What the air off the bay does to mechanisms
Along the seafront, salt settles on anything made of metal. A cylinder facing due south on an open access balcony in a seaside block clogs far faster than one sheltered inside a stairwell up in the old town. The pins begin to stick, the key has to be felt for, and then it stops turning altogether.
In the hillside districts between Le Vallon and Les Encourdoules the sea air bites less but is still there. Mechanisms facing the midday sun age all the same, especially on gates and service doors that take the rain and the dust off the lanes with nothing sheltering them. A point that catches there is announcing a full seizure.
The reflex that makes everything worse is all-purpose penetrating spray. The greasy film it leaves traps dust, and in Vallauris that dust comes off the hill lanes and the old clay workshops. A dry lubricant once a year is enough, along with a check on the faceplate screws and on the keep screws, top and bottom.
When it is the door forcing, not the lock
Plenty of calls describe a worn-out lock when in fact the leaf has moved. In the old town the solid timber doors of the terraced houses work with damp and heat: you have to lift to lock, and the bolt ends up marking the keep. The adjustment then belongs to the door, not to the mechanism inside it.
On old workshop doors, wide and heavy, it is the hinges that drop. The leaf catches on the floor, the espagnolette forces, a top point no longer engages at all. Carrying on pushing twists the rods and turns a simple realignment into a full replacement. Treated early, the symptom costs no more than a hinge and keep adjustment.
A key snapped in the barrel comes out with neither pliers nor glue: the fragment goes deeper and the pins jam. Leave the door as it is and say, when you call, whether the piece is sticking out or not. On an old workshop mechanism in the centre, that detail decides what gets brought along.
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 Vallauris.