locking yourself in

The locks on my door allow me to leave the keys in the lock and someone can still open with another key from the outside if they need to.  Not sure how it works but my husband does it all the time no problem.

We just had a spare front door key that was only used at night and left in the lock. The rest of our keys where kept wherever my husband last forgot them.

I don't know why, but I don't feel safe having our keys downstairs (let alone in the door or next to the door) at night.  So they live in our bedroom, next to our bed where they can be easily grabbed in case of emergency.

Same here. We have a locking-up ritual before going to bed.

The front door has:

- A "deadlock" (Yale type lock) with a "snib" (a little button that you can click up so that it cannot be unlocked from outside by anybody.) It uses a Yale type of key but unlike ordinary nightlatch type Yale locks, when going out you can put the key in the lock and turn it twice anticlockwise which locks the mechanism preventing anybody trying to "slip" it with a thin piece of plastic. This also locks in any person remaining in the house!

- A heavy duty mortice lock whose locking bar goes into a reinforced slot in the wall (not just the frame)

- A stout steel chain which is attached to the wall with masonry bolts and hooks into a receptacle on the door.

The back door has a mortice lock and two receessed mortice bolts operated by a key.

All of the uPVC windows have insurance-certified locks.

We feel that this is the minimum level of security that we feel comfortable with.

Wow, people seem much more security conscious than I am. I do not know if this is a difference between the States and the UK or just me and the rest of the world. I guess my feeling is that if someone wants in, they are going to get in. I have never lived in a place with bars on all the windows. Going through the mail slot to grab keys to unlock the door to get in seems much more unlikely than just going through the window. It seems like if the burglar gets in (especially if I am home), I would like it to be as easy as possible for him (or her) to get as well as for me to get out. I think the panic with a burglar in the house might be worse than with a fire. Overall, in my personal assessment, the additional security does not outweigh the inconvenience. The locks will just be one of those things that I look forward to changing once I can build enough credit to by a place.

Going through the mail slot to grab keys to unlock the door to get in seems much more unlikely than just going through the window.

It's quite common, actually. We have a fair number of car thefts in our county and that's often how they get the keys.

FYI, it's not a great plan to have the key right by the door - too easy for burglars to get them through the letter box. I also personally don't love the idea of leaving the key in the lock - our last house had a window next to the door, so it would have been too easy for someone to see the keys hanging there, smash the window, and drive off with the car.

Completely agree.  My door neither has windows nor a letter box.  I wouldn't leave my keys in the lock if I had either.

Going through the mail slot to grab keys to unlock the door to get in seems much more unlikely than just going through the window.

The letter box is always open and doesn't require breaking. The window may not be open, in which case, one must break it or the lock. Either way, not noiseless. Most thieves aren't out to get you, they are to get your purse/wallet and car keys.

As Anne pointed out, it IS quite common.

For those that don't think letterbox theft is a problem just witness how easy it is to do. The Real Hustle Team did a piece and the clip is on youtube (unfortunately without sound).



Watch the clip and tell me you don't start putting your handbag and keys elswhere.

Another link about letter box burglary...
http://www.intruderprevention.com/letterbox-mail-slot-front-door-security

When I was visiting BF this last time I got locked in for a day.  He only had one key so in the morning when he went to work he would just put the key through the mail slot.  Unfortunately, one day he forgot to but wrote me an email saying if the flatmate wasn't there (works odd hours) just email him and he'll come let me out.  Here is the problem, the internet went down that day and I just got into town so I hadn't unlocked my mobile  (brought a new one that hasn't been unlocked yet) and there was no landline.  So there was no way for me to communicate to him that I was locked in and he was waiting for me to either email or just show up at his work.  It was a long day of bad TV for me! 

If you leave your key in the lock on the inside, you cannot unlock the door from the outside.

The locks on my door allow me to leave the keys in the lock and someone can still open with another key from the outside if they need to.  Not sure how it works but my husband does it all the time no problem.

I would guess you have two different types of lock.  The traditional mortise (mortice in the U.K.) deadbolt used for decades in both America and Britain is arranged so that from whichever side a key is inserted the bits on the key end up in the same place to line up with the lock mechanism inside (and because the key may be inserted from either side, the bits on the key are symmetrical about their center point).  Hence when a key is in the lock from one side you can't insert a key from the other side:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/91779/Security/Mortice-Locks/5-Lever-Deadlock/Sterling-5-Lever-Mortice-Deadlock-Brass-2-64mm


Many of the newer PVC and metal-framed door latches in the U.K. use the "Euro" lock system, in which a separate barrel is inserted through the latch.  These use the standard Yale-type key and have two completely separate barrels in one assembly back to back, hence two keys can be in the lock at the same time and both work:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/15516/Security/Euro-Cylinder-Locks/5-Pin-Euro-Cylinders/Securefast-5-Pin-Euro-Cylinder-Keyed-to-Differ-Brass-30-30-60-mm

If you don't like the idea of having to use a key on the inside, you can obtain replacements for these lock barrels which have a key on one side and a plain knob on the other side.  They're easy to change - Just remove one screw on the side of the door, slide the old barrel out, slide the new one in, and replace the screw.

The better alternative is to live in a respectable neighborhood.
I've lived in areas were people don't lock their doors and some leave their keys in the ignition. That would be a wonderful society.
On the other end of the scale you could put multiple locks on your doors and a "club lock" on your steering wheel and the bad guys will still bypass them.

We just had a spare front door key that was only used at night and left in the lock. The rest of our keys where kept wherever my husband last forgot them.

lol
good one!

The better alternative is to live in a respectable neighborhood.

Oh right. Let's all move to respectable neighbourhoods! Why hasn't anybody thought of that before?  

Oh right. Let's all move to respectable neighbourhoods! Why hasn't anybody thought of that before?  

Is there such a thing?

Is there such a thing?

According to you, yes.

The better alternative is to live in a respectable neighborhood.

One of the buildings on the street that junctions with ours had a fire a decade or so ago.  My husband and his brother heard the guy die in his bedroom because they couldn't get him out in time in part due to the bars.

Iron bars, IMO, are stupid and dangerous for just this reason.

A wooden door is a totally different thing.

Vicky