What the local building stock does to mechanisms
The terraced houses of the village have solid timber leaves hung in frames bedded into stone. The timber moves with the heat, then with the damp that rises in the shaded lanes. A day comes when the door has to be lifted to lock: the lock itself is not at fault, but it wears quickly under that strain.
In the blocks of Rocheville and Aubarède, multi-point locks fitted decades ago tire in a different way. A top point that no longer engages, linkage knocked out of adjustment by thousands of turns, a handle that drops: the door still shuts, but it is no longer fully locked and a little more force goes in every day. A point left unengaged eventually distorts the linkage.
Up at Serra, what seizes is usually outdoors. A gate cylinder, the control box of a motorised gate, a key safe fixed to a restanque wall: these take the rain, the dust off the lane and the salt the sea wind carries up the hill. A dry lubricant once a year changes a great deal.
Adjust first, replace only if there is no choice
When the door has dropped or the keep has shifted, fitting a new lock settles nothing: the new mechanism takes exactly the strain that destroyed the old one. The hinges are adjusted first, then the position of the keep and the play of the leaf in its frame. That is often where the fault has been all along, and the door is checked before the faceplate comes off.
Repair makes sense as long as the part exists: a spring, a follower, a spindle, a roller, a keep to reposition. Replacement becomes necessary when the case is distorted, when the model is out of production, or when the lock has taken an attempted break-in — it should then be treated as compromised even if the key still turns.
Two reflexes almost always make things worse. Forcing a key that resists: it bends, snaps off in the barrel, and getting it out becomes a job of its own. Flooding the cylinder with general-purpose penetrating oil: the greasy film holds dust and turns light fouling into a complete lock-up in front of the door.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our locksmith repairs page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Le Cannet.