I’m in a gated community with a high level of community awareness not to mention a low crime area and the sheriff’s department right around the corner. I feel pretty safe but still lock up at night so’s I can sleep with both eyes closed.
I never lock up; in fact, I can’t find the keys to the house. When I sold my previous house, I had to put new locks in all the doors because I lost the keys.
I do have a doberman, 2 german shepards, a giant schnauzer, a standard poodle and an english setter.
StG
constanze, the door of every place I’ve lived, and I’m guessing much/most of the US, has 2 separate locks - there’s a lock on the doorknob itself, and a completely separate deadbolt lock, - here’s a picture.
The lock on the knob can be set to locked or unlocked from inside, using a small switch. This setting is persistent, and doesn’t affect the latch itself - it allows or prevents the knob from being turned from outside. You can always turn the knob from inside though. Usually you can lock the knob from outside as well, though you need a key.
The deadbolt can be locked from inside by turning a lever. You need a key to unlock or lock it from outside. And usually both locks will use the same key.
So there are 4 possibilities - the door is closed, but unlocked (neither lock is active) so you can just turn the knob & enter - the door is closed and both locks are locked - the door is closed and the knob only is locked - the door is closed and the deadbolt only is locked.
From your pic, it seems like if you lock the deadbolt from inside, you require a key to open it (since you needed the key to lock it) - is this correct? Such locks would be a code violation on residences in much of the US, since you could wind up locking yourself if you remove & misplace the key from the lock. That’s the code violation that ed was referring to.
I’m not a locksmith, but my impression is that the lock of the turning knob itself in US locks is extremly flimsy and easy to pick. Or why else is everybody so afraid of people breaking in? (True, US buildings in general are flimsy: besides the lock itself, the door is hollow, and the walls are not solid, either).
How does this square with the previous posts in this thread of people opening closed doors, if it’s possible to keep a closed door closed by turning the switch on the knob in the correct position? Why do the US dopers talk as if the alternative to locking the door is leaving it wide open?
Yes, when I lock the door from the inside, I need a key to open it again. Which is why I don’t do it.
I was reading your explanation of locked as requiring a key on both sides - which seems kind of weird to me, and would not be safe in the event of a fire, and would almost certainly be against fire codes (and therefore not legal). Maybe I misread.
We do have deadbolts, but you don’t need a key to open them, just a switch on the inside.
Also, maybe to clear up the definitions of how people (around me, northeastern US) use these words:
- Open: the door is actually, physically open, and you are letting bugs in (unless there’s a screen door as well).
- Closed: the door is closed, but turning the handle from either side will open it. This is how we keep it when we are home and awake.
- Locked: either the regular lock or the deadbolt is secured. This is how we keep it when away or asleep.
There are two kinds, single cylinder, that has a keyhole on the outside only, and double cylinder that has a keyhole on both sides. Double cylinder is useful if you have windows near the lock, a thief can’t break the window and reach through to unlock the bolt. They also make single cylinders with removable thumb-latches to give you that type of security.
Depends. Some doorknob locks are flimsy, some are quite secure. And exterior doors are IME either solid wood or hollow steel. And the walls aren’t particularly flimsy either.
Which posts? Some houses do have a knob that doesn’t lock at all, so their only option for locking the door is the deadbolt. They may be referring to that.
Then it’s a shame your government doesn’t see fit to enact reasonable building & fire codes.
Front door is locked whether I am home or not, back door is protected by dogs.
There’s many different kinds of locks here, but what have in our door is closer to something like this. But there’s countless variations. The entire point is that from the inside, the lock can be activated with a knob, lever, or some other method that does not require a key.
The strength of these locks has nothing to do with the fact that they do or do not require a key. I don’t see any reason why your German locks can’t be designed such that the interior locking mechanism is a knob or some other physical lock-engaging device that does not require a key. Like I said, it sounds needlessly dangerous, and I had already once experienced being locked inside a building because I dropped my keys into the cellar past a locked gate. I couldn’t get inside my flat, or out through the front door (as it was locked, and I needed my keys) and had to wait until somebody else showed up to let me out. I kept thinking how fucked I would have been if there were a fire or other situation where I needed to get out fast and nobody was around to help me.
IME replacing a locking doorknob is very difficult for someone who doesn’t know how. Burglars presumably do know how, but the one time I tried replacing one I got as far as having the knob assembly dangle loosely in the aperture and couldn’t figure out how to get the pieces apart.
I’m not convinced that our buildings are any less solid than the typical postwar construction in Europe. My dorm building in Göttingen was no fortress in that regard, although I certainly felt safe in the building. It was long ago, but IIRC we always needed our keys to get inside the main structure, and we all usually kept our individual doors locked.
I think something’s being lost in translation, especially given the fact that there are German verbs for “close”, “lock”, and, IIRC even “unlock”/“open” that are all based on the same root “schliessen”. If I were discussing this in German on a German messageboard, I wouldn’t be sure how to express my point without getting my dictionary out, or looking it up on Leo…hmmm, even after looking it up it’s still confusing.
I don’t think anybody has a door that must be either locked or wide open.
