Door Opening Service in Altea
A locked door opened with the least possible damage, and in most cases with none at all. Flats on the seafront, houses in the old town, villas up in the hills: the method changes with the door, and so does the price you are quoted.
Open 24 hours · 7 days a week
Non-destructive first, and destructive only when the lock forces it
A lock is a mechanism, and most mechanisms can be persuaded to do what a key would have done. That is the first approach every time, because it leaves you with a working lock, your own keys and no bill for parts.
There are doors where that is not possible. A cylinder with a snapped key inside, a mechanism whose internals have already broken, a cylinder specifically built to defeat manipulation: in those cases the cylinder is drilled and replaced, and you are told that is what is about to happen, and what the replacement costs, before anyone starts.
What we never do
- Go straight to the drill because it is quicker
- Damage the door leaf or the frame to save time on the lock
- Replace a cylinder that was working perfectly well
- Leave without showing you the old lock and what was wrong with it
Doors we open in Altea
Four kinds of property, four different problems at the door.
Apartments
Flats along the seafront and in the streets behind it. Usually a single cylinder in a timber or metal door, often pulled shut by a draught with the keys inside. Communal entrance doors are frequently part of the same call.
Old town houses
Original timber doors on the stepped streets above the church, sometimes with locks older than anyone living in the house. Patience opens these; force ruins a door that cannot simply be ordered again.
Villas
Properties in Altea Hills, Sierra de Altea and the urbanisations inland, where the front door is one of several locks and the patio doors carry multipoint mechanisms.
Holiday properties
Rentals where the guest is outside, the owner is abroad and the key safe will not open. Opened once the owner or manager has confirmed the booking.
How a door opening visit goes
-
Describe the door
Material, lock type, whether it was deadlocked. A photograph of the door edge and the handle tells us more than a paragraph.
-
Identification
Proof of your connection to the property, or confirmation from the owner or agency. Asked for every time, without exception.
-
The opening attempt
Non-destructive methods first. You are standing there while it happens; nothing is done out of sight.
-
Back inside
Either you keep your existing lock and keys, or a replacement cylinder is fitted and you leave with new keys and the old lock in your hand.
Keys left inside the apartment
The most common call of all, and usually the cheapest to resolve. A door that has closed on the latch with the keys on the table is rarely a difficult job.
The mistake that makes it expensive is the twenty minutes someone spends with a bank card first. A bent card costs nothing; a bent latch costs a new lock.
When the opening is only half the job
Sometimes the door opens and the real problem stays behind. A cylinder that has been stiff for months, a mechanism that has been lifting badly, a key that was already bent before it broke.
In those cases you will hear what the underlying fault is and what it would cost to put right, either the same visit or later. See lock change and repair, or for plastic and aluminium doors, uPVC mechanisms. If this is happening in a rental between guests, holiday rental work explains how we handle owners who are not in the country.
Out of hours, the same work is arranged through our emergency call-out service.
Where to go next
Emergency Locksmith
Shut out, key lost or lock failed, at any hour of the day or night.
Read moreuPVC Door Locksmith
Multipoint gearboxes, sticking patio doors and doors that have dropped.
Read moreLock Change & Repair
New cylinders, repaired mechanisms and upgrades on doors you already have.
Read moreHoliday Rental Locksmith
Guest lockouts, changeover key problems and cover for owners who are away.
Read moreQuestions about door opening
Will the door be damaged?
In most cases, no. The aim is to open the door with the lock intact so you can keep using your own keys. Damage becomes likely in three situations: a lock that has already failed internally, a door that has been forced, and a high-security cylinder deliberately built to resist exactly what we would otherwise do. You are told which situation you are in before the work starts.
Can you open a door that has been deadlocked with the key?
Usually yes, but it is a longer job than a door resting on the latch. A deadlocked door has bolts thrown into the frame, and on multipoint mechanisms several of them at once. Say on the phone whether the door was locked with the key or simply pulled shut: it changes the tools and the price.
The keys are on the table inside. Is that easier?
It is often the simplest case, because the door is usually on the latch rather than deadlocked. It is also the most common call we get in Altea, especially on breezy afternoons when a front door swings shut on its own.
Do you need proof that I live there?
Yes, every time. Identification with the address, a contract, a bill, or confirmation from the owner or agency for a rented or holiday property. It is what protects your door from being opened for somebody else.
Can you open a villa gate or a pedestrian entrance as well?
Usually. Gates, pedestrian doors set into a wall and communal entrances are all locks like any other. Mention them when you call, because a property in the hills often has two or three locks between the road and the front door.
My door is a patio slider and it will not open. Same job?
Not quite. Sliding and uPVC doors run on multipoint mechanisms and hooks, and when one of those fails the door can be jammed shut with nothing wrong with the lock at all. That work is covered on the uPVC and patio door page.
Standing outside a door in Altea?
Tell us the door type and whether it was locked or simply pulled shut. You will get a price for that specific door before anyone travels out to you.
Calls answered 24 hours a day, every day. WhatsApp works too, if a photograph explains it faster.