Category : Residential Locksmith Chicago

• Benefits of Apartment Complex Locksmith Service

  Posted on May 3rd, 2020 0 Comments

  There’s myriad benefits that apartment complex management can reap from hiring a certified professional Chicago locksmith company to handle their security, lock, and access needs. In this blog post, the residential and commercial locksmith experts here at Chicago Locksmiths will detail some of the fantastic benefits residential complexes can receive from our professional lock and access control services.

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• Most Common Homeowner Concerns

  Posted on March 29th, 2019 0 Comments

  Owning a home is a privilege that’s a core aspect of the American Dream. However, there’s many safety and security concerns that we, the residential lock installation and residential security experts here at Chicago Locksmiths are deeply familiar with. Here’s a guide to the most common safety and security concerns associated with owning a home in America today.

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• Why it’s Best to Hire a Certified Locksmith

  Posted on June 29th, 2018 0 Comments

  It’s always a good idea to hire a certified locksmith to carry out all of your lock installation, lock repair, and lock maintenance needs. Not only are amateur attempts much more time consuming and less effective than professional service, but they can affect the safety and security of your household and business. Here’s a guide to why it’s best to hire a certified locksmith, as prepared by the lock and security experts at Chicago Locksmiths.

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• Home Safe Evaluation Guide

  Posted on April 18th, 2018 0 Comments

  Buying a home safe can be a confusing process due to the massive amount of safes available on the market today. The huge variety of price ranges, makes, and models can be overwhelming for the average consumer. In this blog post, the safe and security experts at Chicago Locksmiths will help you figure out the right steps to take when figuring out what home safe to purchase.

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• Neighborhood Security

  Posted on April 28th, 2017 0 Comments

  When most people move into a brand new neighborhood, they inquire about its level of safety. There’s fantastic new tools for people to help inquire about, address, and analyze neighborhood based security issues in their area. One of these tools is the SpotCrime Crime Map, which aggregates all local crimes reported in any given area. Crimes are shown through icons positioned on the map – and the icons expand when clicked to show the type of crime committed, as well as its date and time.

   

  One reason that you might want to track the kinds of crime committed in your area, as well as their frequency, is so that you can stay prepared and take the necessary steps to prevent becoming a victim of these crimes. SpotCrime allows you to do so by having alerts sent to your email or social media platform, so you will get instant alerts if a crime is committed in the vicinity of your home.

   

  Neighbors

  Make sure to meet your neighbors. Many areas have block parties, yard sales, a communal block watch patrol, or other such events and groups. Having a sense of community in your area helps prevent crime even more so than police much of the time, because community members look out for one another. Even something as benign as a communal sports game can helps strengthen these community bonds. Your neighbors are the ones who will keep tabs on your home when you’re away – and they can notify you if they witness any suspicious activity going on by your home after you leave on vacation.

   

  Beautification

  Having your area regularly maintained can help deter thieves from feeling like they can strike there. Broken windows and graffiti send the unconscious message to people that there’s a lax aspect of neighborhood solidarity, and that the area is more vulnerable to crime. Of course, not everyone has the physical means to keep their property looking pristine – so it’s important to help your neighbors to sp; it’s not only the right thing to do, but it promotes a sense of community that can help protect you as well.

   

  Support Local Businesses and Institutions

  Empty storefronts and abandoned businesses also contribute to crime. By supporting local businesses, you can keep a sense of healthy community alive in your area. Empty storefronts lead to vandalism, which can in turn lead to more extreme and harsh kinds of crime – while also depreciating the property value of your area.

   

  Keep Watch and Protect your Neighbors

  Be a good neighbor. If you see anything that looks strange or suspicious, notify your neighbors. You can look out for eachother. It’s possible that your neighbors aren’t even aware that their windows are broken or have had a break-in – and looking out for those in your community goes a long way to exponentially increase the level of security in your neighborhood.

  

  Author: admin

• Going Out Partying Lock Risks

  Posted on May 17th, 2016 0 Comments

  

  Drinking alcohol is one of the global pastimes of working (and indolent) people everywhere. For some people it’s a hobby; for others it’s a lifestyle. Casting an eye away from concern for your professional well being, in this blog post I’ll detail some of the ways that having a night out on the town drinking might affect your ability to enter your home – and lead to your need for a locksmith.

