Key And Lock Maintenance For Apartment Buildings

If you just purchased a new apartment building in Toronto, Canada, or you are a property manager with a new building to manage—one of the first things on your list of things to-do is to ensure that your building is secure. Keys and locks play a vital role in your building security, and the tips below will help you to take an organized and systematic approach.

Check To See If You Have Copies Of All Unit Keys

As a landlord or property manager, you or your maintenance crew may have to enter a tenant’s unit for emergencies or repairs. You may also need to respond to a tenant lockout, so you must ensure that you have keys for all of your units. Also check the condition of spare sets of keys, and ensure they are all accurately tagged for the unit they unlock.

Assess The Current Locks And Hardware

The first place to begin, is by assessing the current locks and hardware. You want to see if the same make and model of locks and hardware is used on all doors. Then you want to consider if you want to upgrade the locks to a more modern or secure option. Don’t forget to inspect the exterior doors, and consider upgrading to keyless entry or a high security cylinder locks for exterior or common doors.

Consider Rekeying Locks For A Master Key

While each unit must have individual keys, creating a master key for your building will make it easier for you to show open units, as well as perform scheduled maintenance and emergency repairs. Also consider upgrading to a key and lock system with keys that cannot be duplicated, if not for all of your locks—at least for your exterior doors, or areas that are for employees only.

Switch Locks Each Time A Tenant Moves Out

Most apartment keys can quickly and easily be copied at a hardware or home and garden store. When a tenant moves out, they are supposed to turn in all of the sets of keys they have made—but this is not always the case. Sometimes they simply forget who has copies of their keys, such as a cleaning professional, pet sitter, ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend, former roommate, or family member. This is why it is good to have a few extra sets of keys and locks on hand, so that you can easily swap out the locks after a tenant vacates.

Your maintenance crew is likely able to switch out standards locks, but turn to Action Locksmiths for your building exterior doors, for secured interior areas, and to rekey any of your apartment locks. Call us today at (416) 261-1422 to schedule your required locksmith services.

For more information please visit our site http://www.actionlocksmiths.ca

Tips To Avoid Being Locked Out Of Your Home

While there is never a good time to be locked out of your home or business, it always seems to happen at the worst of times—after returning from a vacation, while running out to grab the mail, or while getting home later than expected. Below are a few tips you can turn to that will reduce your odds of being locked out of your home.

Keep A Spare Set Of Keys With A Trusted Friend

Trust is the top priority with this tip. Your spare set must be given to someone whose integrity you never have to question. This might include your parent, sibling, best friend, or maybe even a neighbor. Make sure that if you upgrade your locks that you remember to give your trusted friend a new set. 

Hide A Key

Another option, is to creatively hide a key somewhere outside of your home or business. If you go this route, consider the unexpected. For example, not in one of those hide-a-key rocks, and never ever under your doormat. However, the best way may be to hide your key in plain sight—in a coded key lockbox. 

Always Pack Your Keys In Your Carry-On Luggage

Returning home from a vacation is a fairly common lockout scenario. After being on an extended holiday, you haven’t even thought of your keys for several days. It is for this reason, that at the start of your trip, you should place your keys in a designated “travel” spot. If you will be flying, this spot should always be in your carry-on luggage—so that you avoid the possibility of your luggage being lost. A perfect place is one of the interior pockets of your carry-on bag. 

Invest In Keyless Locks

Another way to avoid being locked out due to lost or misplaced keys, is to invest in keyless locks. However, you must keep in mind that if your keyless locks are damaged during an attempted burglary—that you might find yourself locked out anyway.

Call Us If You Are Locked Out

If your keys are lost or stolen, or you arrive home and find that your keys are nowhere to be found—not to worry. Simply give us a call, and we will dispatch a locksmith to anywhere in the GTA. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week—365 days per year. Add our number to your phone now so that you have it in case of emergency 416-261-1422.

Action Locksmiths—More Than Door Locks

Action Locksmiths provides commercial locksmith services for home and business owners in the Toronto area—but this goes far beyond providing you with keys and locks for your external doors. Below are just a handful of the other locksmith services we provide. 

Interior Door Locks

There may be areas of your home or business that required in door locks that are more advanced than the standard key-free, one-sided locks that bathroom or bedroom doors tend to have. This includes keyless access to semi-restricted areas, biometric fingerprint access to high-security areas, digital locks—and even mailbox locks. 

Individual Locks

While you may not have a room or corridor of your home that needs limited or restricted access, you may still have a need for individual locks to keep private, personal, or confidential information under lock and key. This is why we can add or replace locks to desks, file cabinets, and employee lockers.

Safes And Vaults

Whether you have a safe to store valuables at home, or to manage the cash in your retail location, there will be times when you need to change the combination lock. Whether you are locked out, or it is time to upgrade—we can help. We can even install, and high security locks for bank, jewelry, or business vaults.

Master Keys and Duplicating Keys

If you own or operate a large commercial building, apartment building, or condo—installing a master key system will ensure that management, maintenance, and security have fast and easy access to the entire building when the need arises. This will save you both time and money. We will install quality commercial locks, and can even provide registered high-security keys that can only be duplicated by an approved key holder.

Annual Maintenance

Even if your in-house maintenance team is skilled, you may be in need of a service provider to perform all of your annual lock maintenance. From replacing locks, repairing locks, and advising you on upgrades and new lock technology—our goal is always to help you achieve your security goals and give you peace of mind. 

Don’t See What You Are Looking For?

The Action Locksmiths team remains up-to-date, and on the cutting edge of all lock advances and technology. If you have an area of your home or business that requires increased security, reach out to see how we can assist. This includes digital locks, access control systems, biometric fingerprint access, CCTV and more!

If you don’t see the lock services you require, reach out to us today at (416) 261-1422 and we will explore your service options.  

When Is It Time To Change Your Door Locks?

Changing your door locks sometimes fall by the wayside. Whether speaking of residential or commercial locks, there are situations that arise that make changing the locks, or at least, re-keying locks, the most secure course of action.

When You Move

When you move into a new home or new building, one of your first orders of business should be to change your door locks. There is no way to tell how responsible, or irresponsible, the previous owner was with managing their keys. To ensure that a former tenant, friend, family member, or contractor does not still have access to your new property—call Action Locksmiths to have your locks changed.

When There Is A Major Change In Key Holders

A major change in key holders could mean many things. Even if a key holder left on good terms, it is never a bad idea to change the locks anyway. Some of the most common reasons for key holder changes include:

• Divorce or breakup

• New roommate or tenant

• New management 

• The exit of a disgruntled employee

• Former contractor does not return their keys

After Damage or Burglary

Whether a burglar succeeded, or they failed but damaged your locks or hardware in the process, now is an excellent time to change your locks.

Change Your Door Locks If You Can’t Recall The Last Time They’ve Been Changed

If you can’t recall the last time you changed your door locks, now is an excellent time to do so. Even if you can recall the last time, but it has been more than 5 years, it is time to consider changing and upgrading your locks.

If Keys Are Lost Or Stolen

If your keys are lost or stolen, it simply isn’t worth the risk of assuming that intrusion will not occur. Even if you have a secondary alarm in place, replacing the locks is the best way to safeguard your property.

If Your Keyless Lock Hardware Has Been Damaged

One reason that Toronto home and business owners make the switch to keyless locks is to reduce the frequency that locks need to be changed. In most cases above, you can simply change the key code, but if the actual lock hardware has been damaged, it is time to change your door lock.

When changing your locks in Toronto or any part of the GTA, don’t forget to consider an upgrade to a more secure lock system.