I’d get a couple of duplicates made of that key, and then keep one sticking in the lock, on the inside, at all times.
This arrangement is fairly rare here, but I have heard of it being done as a back-end security measure; the idea is to keep the burglars locked in until the police arrive.
I’ve always locked the door, at all times, wherever I’ve lived. And I’ve never lived in a place that you could reasonably call dangerous, although neither have I lived anywhere people automatically think of as quintessentially safe.
I don’t want to criticize those who leave their doors unlocked, and exult in their ability to do so, but I almost certainly could as well, and go on doing so for quite a long time before I experienced a theft. Another way I can put that is this: It’s a potential hazard, but a remote one that is unlikely to strike unless I expose myself to the danger for a protracted period.
That said, I don’t quite get why anyone anywhere would want to leave their house unlocked, except perhaps during the afternoon when the kids are in and out. People today have TVs, computers, other electronics, jewelry, and any number of other small, easily portable expensive possessions. Locking up seems common sense, whether you live in NYC, L.A. or Mayberry RFD. A century ago people really didn’t have much in their houses. Two centuries ago, even less. In the early 18th century, the Adamses were one of the leading local families in Braintree/Quincy Massachusettes, and their prize heirloom was one silver spoon. And these were highly educated people of property.
I said “always,” but I guess my real answer is “when I’m not at home, and when I’m home alone.” I know that home invasions aren’t all that common, and I live in a fairly safe neighborhood, but we’ve had break-in attempts before (while we weren’t home, thankfully), so better safe than sorry.
They might think a decent sized dog is as effective a deterrent as a locked door.
They might prefer the thought of coming home to an empty house rather than an empty house and a broken window.
They might have a rare physiological disorder that causes small metal objects on or very near their persons to disappear.
I know all about that one, only for me it involves the ONE key that will operate my car, and cannot be duplicated for less than a hundred bucks or something like that.
Can’t do a search-n-link right now, but one post was about a small child who opened the door from the outside; another told how he was inside the apt. as a kid and heard somebody going outside trying the doors to find open ones, luckily his door was locked (not just closed).
Bwhahaha. Really you should talk! You know anything about German building codes for houses? The only thing that I think makes sense and that we should adapt from the US are the exterior stair cases for fire. Otherwise, our houses are structurally sound, fulfill fire regulations and confirm to saving heating energy. One issue about locks is not a problem. Esp. since people don’t lock the door from inside, because it’s not necessary, so the issue doesn’t arise.
A few years ago a friend of mine left his windows open when he went away for two weeks using the theory it was too obvious and he would be safe from thiefs.
They didn’t take a real lot- just jewelry and stereo equipment.
Um, I said “picking” the lock, not replacing. I don’t have hard data, but my impression is that US locks are flimsy. How difficult it is to replace a lock is a different thing.
In Germany, there are DIN standards for how secure a lock is, that you can use when choosing a more secure lock.
German building codes are quite strict and detailed.
No, ed’s post is what I was thinking of. The German terms are “Die Tür ist geschlossen/zu” = the door is closed
and “Die Tür ist abgeschlossen/ abgesperrt” = the door is locked.
If you want a definition:
closed door: the latch is engaged and it can’t be opened from the outside
locked door: the bolt has been moved across
That would block you from opening the door from outside, so every time you leave, you would have to remove that key. Which is what most people here do: they keep their keys near the door.
We don’t typically use hollow doors in places that lead to the outside here in the United States. The door to the water closet, the bedroom or the kitchen? Yeah, hollow. I’ve only seen one hollow door leading to the outside and that was in the house I’m currently renting. After I discovered the door was hollow I called the landlord and had him replace it.
I keep the door of my house locked virtually all the time. The only time it’s unlocked is when I’m outside grilling, doing yard work or playing with my dog. Even when I lived in Germany I kept the door to my apartment locked at all times as well.
In English, well at least American English, closed isn’t the same as locked. If a door isn’t locked then it isn’t secure.
Those type of locks aren’t all that common in the United States. I’ve seen them here before but I cannot remember when that last was. I would never have such a lock in my home because it creates a potentially dangerous situation. A deadbolt that you can turn from the inside without a key is not dangerous.
I don’t have the statistics but generally speaking, yes. Most criminals really aren’t all that bright and many of them are very bad at risk assessment. Why else do you think people risk murdering someone and spending the next 40-60 years in prison for a lousy $100 from a convenience store?
When I lived in Munich someone tried to break into my apartment on the third floor through a window. There was scaffolding up because they were painting the building and he was hoping to find easy access through a window. I suspect he was an American GI though. So maybe German criminals are polite and only break in during the day. I don’t know.
I really don’t understand the mindset of people who don’t lock their doors. It takes maybe 2-5 seconds of your life to lock a door and the benefits are many.
#1. Locked doors and windows will deter some potential intruders.
#2. Breaking through a locked door or window is noisy. If you’re home it will immediately alert you that an potential intruder is either in your home or attempting to get in.
#3. Coming home and seeing a broken window or lock can also alert you to the potential presence of an intruder.
The drawbacks to locking your door are none that I can see.