  Losing Keys

  When drinking, you might want to consider giving a friend your keys to hold on to. This prevents the potential of you getting behind the wheel of your car while intoxicated. However, if you’re giving your friend your keys, pay mind to whether they are drunk or responsible to make sure that they in turn don’t lose them. It’s also a risk to potentially forget the fact you gave your keys to your friend, or exactly which friend you gave them to. Fortunately to the alcohol consuming public, emergency locksmiths exist for a reason.

   

  Breaking Keys

  Alcohol can seriously affect anybody’s ability to maintain successful hand-eye coordination. Even simple actions like inserting a key into a lock become oppressively difficult; to use a clumsy metaphor about clumsiness, imagine if every time you wanted to touch your nose, you touched your foot.  Now translate that metaphor to trying to place your key into key slot. If you’re insanely drunk and the only thing you can think about is how badly you want to collapse into your bed, you might shove the key in the keyhole the wrong way, repeatedly, breaking or grinding off it’s details, or even worse, snapping it off inside the key slot.

   

  Breaking the Lock

  Alcohol can give people extra-human strength. Let’s say you forget your keys at the bar, or inside a taxi, and then get home, drunk, and all you want to do is get back inside. Some of the more confident among us might try to pick the lock – never a good idea for an amateur to attempt, especially when drunk. This could cause irreparable damage to the lock – damage that can be equalled or surpassed by manual attempts to force the door open – especially with the utilization of alcohol induced super strength. We’ve seen doors physically pried off their hinges by desperate intoxicated people – if you’re reading this you probably don’t want to even try anything like this, but just for the sake of safety, let us remind you – don’t even try it.

   

  Forgetfully Compromising your Security

  Even if you did remember your keys, you very well might forget to lock the door once you stumble inside and crash on the couch. It’s no surprise that the majority of crime happens between the hours of 2-5 in the morning; it’s when criminals expect people to be drunk and vulnerable, leaving themselves exposed to the dastardly machinations of others. In certain areas heavily populated by young people, criminals have been known to try opening street level doors, knowing the chances that one might have been mistakenly unlocked. Don’t leave yourself exposed to this threat.

   

  Reducing your Chances of Drunk Lockouts

  • If you know in advance that you will be drinking a lot, make sure to get good rest the night before, eat well during the previous day (and throughout your evening of drinking,) and most importantly, stay hydrated. It’s going to help your body deal with the effects of alcohol in a much more comfortable and healthy fashion, so that you can have your mental bearings when you arrive home.
  • Make sure to be drinking with people that you trust. This makes it easy for you to leave keys with them in case you need them to hold them for safekeeping. Never leave your keys or phones with strangers that you don’t know.
  • If one of your friend is the designated driver, make sure they carry everyone’s keys as well just to be safe. Since they (hopefully!) won’t be drinking, they will be able to keep tight track on the keys.

  

  Author: admin

• Child Home Security Tips

  Posted on May 5th, 2016 0 Comments

  

  The center of every family is their home; it’s the space for togetherness that adds a sense of safety, regularity, and stability. Not only is the home a financial liability, it’s also a sentimental zone that you want to keep as safe as possible. There’s many options for homeowners that want to beef up their home security; all these upgrades are fantastic choices to increase the safety of your home, but many families overlook a simple risk to home security than can jeopardize all your important preparation – children.

   

  Children can be incredibly volatile and energetic, and might not remember everything that you tell them regarding home security. The majority of children don’t even think about their own safety, much less the structural safety of their home. Teaching children to mind one’s home security system is an important task, that requires a bit of a tactical approach. Here’s some ways that children can compromise home security plans, and how you can address these risks early in order to keep your home and family safe.

   

  Doors

  Teach children about the security significance of doors and windows (taking mind not to scare them, but to firmly illustrate the lesson.) One major lesson is to teach children how to respond to a knock on the door – never to open right away, to ask who it is, how to behave when you’re home and need to be fetched, and how to respond when they are home alone. Children should be taught not to give any information to strangers who knock on the door – simply ask for a name and a purpose of visit, then get in touch with a parent.

