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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You could try a KW1, which is Kwikset.
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What I always do is take a big screwdriver and put it through the 2" hole BEHIND the latch. Grabbing a hold of each end of the screwdriver, pull towards you. The latch should shoot out at your chest. That way you're my prying against the door.
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99% of the time, no definitely not. The only time I would ever drill a lock before trying to pick it is if it is high security and I know there is no way I'm going to get that thing picked. If you had somebody come out to your house to unlock it, and you have regular residential locks, I am sorry for you. You hired someone very unprofessional.
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Why does the 'official' CPR method change from time to time?
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Are you a lot stronger and more fit because of your job?
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Its not an easy job! You're better off installing a cylindrical deadbolt ABOVE your surface-mounted deadbolt. Still not easy if you're not used to doing it, and takes a lot of specialty tools- 2-1/8" hole saw, chisels, 1" paddle bit or hole saw, etc. If you care about the cosmetics of your door, you might be better off hiring a locksmith do it a proper job.
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I don’t do automotive work anymore, and it will probably greatly depend on your local market prices, but a locksmith should be able to do that for you, and use your existing key to cut the new key. I would roughly guess $75-100 to program the remote, & $50-100 to program and cut the key (if it has a chip in it). Be careful though, some locksmiths won’t cut and program 3rd party keys and remotes. So ask around before you buy.
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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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