It’s definitely going to be a white Christmas this year and while that sounds enchanting, it can turn into a downright nightmare if your locks are unprepared! Along with the snow, the wooly sweatshirts, the beanies, scarves and mittens, comes the big freeze! And that means being locked out or stuck in the cold when your locks are frozen up!

Why Do Locks Freeze? DIY Prevention

Locks freeze up when moisture gets inside and the lock’s internal mechanisms. Firstly, the water itself can permanently damage or rust the locks over time, but ice itself can almost instantly prevent the mechanisms from turning at all.

For this reason, people who live in the colder, Northern regions tend to buy a few cans of ‘lock de-icer’ as part of their standard Winter preparations. If they are prepared, they also treat their house locks and car locks with petroleum jelly or lubricant every week or so during the Winter months. These methods can help prevent frozen locks, but they don’t always work. Plus, all the prevention advice in the world doesn’t help if your locks are already frozen!

That’s when you call in the experts – our Authorized Locksmiths are ready and able to come to your aid, defrost your locks, fixe any lock damage and get you back inside and warm again in no time!

Frozen House Locks

Frozen house locks can be inconvenient, frustrating or they can even be downright dangerous! Being stuck out of the house on a frosty eve, especially if you are unprepared, can cause frostbite or in the worst case, can be fatal!

If you are stuck out of your house in the cold, don’t wait or hesitate to call in the professionals! Our locksmiths are always close at hand and can get you back in your home and in the warmth within a half hour!

Don’t forget to mention on the phone if you are unprepared for the cold weather, because this is considered a locksmith emergency! If it’s an emergency, our locksmiths not only prioritize your call, but come prepared with a first aid kit and can radio for the paramedics

Frozen Car Locks

Frozen car locks are as common in the North as a warm Cup A Joe! Once again, those few who are diligent and prepared never leave home without a can of de-icer and lubricant in their bags, but how many of us are ALWAYS prepared for a frozen car lock emergency? And even so, de-icer can only melt the ice that’s covering the outside of the lock. If the inside of the car door lock is frozen as well, de-icer isn’t much help.

Whether your stuck at home with frozen car locks or you’re stranded out somewhere in the freezing cold and can’t get home, call for an Locksmith nearby to come to your location.

We will get to your location within a half hour – guaranteed, and our experienced locksmiths can get your locks defrosted AND fix any internal, long term damage the frost may have caused.

No sweat!

Frozen Mailboxes or Garage Door Locks

Even true Northeners might diligently treat their front door locks every week during Winter, but may overlook their side doors, windows or garage door locks. And if that’s the only key you have to get into your house, you are back at square one again: stuck outside the house in the frosty, cold with no way to get in or warm up!

Plus, don’t forget your mailbox is always out in the cold, exposed and ripe for freezing! While this many not strictly be a locksmith emergency, it can be a major disappointment around the Christmas holidays, when friends and family far away will be sending cards and gifts via mail.

DIY Treatment

There is so much advice on the internet for how to treat frozen locks.

The recommendations range from:

• Use a blow dryer to slowly heat the lock and melt the ice blocking the lock face. Good luck getting the electrical cord to extend out to the front door, let alone the parking lot!
• Use de-icer to melt the ice around the lock – but this won’t treat the ice inside the lock.
• Heat the key and slowly work the key back and forth in the lock. This might have limited success if your lock isn’t very frozen, but you run the risk of both permanently damaging your key and / or getting the key stuck or broken off in the frozen lock.
• Use a crowbar to break the ice around the lock. This may sound like a reasonable solution, but it permanently damages the lock, can damage your door and once again doesn’t melt the ice inside the lock that is blocking the locking mechanism.

None of these methods are very effective because they all treat the ice outside the lock and not the ice that’s frozen inside the lock. The ice frozen inside the lock is what prevents the key from turning in the lock, can get the key stuck in the lock and is what causes permanent damage to your lock.