  Curtains

  Teach your children about closing the curtains of your home, especially in rooms where there are large, attractive, and expensive looking devices around. I’m not saying that you should become a crazy shut-in, keeping your home swathed in darkness; I’m simply saying to teach your children the value of discretion – by advertising luxury to strangers, you are in some ways inviting a burglary.

   

  Garages

  Children should be taught to keep garage doorways clear of toys, bicycles, or other objects – especially nowadays, when many garage doors are outfit with motion sensors that keep the door open if an obstruction is sensed. If a child leaves objects in the garage doorway, it will keep the door open and make your property more susceptible to burglary or theft.

   

  Internet Safety

  Make sure that your child does not publicize or advertise any information about your schedule over the internet. Many children don’t have a filter over their thoughts, and don’t’ cast a doubt on publicizing information like what they got for Christmas, or their excitement about leaving for a two week vacation. To children, this might seem like a completely harmless sharing of information with friends, but in reality any stranger with access to this information could use it as inspiration or strategy for a burglary or home invasion. Make sure that your kids know now to place your home in the public eye – even anonymously over the internet.

   

  Home Security Technology

  Teach your children how to operate all your home security devices. This includes teaching them to arm and disarm alarms before they leave the house and when they arrive home – you want this knowledge to become instinctual muscle memory for them. Remember, all it takes is one slip up and some bad luck to instigate a burglary. Children should be taught that alarms – regardless of how fun they look to play with – are not toys, and should never be fiddled with.

  

  Author: admin

• Keep this information in mind while buying a safe.

  Posted on April 3rd, 2016 0 Comments

  

  Here at Chicago Locksmiths, we make our primary objective the long-lasting safety and security of your household or business. The safety and integrity of your household also includes material objects – family heirlooms, important documents with vulnerable information, jewelry, and electronics are all of primary importance to be protected. Even when the perimeter of your home or business can be made secure with door and window locks, it’s wise to stay aware of the exposed and vulnerable nature of any valuables that may be left out in the open inside the home. If any of these objects are truly cherished and important to you, it’s important that you get a safe for the inside of your home or business. Due to the extensive variety in brands, sizes, and constructions of safes, Chicago Locksmiths provides you with a critical range of tips in order to help you understand exactly what your needs are, and what kind of safes can help you meet these needs.

   

  What belongings need protection:

  Not only do you have to consider the monetary value of all your items, but also what their size is and what kind of material they are made of. Documents with pertinent personal information, jewlery, photos, and small and expensive electronics are all items that are commonly put into storage inside safes. Some safes are heat resistant, which is an excellent option when you’re dealing with paper. This is a wise option for any digital hardware or software that you’re storing as well, as digital information is vulnerable to heat. If you have a particularly priceless object or heirloom, it may be wise to store it in a floor safe that obscures even the safe from view. Whatever kind of item you need to store will help provide you some sort of guidelines as to what safe to invest in.

   

  Compare the price of the safe to the value of the objects that you’re storing.

  Even if you’re certain that you need to purchase a safe, the solution isn’t to simply go outside and purchase just any safe. You’re going to need to consider the full monetary and sentimental value of what objects you want to store. If the value on either end is very high, you should consider getting a high security safe, which are often somewhat more expensive. If the objects are more valuable along the sentimental end of things, rather than monetary, a regular safe will suffice.

   

  How big is the inside of the safe?

  This might be somewhat implicit, but on a sheerly practical level you want to make sure that you can buy a safe that fits all of the objects that you want to store; in fact, Chicago Locksmiths recommends that you purchase a safe that’s larger than you originally estimate for your needs; it’s likely that once you have a safe you’re going to acquire more items that you’re going to want to store in the future. By anticipating future needs, you will always stay ahead of the curve.

   

  Where will you place your new safe?

  The area in which you plan to keep your safe will help determine what the style, material, and size of the safe needs to be. First, if you have an idea of where you want to keep the safe, measure the area precisely – and use those exact measurements to purchase a safe that’s the exact right size. Additionally, figure out what sort of environmental mitigating factors are present in the space you’ll be keeping the safe; is there excessive heat (or the risk of heat) present? Is there excessive moisture (or the risk of moisture, like a wet basement in a flood prone area) present? Answering these questions will help you determine exactly what kind of material the safe should be made of – whether you want it to be heat proof (and at what level), water-proof, or both.

