Locked out of a house with several entrances
Suburban Mérignac has one particular feature: the front door is almost never the one used day to day. You go out through the service door onto the garden, come back in through the garage, slip through the pedestrian gate. Those three access points are not secured to the same standard, and it is often the flimsiest of them that closes behind you at the worst moment. Before you even call, walk right round the house: a sliding patio door left unlocked on the terrace side sometimes settles the whole thing in a minute.
The second particular feature is getting to the house at all. In Beutre or Les Eyquems, the door sits behind a gate, sometimes an electric one, whose remote control is inside. Mention it when you call: the job then starts with getting onto the plot, which changes the order of operations. Also say whether you are a tenant, whether the house is single-storey, and whether your proof of address is locked inside; a neighbour on the estate, a rent receipt you can pull up online or your landlord will usually settle that question on the spot.
In town-centre residences, the opening starts at the entrance hall
Around the tram terminus and the old church, recent apartment developments work in two stages: an entrance hall controlled by badge or entryphone, then a flat door fitted with a shielded multipoint lock. If your badge is locked in with your keys, say so: access to the building has to be organised, through a neighbour, a member of the residents' committee or the caretaker if there is one. Without that step the locksmith waits outside the hall and nobody gains anything.
The joinery matters too. Homes under the airport flight paths may fall within the sound-insulation scheme for local residents; where that work has been done, doors and windows have been replaced with very airtight units, with compressed seals and an added threshold. On those doors, methods that rely on play between the door leaf and the door frame have nothing to work with. The assessment is therefore made at the door itself, the method being considered is explained to you, a detailed quote is drawn up before any work, and an invoice is issued.
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 Mérignac.