seaside resort. A protected key, whose duplication requires a named card, limits improvised copies over the course of a rental season. A double-clutch cylinder, which still works from outside when someone has left a key in the inside of the lock, saves being stuck on the doorstep — a common situation when several people take turns in the house. A check when the property is opened up and again when it is closed beats an improvised call-out at the height of the season. Parts are chosen door by door, after an inspection on site, and a detailed quote is drawn up before any work begins.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our lock and cylinder replacement page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Arcachon.