Closing up a home when the entrance to the building is shared
In the developments on the plateau, break-ins most often involve the flat entrance door, out of sight once the lobby has been passed. Making the home secure has to take account of the fact that this landing is a communal area: a door that no longer closes exposes the home, but also the stairwell and the neighbours. The preference is therefore for a temporary closure that leaves the door usable and unobtrusive, while the police findings, the landlord and the insurer each move at their own pace.
Before any repair, photograph the door, the frame, the strike plate and the floor of the landing. Those images count for as much as the police report in what follows. Then tell the landlord or the building managing agent (syndic): in managed housing, putting right a door fitted by the managing organisation is not something you decide alone, and reporting it makes it possible to check whether access to the building itself was forced. Keep the parts that are removed, cylinder included: they may be asked for.
Down below, it is often the timber of the frame that has given way
In old Lormont and the streets running down to the Garonne, doors open straight onto the public street and the frames are old. On this kind of joinery, break-ins rarely involve the cylinder: it is the timber around the strike plate that tears out under leverage. Fitting a new lock to a split frame deals with only half the problem. Putting things right means repairing the frame itself, sometimes with a reinforced strike plate anchored more deeply into the stone masonry.
You also have to think about the ways in that get less attention. Houses in the village centre often have a service door, an outbuilding, a small yard or a rear access onto a lane; on the plateau, it is the cellars and basement garages. If keys have gone missing, all of these points are involved, not just the main entrance. The findings are established with you, a detailed quote is drawn up before work begins, and an invoice is given to you to support your insurance claim.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our securing your home after a break-in page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Lormont.