  

  Author: admin

• Safe Glossary

  Posted on March 23rd, 2016 0 Comments

  

  The majority of people’s conception of security extends to only door and window locks, but it’s a fact that protecting your valuables inside interior safes add an essential additional level of protection. For the peace of mind knowing that your valuables are being adequately protected, there’s no better bet than a safe. Whether you need to protect heirlooms, jewelry, or documents like birth certificates or business records, security safes will protect your assets like no other hardware can. There’s a number of different categories of safes; in this blog post I’ll detail the various types, and what they’re best for.

   

  Fire Resistant

  These safes protect their inner contents from high temperatures, and are given ratings according to the amount of time that they can survive fire temperatures while not letting the internal temperature rise above a certain amount. These safes range in fire safety duration from a half hour to four hours – safes installed within concrete floors are the safest, however since these safes are not watertight, they may fill with water from hoses or sprinklers in case there’s a fire. To be safe, place all items within fire resistant safes inside plastic bags.

   

  Diversion Safes

  This ultra basic safe is hidden within a normal household object like a book, a can, or even a wall outlet. These safes are meant to blend in among the rest of household items, and should be left among real versions of their corresponding objects.

   

  Jewelry Safes

  These – usually small – safes are specifically meant to store the eponymous jewelry or other small valuables – they are both burglary and fire proof, and usually have well appointed interiors made with fine wood or fabric – and sometimes with internal drawers or cabinets.

   

  Environmentally Resistant

  These safes are made to be waterproof – they can withstand extended underwater submersion for extended amounts of time.

   

  Burglar Resistant

  These safes are rated based on their ability to withstand the typical variety of tools that burglars use during break ins – they are rated based on the amount of time that they can withstand aggressive attack. These safes, while structurally resistant to forced entry, are not primed for water or fire resistance.

   

  Smart Safes

  These safes are designed to automatically give out or validate cash – think ATM machines or change makers. All customers or civilians can use them at their convenience – making things much smoother and cost effective for banking or business operations, and creating a controlled and surveilled transaction area.

   

  Fire Resistant Record Protectors

  This equipment has large insulated areas (containers, doors, drawers, or doors) that can house individually fire/environment/burglar rated containers with room for storing important records. The design of the compartments are organized based on class ratings for impact/attack resistance and safe fall tests.

   

  Room Sized Fireproof Vault

  This special equipment is meant to contain larger materials susceptible to heat ro fire, and can be a somewhat more practical choice over multiple fire rated safes, especially if you’re storing a large amount of items. These vaults are usually employed by larger business or government agencies, and carry some of the highest security class ratings for paper documents or data storage.

  

  Author: admin

• How to Protect your Motorcycle

  Posted on March 17th, 2016 0 Comments

  Unlike the self contained, capsule security of cars, motorcycles’ lack of doors, locks, or hoods makes them especially vulnerable to theft. Anyone can access the engine or internal electronics – especially if you park on the street, and quickly drive off.Like bicycles, motorcycles can easilly be anchored and lfited up. Security creates a need to hybridize the ease-of-access of a motorcycle and the security of a succinct, closed car. In this blog post, I will be detailing some of the realities of motorcycle theft, and providing some detail as how motorcycle owners can prevent their bike from getting stolen.

   

  Statistics of Theft

  The most commonly stolen motorcycles are Honda, with Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki ,and Harley-Davidson leading. Since 2013, all these brands thefts have somewhat diminished, besides Harley-Davidson, which has increased. California is the top state for motorcycle theft, with Texas and New York leading closely behind. The increased usage, hence, street availability of motorcycles in the Summer, makes it the most common season for motorcycle thefts. The higher demand for motorcycle parts during the summer creates a higher incentive for thieves to steal parts from vehicles, which bumps up the theft rate significantly.

