Category: Home Locks
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Best Smart Locks for Sliding Glass and Patio Doors
There are finally good keyless options for sliding glass and patio doors. The best smart lock for a sliding door is the Lockly Guard, which mounts on the door frame and adds fingerprint, code, and app entry without drilling the glass. For a simple keypad, the PAWPAE works well, and the Lockey C150 is a…
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Door Barricade Devices & Recommendations
The Best Door Security Devices | Types of Door Barricades | Our Evaluation Criteria | Detailed Product Reviews Standard home locks don’t make your door safe from a would-be intruder. You can secure a front door from the inside by using door barricade devices (or door braces). These devices secure entry doors that open inward…
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Smart Gate Locks: Weatherproof Outdoor Options That Actually Work
You can put a smart lock on an outdoor gate, but most home smart locks fail outdoors because only the outside half is weather-sealed. The best smart lock for an outdoor gate is a weatherproof-rated model like the Ultraloq, or a standard smart lock protected under a weather cover. For most gates, a mechanical keyless…
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How to Cover a Door Knob Hole or Deadbolt Hole
To cover a hole in a door left by a knob or deadbolt, the cleanest fix is a metal cover plate (a hole filler plate) that mounts over the opening, far cheaper and tidier than filling with putty, which cracks, or replacing the door. Match the plate to your hole, usually 2-1/8 inches across for…
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Do Portable Door Locks Work? A Locksmith Reviews the Options
Yes, portable door locks work, and a strike-plate brace type is genuinely effective, about as strong as a residential deadbolt. They only work on in-swinging doors, and they hold the door shut even if someone has a key, keycard, or PIN, which is why they shine in hotels, dorms, apartments, and Airbnbs. Bar and wedge…
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Why Your Schlage Electronic Deadbolt Unlocks When Pushing the Schlage Button (and How to Fix It)
If your Schlage BE365 deadbolt unlocks the moment you press the Schlage button, or your code locks the door instead of unlocking it, the drive cam was installed 180 degrees backwards. It is the most-missed step in the manual. Pressing Schlage is supposed to let you lock with the thumbturn, not unlock. The fix: take…
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BHMA Lock Grades: AAA Rating Explained vs ANSI
BHMA lock grades rate a residential lock in three areas: Security, Durability, and Finish. Each gets an A, B, or C, where A is best, so AAA is the top BHMA grade. Unlike ANSI, which gives one number to the whole lock or a single component, BHMA grades the entire finished product. For a home,…
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Best Combination Padlock in 2026: A Locksmith’s Picks
The best combination padlock is the Abus 190CS/60. Most combination locks are easy to bypass, but the Abus 190CS fixes the usual weak points with a tough body, a protected dial, and a hardened shackle, making it the rare combination padlock that holds up for more than short-term use. For a gym locker or luggage…
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Yale Lock Reset: How to Factory Reset a Yale Smart Lock
To reset a Yale smart lock, pull the battery cover and batteries, remove the inside back plate to reach the reset button (just right of the PCB cable), then press and hold that button while you reinsert the batteries for at least 3 seconds and release. The lock factory-resets, wiping every code and connection, and…
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How to Factory Reset Schlage Smart Locks (Encode, Connect, Touch, BE365)
To reset a Schlage keypad lock, open the inside cover, disconnect the battery, then press and hold the Schlage button while you reconnect the battery until the keypad flashes and beeps. You do not need your old programming code, the lock resets to the default codes printed on the white sticker inside, and you enter…