A Day in the Life of a Locksmith

Locksmithing isn’t really a nine-to-five like most jobs. Days can be very varied, and there’s not really such a thing as a ‘day in the life’. Still, here’s our closest approximation, so you can see what our boys get up to all day.

Repossession in suburbia (7am)

A lot of the world’s ‘dirty work’ happens before the world is awake. Repossessions are no exception. Bailiffs, with a warrant granted by the High Court, will usually go out to sites in the early morning to change locks and do whatever else is necessary before the tenant in the property being repossessed (in this case a shop unit) arrives for work.

Our locksmith opens and replaces all external locks on the front and back doors. Not every replacement is straightforward: one of the locks is a screw-in cylinder of a non-standard length that needs to be special-ordered. The engineer disables the lock, so that the door is permanently locked. The aim of this morning is to keep the old tenant out. The locksmith can return at a later date with a suitable part.

Sometimes neighbours spot the locksmith and think it’s break-in. After all, people don’t normally drill their way into shops at 7am. In this case, the engineer and bailiff don’t get bothered by the police.

Trip to the wholesaler (10am)

Following the initial job, the locksmith takes a coffee break in his van. He’ll slowly make his way to the wholesaler.

London has two major wholesalers, Aldridge and Duffells, as well as a host of hardware shops and other places.

He orders some stuff specifically for the upcoming jobs today (his 2pm door replacement, for example, requires a London bar), as well as general stock, e.g. cylinders, locks and drill bits.

Lock wholesalers can be quite social; it’s highly likely that our engineer will meet someone he knows there. It’s a good place for a nice chat, and a great place to meet potential colleagues.

Couple of simple jobs in Islington (10.30am)

After the quick trip, our locksmith does a couple of local jobs. Nothing particularly long-winded. One installation of a new garage door handle, after the old one broke, and one fitting of a hasp and staple to a shed.

The jobs don’t necessarily take so long to do, but it all adds up: finding a place to park, having a quick chat with the client, wrapping up and taking payment, then driving on to the next job to do the same thing again.

Lunch (12.30pm)

After a busy morning, it’s lunchtime, at last! Normally our chap would bring a packed sandwich along with him, but didn’t have time to prepare one because of his early start. Instead, he’s bought himself a sandwich from a local shop.

But suddenly…

Emergency lock-out (12.35pm)

Just as he is about to take the first bite from his delicious BLT sandwich, his phone rings. A dog-walker has just realised that they left home without their keys.

The locksmith says he will be there within the hour. The property is about half an hour away, traffic willing.

Thankfully it’s just a straightforward slam-shut, so that he can open the door without too much hassle.

Lunch, 2nd attempt (1.30pm)

He drives off into a nearby parking space. Here he stretches his legs and eats his lunch. At last, a bit of peace and quiet.

Door replacement (2.30pm)

Most of his afternoon will be taken up by a door replacement. He had been to the property earlier in the week to take all the measurements. He already had the door blank in his van.

What he needs to do now is cut everything into shape. He needs to cut holes for the locks, cut in the hinges, install the letterbox, and all other accoutrements.

While it’s not technically so difficult to do, the engineer’s pet peeve is fitting the house number. The door is to be fitted with a big brass number 3, but it’s quite tricky to measure exactly where the 3 needs to go on the door. This takes a lot of fernickety measuring effort.

All this takes him a few hours, and he’s relieved when done and dusted. The customer needs to organise a decorator to paint and varnish the door, and then the house will look as good as new.

Balcony door repair on the way home (6.30pm)

Our engineer has planned his day so that he can do a quick job on the way home. In this case, there is a balcony door that isn’t shutting properly. He investigates and finds that the lock is quite old and dirty, and needs a little bit of TLC.

He services the lock, tests it, and finds that all is now well.

Evening emergency (9pm)

After some dinner, the locksmith reviews his day and, while watching some television, does write-ups, so that, come tax season, he can account for everything. Like a teacher who marks homework after hours, a locksmith’s work continues even after the van has been parked away.

The phone rings again and there is another lock-out for him to see too. It’s not local, but at this time of night the streets are empty and he can make it there fast.