What a bastide door tells you before it is opened
In the grid of streets inherited from the bastide, many homes sit above a shop and are reached through a carriage entrance and then a shared staircase. Opening therefore begins with a question of access: who holds the key to the street door, and can the landing still be reached without going through a locked common area. Only then comes the door of the home itself, often an old solid timber leaf, thick, hung on a frame bedded into the stone, whose fit has shifted with the seasons.
Doors like these react badly to improvisation. A leaf that has swollen presses on the bolt and rules out the simplest techniques; a rim lock fitted several decades ago does not respond to the same handling as a recent multipoint lock. The assessment is therefore made out on the pavement, sometimes on a market morning, with all the passing trade that implies around place Abel Surchamp. We explain what we find, the method we have in mind and what it entails, then we draw up a detailed quote before starting.
Keys left behind in Bordeaux, the spare out at the vineyard
Libourne lives half an hour by train from Bordeaux, and some of its residents make that journey every day. The calls this generates have a character of their own: keys left in a locker, a bag forgotten on the train, a late return to a door that was locked that very morning. Before dialling a number, take the time to check the obvious: a spare with a neighbour, with a relative still living in the neighbourhood, or at the office you have just left. Sometimes that avoids the call-out entirely.
Another common situation here: homes whose owner lives elsewhere, let year-round near the station or for a few weeks during work in the vines. The person locked out is then neither the owner nor the leaseholder. We always ask for something that establishes you do occupy the property — identity document, rent receipt, tenancy agreement, insurance certificate — and, failing that, the agreement of the landlord or of the agency managing the property. This check protects the occupant as much as the tradesperson, and an invoice is issued in every case.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our door opening page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Libourne.