Josh-the-Locksmith
25 Years Experience
Austin, TX
Male, 46
I've been a locksmith since 1998. I did automotive residential & commercial work from 1998 to 2008. From 2008 to 2018, I did some residential, but mostly commercial work. I have been project managing & estimating since 2018. I used to locksmith in the Chicago area, now the Austin area.
1. The most important activity... That's a very vague question. Important in regard to what? Important to my boss, important to the customer, or important to myself? Boss: making the customer happy. Customer: pinning their locks properly and cutting their keys correctly so they can secure and open their business or home. Me: getting from point a to point B safely.
My fingers get cramped & start to hurt after long hours of pinning locks & stamping keys. Luckily that's a small part of what I do. Installing & repairing hardware is also a large part.
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Definitely not.
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It really depends on how old your lock is. I believe the new Dexter locks are designed different than the old ones. You're probably better off just getting a new deadbolt. Look for something that specifies "drive-in" latch, or "6-way" latch. Most don't come 1 specific way, they come with adapters so you can change it from square faced to a drive-in latch.
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Is this a Kwickset lock? If so, that is a fairly common problem. You probably just need to replace it. You shouldn't need to take off the front lever in order to remove it from the door. After you take the inside lever off, the trim plate covering the inside screws should either pop straight off by prying underneath a small cutout under the plate against the door, or twisting it counterclockwise a short turn, then it will pull off. All depend on brand & model. That would have been helpful.
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Chef
Do you get offended when a customer sends back a dish?
School Teacher
How do you see parents failing in their children's education?
Call Center Representative
Are you allowed to hang up on a caller if they're being very rude?
The drawer will need to be in the unlocked position to get the plug back in (usually). Put the paper clip all the way in the back of the plug and as you gently push in on the plug, push the spring-loaded wafer with your paper clip positioned all the way in the back.
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Well you have 2 options then. Take the lock off & take it to a locksmith, or call a locksmith to come out and make a key. Obviously the cheapest option would be to take it to a locksmith.
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Take it to a locksmith. Being that old, you might be lucky it even comes out at all!
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