Expert Locksmith Advice

Ultion locks: The ultimate high-security product

There is no substitute for choosing high-security locks for your home. Ultion offers locks with the ultimate combination of security and affordability, making their products the number one choice for locksmiths in Sheffield, South Yorkshire and the rest of the country.

Should You Fit Your Own Door Lock

Britain is a nation of DIY-ers; from putting up shelves to trying our hand at tiling, most of us will have a go at various tasks throughout the home.

However, regardless of how much enthusiasm you put into the job, there are some that simply need to be left to the professionals. One of these is fitting door locks. After all, a lock is often the only thing standing in the way of people being able to enter your home or business as they please.

Having a professional locksmith carry out the job can save both time and money in the long run. And here's why.

Brief History of Locks

It's nearly Christmas and you might be expecting me to do a blog relating to the festive season. Well perhaps this locksmith isn't going to play by those rules. They don't call me the Renegade Locksmith for nothing, you know. Okay, they don't call me that at all. But if they knew I wasn't doing a Christmas-related blog they might. Instead, I'm going to talk about *big intake of breath*.... a brief history of locks. *waits for stunned silence followed by rapturous applause*. Oh.. okay, maybe the applause comes later. 

Social Media Security Measures

I was visiting London last month, marvelling at the scenery and gasping at the prices they expect you to pay for a pint of beer,  when I ended up in the middle of Piccadilly Circus, surrounded by the flashing neon signs and electronic advertisements. Suddenly, all the screens went black, and a loud cough could be heard from their direction, alerting everyone’s attention upwards. Even in London, where they elected a children’s TV character as mayor, this was an unusual occurrence, and caused locals and tourists alike to stop what they were doing, and stare up at the screens. There, they found that the image of a middle-aged lady was fading in, until her face filled every single one of the available electronic surfaces. She looked directly down at us all and began to speak:

“Greetings to you all. My name is Cynthia Evans. I live at 36 Shandy Street in Hackney. I am not there at the moment however, as I am on a month long safari in Africa, and will not be back for several weeks.”

How to avoid being a victim of letterbox crime

The nation's burglars are in search of new methods to break into your home - and this includes using your letterbox. The bad news is that it's no longer a case of them using a fishing rod to steal your keys, as their techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Do you need to change your locks when moving house?

One of the most common questions for us over Spring and Summer is from new homeowners asking 'do we need to change the locks in the new house?' So today we'll share the opinion of our expert locksmith on why we'd recommend it and how it can give you peace of mind during a stressful time...

Keep it local - Why you should avoid the national locksmiths

Nowadays when people are looking for a locksmith and need one quickly they will turn to a search engine such as Google for help, expecting to see listings from locksmiths that are local to them.

Unfortunately it's getting hard to find genuine local locksmiths online as alongside their results are hundreds of listings from national call centres using shady tactics to appear high up in local searches.

Night time burglaries, what's your lock-up routine?

Having your property targeted by a burglar is a worrying prospect and it can be even more of a concern if it takes place at night, with yourself and your family in the house.

Often people will take the "if it's going to happen, it's going to happen and there's nothing you can do to stop it" attitude, but here at SF Locksmiths we know from experience that there are plenty of steps you can take to improve the security of your house at night and deter a burglar.

Distraction burglary is on the up - How to avoid getting caught out

Think that a burglary is more likely to take place when you're away from the property? A burglary happens every 40 seconds in the UK and according to government statistics a whopping 59% of these burglaries actually occur when the victim is still in the property. The majority of these break-ins also happen in the evening with only 25% occurring at night when the victim is asleep.

One of the common techniques used by burglars in this scenario is distraction burglary. Read on to find out more about what distraction burglary is and how you can protect yourself from it.

What to do if you get locked out of your property!

People accidentally locking themselves out of their house, car of even place of business happens a lot more often than you might think. If it's ever happened to you then you'll know how extremely stressful and worrying getting locked out can be.

Follow our 5 top tips for when you get locked out to ensure that you can get back into your home safely, in good time and without damaging anything or spending a fortune.