locking yourself in

We, and I think most people who lived in houses built around the turn of the century, were fitted with the Yale and the mortice lock, which needs a key to lock/unlock inside and out.  Just having a Yale is not v security conscious, and sends insurance rocketing.

We had a chain and a bolt as well!

This is what i've always had... a Yale lock with a sort of knob-thing to turn inside, a mortice lock which requires a key either side, and a chain.

My wife loses her keys all the time. If I leave for work and lock the door behind me, I could end up locking her in all day.

DH locked me in one day.  Thankfully, I was bedridden with a nasty head cold so I certainly wasn't planning on going out.  Had I been well, it would have been really annoying!

Someone above me mentioned leaving the keys in the lock on the inside.  That's a great idea and it helps solve that key-losing problem, too!

It's very sad that we have to go through all this palaver to secure our homes and ourselves.  I live in a "respectable neighbourhood" and there are a fair number of break ins but nothing like what we experienced in the UK.  And we don't have the armory all over the doors with multiple locks, chains and alarm systems.
Having said that I am always reading in the local paper's police notes the number of people who leave their cell phones, handbags, lap tops etc. in their cars (probably unlocked) and are then surprised that they get stolen.  Americans don't seem to get it that you just should not allow your possessions to be on display.

Americans don't seem to get it that you just should not allow your possessions to be on display.

A lot of Brits don't seem to either these days. Modesty and restraint are seen as old fashioned.

I'm trying to remember now, what my childhood house had -- it was built in 1910, and had the Yale lock that needs a key from outside but no key to lock from inside, and you just turn the handle to unlock it and let yourself out, then simply closed the door shut from the outside and it was locked without need for a key. It had the little knob on the side of the inside part of it, to keep it "on the latch" unlocked if you were just running outside for a brief second, (or doing the gardening in the front garden -- we left the Yale "on the latch" when in the front garden doing anything, as we were right there watching the place anyway).

The Yale also had another thing to push (on the inside side of the door) which -- if I remember correctly -- set it to fully lock so that (I think) even the key from the outside could not unlock it. Dad would set that to lock for nighttime.

In addition, we had the chain just like others have mentioned. I don't remember if we had a mortice lock too -- we may have had but I'm not sure and quite likely we didn't. Finally at the top of the door or the bottom (or both?) we had a regular sliding bolt, which Dad also slid locked at night if we were all home for the night.

It was the 1960's and 70's in a "nice" part of north-east London near the Essex border, and the one and only burglary we ever heard of was the next door neighbor's, once, and that was it. Very different times. But we were still fairly lock conscious/security consious even though the times didn't feel very dangerous. We still locked our doors; well the Yale locked automatically locked. Our backdoor we were a tiny bit more lax about, leaving it unlocked if someone was home but expecting someone else back -- my Dad often came home going the side passage of the garden and in the backdoor. But if we were going to leave the house empty at any time, everything was locked/windows shut.

We never had a break in or burglary; it was a relatively safe neighborhood and period of time I guess.

An extra bit of security we have in the US is the almost universal addition of screens and storms to most windows.  You might go out briefly leaving a window on an upper floor open knowing it would at least slow down a burglar to cut through screens.  But I would never ever have done that in the UK.  We wouldn't even go into the front garden without checking that the back windows were all shut and locked.

An extra bit of security we have in the US is the almost universal addition of screens and storms to most windows.  You might go out briefly leaving a window on an upper floor open knowing it would at least slow down a burglar to cut through screens.  But I would never ever have done that in the UK.  We wouldn't even go into the front garden without checking that the back windows were all shut and locked.

But I think it depends on the specific neighborhood in the UK. Believe it or not, there are still spots and areas where you can leave your window open and not come back to find the place cleaned out. It's still not wise to do so -- I'm a big fan of locking everything, I locked my car always, even when I was driving in it; always keep where I'm living secure. But still if you take a chance once or twice there are still some neighborhoods in which not much harm will come from a slip-up now and then.

Midnightblue...ours sounds like a similar house, from a similar period, but on the other side of the Lea Valley.  I'd be amazed if your didn't have the mortice.  Is is possible it was there but you never used it?

Vicky

The Yale also had another thing to push (on the inside side of the door) which -- if I remember correctly -- set it to fully lock so that (I think) even the key from the outside could not unlock it.

The traditional Yale night latch generally has the one snib which performs both functions.

If you hold the knob round to retract the latch and slide the snib over to the locking position, it prevents the spring latch from coming back out again.  If you shut the door so that the latch engages, then slide it to the locked position, it prevents the latch being opened from either the knob inside or a key outside.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/16955/Security/Night-Latches/Traditional-Night-Latches/Traditional-Night-Latch-Brass-60mm-Backset;jsessionid=QAUQHLXRV0ZK2CSTHZPCFFI#

But I think it depends on the specific neighborhood in the UK. Believe it or not, there are still spots and areas where you can leave your window open and not come back to find the place cleaned out.

We can do that around here.   You can go see your neighbor for a few minutes and not worry about locking the door, or go out for a while and leave a window open. 

Not by intent, but more than once I've gone looking for my car keys one morning, only to find that they're still hanging in the ignition switch in the car, along with the house keys, from the day before.

You can get double-keyed deadbolts at Home Depot.

Alas, they do not come in entry sets that contain doorknob handles.  They're all push buttons.   

I am fully aware that I'm a bit errr... eccentric about this.  I live in an 1890s Victorian and I'm trying very hard to stay in the spirit of the time period.

I should also note that the aforementioned front door of my childhood home also had a chain.  When we were at home, the door would be unlocked with the chain on.

Alas, they do not come in entry sets that contain doorknob handles.  They're all push buttons.   

I am fully aware that I'm a bit errr... eccentric about this.  I live in an 1890s Victorian and I'm trying very hard to stay in the spirit of the time period.

You better dump the computer then! 

You better dump the computer then! 

I'm logged on from work.   

Seriously though, we've got a nice mix of mod cons, reproductions, and actual antiques.

ignoring small odds is what always gets us in trouble.
expect the unexpected :0