   

  How Motorcycles are Stolen

  One common method of stealing a motorcycle is rolling it into a van or truck, and simply driving it away – a rather quick process, especially if the bike isn’t locked and can easily be rolled up a ramp. Even if this isn’t the case, a small collection of people could easily lift the bike. Once inside the van, the motorcycle will no longer be visible to passersby – making it a much more stealthy and inconspicuous theft than driving away in a stolen car. Once the bike arrives at another location, they are able to disassemble the structure of the bike, taking off any security device.

   

  Another method of motorcycle theft involves, simply, the thief starting up the bike and riding away on it. Many people don’t even lock their motorcycles – making it easy for thieves with double sided wafer pics,Try-Outs, or even a combination of determination and a screwdriver to start the ignition and drive away.

   

  How to Protect your Motorcycle

  One possibility is utilizing a ground anchor to fix your motorcycle to the floor of your property – these devices are usually installed inside home garages to maximize security. For those without home garages, this is not a practical option – so the best route to follow is to purchase a high security lock. Most Motorcycle owners prefer Disk Locks or U-Locks to padlocks because they eliminate the need to purchase a heavy chain. They offer increased convenience, but you’re going to need to purchase a few of them if you want to not use a chain at all. Place the U-Lock through the wheel, so it will stop it from rotating, or use it to lock the wheel onto a metal pole or any sort of anchor point. Make sure to invest in a U-Lock that releases on both sides of the shackle – this will cost any bike thief additional time when attempting to steal your bike.

   

  Dick locks can’t be attached to an anchor – they secure your bike through bolting through a hole in the disk break – stopping the bike’s wheel from being able to spin. It’s best to use two disk locks on both wheels, but if you only have one, attach it to the front wheel as it’s much easier for thieves to remove. Don’t ever forget to take off the disk lock before riding your bike.

   

  As far as padlocks go, you have tons of options – but when you’re making your purchase you should be paying heed to the thickness of the material, it’s weight, and the presence of a shroud that covers the sides of the shackle. Rounded cuts on the shackle indicates the presence of ball bearings in the lock, which upgrades its security level. It’s important to utilize multiple padlocks – as this works as both a deterrent method and a surefire way to upgrade the security level of the bike.

   

  Security Chains

  We recommend buying the strongest and sturdiest security chain as possible – these can be secured from various points to add additional padlocks and chains, as the chain is weaved through the multiple open components of the bike to an anchor point. We recommend getting a strong chain as the stronger the chain is, the more likely it is to resist attack from bolt cutters – spring for a chain with at least a 63 rating on the Rockwell scale.

   

  Alarms

  There’s many varieties of alarms – shock sensors, tilt sensors, GPS tracker, proximity sensors, etc. Shock sensors go off if someone hits or shakes the bike. The tilt sensor goes off if the bike is moved from one side to another. GPS notifications tell you the exact location of the bike which is helpful in the event of a theft. And best of all, a remote kill switch allows users to remotely sever the link between the battery and bike starter, rendering the bike incapable of driving.

   

  Theft Insurance

  If you’re really worried about having your bike stolen – whether you can only park your bike away from view or if you live in a high crime area, theft insurance is a fantastic strategy to implement. Think of it this way – if your bike is an investment, it’s worth investing some additional funds to protect and insure it – if the bike ever gets stolen, you can get fully compensated – simply make sure to call the police before you call the insurance brokers, in order to maximize your chances of relocating your vehicle. It’s also a great idea to put custom markings on the motorcycle to aid in it’s recovery – consider utilizing products like DataDot and SmartWater to mark parts on the bike.

   

  In Advance Security

  Make sure to lock your handlebars and place your bike within view of your property – at the very least this will act as a deterrent for any thieves who want to avoid being seen. Make sure that the various layers of security that you use with your bike are separate – meaning that they can’t all be removed in one fell swoop, or can be controlled with a single key. Consider using a motorcycle tarp as a deterrent – even consider buying a tarp branded with the logo of a less appealing motorcycle brand to make potential thieves simply pass by.

   

  It’s important, in bike security, to understand that every bike needs custom levels of protection – do whatever works specifically for you and your situation. Don’t go crazy or overthink things – as long as you stay practical, your security system will be both convenient and effective.

  

  Author: admin
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