A house that sat closed all winter often has a lock or two that fights the key, a slider that won't latch, or a keypad whose batteries died in the cold. Opening-up visits deal with all of it at once, along with any rekeying before the first guests or the first family weekend. It's also the moment to check that every key on the ring still matches a door, since keys have a way of multiplying over a winter.
If the house was damaged over the winter, the doors get made secure first, and the rest is planned with you.
Car lockouts on beach blocks and at the launch ramps, rental guests locked out, lost keys and fobs, and keypad codes that need changing between guests. Summer weekends bring traffic, so the arrival window you're given allows for the bridges and the beach crowds.
Summer also brings the small jobs nobody has time for in winter: a spare key for the babysitter, a lock on the outdoor shower or the bike shed, a sticky slider that guests keep leaving unlocked.
Closing a house for the season is the time to rekey after a summer of guests, reset every code, and replace hardware the salt air has worn out. Some owners add a keypad at this point so the house can be checked over the winter without keys changing hands. Doors that face the water get a close look before the storms arrive, since a lock that's already stiff in October won't improve by March.
Storm tides, frozen locks, doors swollen out of line, and the occasional forced door at a house nobody was watching. For owners who live out of the area, the go-ahead can be given by phone once their connection to the house is confirmed, and a local contact can meet the technician.
A keypad or a smart lock suits a house its owner rarely sees. Codes can be given to a cleaner, a contractor or a relative and taken back afterward, and nobody has to mail keys around the state. Setting one up is a single visit, and the technician walks you through changing codes before leaving.
Keep the mechanical backup key somewhere you control, since every keypad still has one.
Car lockouts, new keys and fobs for most makes, spares, and broken keys stuck in a door or ignition, done wherever the car is parked, from a marina lot to a driveway. The few late-model cars that need the dealer are identified on the first call. In summer, cars at the beach and the launch ramps make up a big share of the work; in winter it's mostly driveways, shopping lots and the commuter lots.
Rekeys when seasonal staff leave, roll-down gate locks, commercial deadbolts, door closers and exit hardware. When a business can't be locked at night, that call moves up the list, and the owner, or a manager the owner trusts with the keys, should phone.
Shops that open only for the season often have a key list nobody has checked in years. Starting a season with a rekey and a written list of who holds what is simple and saves trouble later.
We open houses, cars and businesses only for people who can prove they belong there, and we don't explain to anyone how locks are beaten. Every visit starts with an ID check and a plain explanation of the problem, then a free estimate, and work begins only with your yes.
Yes. Stiff locks, sliders and dead keypads are handled in one visit.
Yes. The arrival window you're given allows for bridge traffic and beach crowds.
It's a good time, especially after a summer of guests.
Yes, once your connection to the house is confirmed.
Yes, along with roll-down gate locks and commercial hardware.
Because it's what stops a stranger from having your door opened.
No. It's free, and you hear it before anything starts.
Tell us your street and we send a tech.
