Anyone with UPVC type Doors should know....

[Welly]

I've just been alerted to this by Neighbourhood Watch and I'm shocked at how easy it is to break the locks on modern doors.

All these doors use a 'Euro Cylinder' lock and can suffer being 'Lock Snapped' or, more rarely, 'Lock Bumped'.

When I get home tonight I'm measuring my doors and ordering a set of Avocet ABS Snap Secure locks and fitting them myself. The Avocets are the only ones that guard against this problem (as far as I can tell) and have all kinds of patents and accreditations that other manufacturers have not (or can't).

I'll let you do your own research into how the process works but it's eye-opening for sure

I've been on Avocet's website and it seems you Order the locks through approved distributors - they work out at about £50.00 each with a set of special keys.

[benczuk]

Knew about bumping, the lock snapping is a new one on me.

They be reasonably cheap on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Avocet-Abs-Cy ... 4172ebcc77

Edit: UAP locks claim to do the same things with the exception of the unique key and are half that price again.

[steve_earwig]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_bumping
http://www.euro-secure.com/locksnapping ... 3godFioAJg

Worrying stuff, these sort of locks are kind of the standard thing for any door here

As an aside: The bit that amazed me when I had some uPVC windows added to my house in GB was... the windows are inserted into the frame from the outside, then the finishers are snapped into place, so all you need to do to remove one is unclip the finishers and remove the window

[steve_earwig]

Just don't go out I guess - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72iP-WyY_T8

[lozz]

The PVC. Back door on our house as cost me a fortune in the past
150 quid a throw to have the glass removed and forced open because the locks have snapped..

PVC doors is shite..

[Welly]

the windows are inserted into the frame from the outside

They used to be like that (externally glazed) but most are now internally glazed for "security reasons"

Our Front and Back doors are Steel Faced hardwood so are pretty tough but do have this eurocylinder lock system (soon to be upgraded)

[steve_earwig]

You saw this, yes?

Just don't go out I guess - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72iP-WyY_T8

I had a look for bump-proof locks, both uro cylinder and rim jobs, for every one that I could find there was a vid of someone bumping it on Yewtoob

I had a think about our locks here, my house has one Euro cylinder on the wooden front door, one in the upvc door on the back (the kitchen door is actually a window so has no locks or anything on the outside). Three of the garages have them too. My wife's house just has a rim cylinder on the front door (plus a Euro which we don't use), the other three doors don't have locks as such, they have a lever on the inside that lifts the door out of the latches so it opens, so presumably if you stick a pickaxe in the bottom of one you can lever the door upwards and disengage it from the latches (but first you'd have to get past Scooter who already took a chunk out of a neighbour's leg )

[mjb]

Christ I didn't realise it'd be so easy to just rip the lock off and turn the thingy with a screwdriver!

I reckon I'll be on the phone to the estate agent and putting some of those anti-snap jobbies in before the end of the week! Yes, they can be bumped, and pretty much every lock around can be picked, but is your average gang of yoofs really going to be doing that when next door might have something they can just use their molegrips on?

You don't need your house to be excessively secure, just more effort than everyone else

[Welly]

Apparently, this lock snapping thing has been kinda dumbed-down a bit by local authorities and such for fear of mass panic. Oop-North a Council changed 10,000 euro cylinders to the anti-snap ones and saw a 36% drop in Burglaries

That there website Wiggy posted up seems a good place to buy from, they do a beefed-up handle set too for about £24.00 which slows down access to the lock itself. You can also get 'suited' locks so that each door has the same key which is handy. The ABS locks come with special coded keys that you can't just have made on the high street.

Like mjb said it's more about deterring thieves.

[lozz]

Now I'm confused now after seeing the links.
I'm thinking someone's had a go at our lock

Twice we had to get the lock smith out as the lock was just turning from either side
And the door wouidnt open.

I will stick a camera over that side of the house .. me thinks


I hate people that break in to houses,
If I caught one I'd torture them ..feck phoning the police.

[KozmoNaut]

Just do what I do, have nothing at all worth stealing :-P

Bog standard Ruko (Danish brand) 6-pin lock on my door, but I do have a cruciform key dead bolt for when I'm away for the weekend. Doesn't matter much when the door is made from thin-as-can-be-wood. Hence my tactic of not owning anything worth stealing. At least the dead bolt means they'll have to physically break down the door, no trouble with the insurance in that case.

[steve_earwig]

There's nothing much in my house either, I do have 4 garages full of stuff though...

I guess a determined thief will get in, no matter how good the security is, so a deterrent is the best we can hope for Another thing that occurs to me is that, if each different lock requires a different bump key, having the name of the manufacturer stamped in the end of the lock is a bit stupid.