Planned work
Lock change in Santa Pola, for doors that live in salt air
Front-door cylinders that grind or stick, a multipoint lock that takes two hands to turn, a new home whose previous owners kept a set of keys. Booked for a day and a time that suit you.
Open 24 hours · 7 days
- Booked ahead
- Several doors on one key if you want
- Price agreed before work
The short version: most front doors here need only a new cylinder, usually a short job on the day. Send a photo of the lock from both sides and you will know what is needed before anyone comes.
Why locks wear here
Salt, sand, and a lot of 2000s cylinders
Two things set the locks of Santa Pola apart. The first is the air. With four Blue Flag beaches, a working port and the salt pans of the natural park all within the municipality, the steel springs and pins inside a cylinder corrode faster than they would inland, and with less than 240 mm of rain a year nothing washes the salt and sand away. What that looks like inside a cylinder.
The second is age. A third of the properties in the municipality date from 2000 to 2009, many of them bungalows and apartments in Gran Alacant and Santa Pola del Este. If the cylinder in your door is the one the builder fitted, it has had up to twenty summers of salt, and it may never have been a strong one. How to tell if yours is original.
What we change
The work on an ordinary front door
Euro cylinders
The standard on nearly every door here. Replaced like for like, or upgraded to a model with anti-snap and anti-bump protection that resists the common ways of forcing a cylinder.
Multipoint locks
Armoured doors and PVC front doors throw bolts or hooks at several points. When the key turns hard or the handle has to be lifted with force, the cause is often a gearbox clogged with salt or a door that has dropped, not the cylinder. Both are checked.
Locks after a move
Bought a resale flat, or let your place to tenants for a year? You cannot know how many keys are out there. Changing the cylinders is the cheapest certainty you can buy.
Terrace and balcony sliders are a different mechanism with their own page. If the door has been forced, start with repairs after a break-in, which is also where the high-security options live.
On the day
How a booked lock change goes
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Photos first
Both sides of the lock and the edge of the door, by WhatsApp. That decides which cylinders come in the van.
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A day and a time
Planned work is booked in normal hours, including for owners who are only in Santa Pola for a few days.
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Options and price at the door
Like-for-like or upgraded, one key or several doors on one key. The price is agreed before the old cylinder comes out.
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Fitted and tested
Every key turned in every new cylinder, with the door open and shut, before you sign anything.
Managing a holiday let and changing cylinders between tenants? That is covered on the holiday-let page. Locked out right now instead? Getting the door open comes first.
Asked on the phone
Cylinders, keys and sea air
Do I need a whole new lock, or just the cylinder?
On most doors here, just the cylinder: the part the key goes into. The lock body inside the door lasts far longer. Both are checked, and you are told which one is actually worn.
How do I measure my cylinder if I want to know before you come?
Undo the long screw on the edge of the door, level with the cylinder, and photograph the cylinder from the side with a ruler beside it. Or simply send a photo of the lock from both sides on WhatsApp.
Can several doors share one key after the change?
Yes. Front door, back door and the door to the solarium can take cylinders keyed alike, so one key opens all of them. Say so when you book, so the right cylinders come in the van.
The flat faces the sea. Is there a cylinder that copes better with salt?
Cylinders with brass or nickel-plated bodies and stainless fixing screws hold up better than the plainest ones, and a weather cover on the outside helps on exposed doors. Even so, an occasional dry lubricant does more than any brand.
What people book after this
Work that often goes with a new cylinder
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Repairs after a break-in
A forced door made to shut and lock on the first visit. Later, if you want it, a stronger cylinder, a guard plate or a high-security lock.
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Sliding door repairs
Aluminium and PVC sliders on terraces and balconies that no longer catch, run or lock: hook locks, handles, rollers and keepers.
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Changeover lock work
Cylinders changed between guests, a guest locked out at check-in, a flat that has been shut since last summer. For the property you do not live in.
Guides that lead to this page
Book the change for a day that suits you
Send a photo of the lock from both sides, or ring and describe it.