Mobile Locksmith in Houghton

Houghton, Houghton Estate, Upper and Lower

The township's official name is Houghton Estate, and the 2011 Census used that name when it counted 7,867 residents over about 6.94 km². Most people simply say Houghton, and split it in two:

• Lower Houghton is the flatter northern part, laid out as a grid where the avenues run east–west and the streets run north–south. Many older stands here have been subdivided, and cluster homes now sit behind shared gates where a single house used to be.
• Upper Houghton sits on the ridge to the south. Its north–south streets carry the names of trees.

The east–west stretch of Houghton Drive, together with part of Louis Botha Avenue, roughly separates the two. The M1 cuts through the middle, with interchanges at Glenhove Road, Eleventh Avenue, Riviera Road, First Avenue and Houghton Drive. When you call, telling us which of those is nearest saves the technician a loop around the block.

Why a single call-out often turns into several locks

Chas Everitt puts Houghton erven at between about 1,500 and 4,500 m². On a stand that size, the locks are spread out and they age at different rates. The pedestrian gate faces the weather every day, while a burglar-bar section in a back bedroom may not have turned in years. While the technician is on site, it is worth walking round and mentioning anything else that sticks, so you get one quote instead of a second visit.

Common Houghton jobs include:

• pedestrian and side gates whose lock or keep no longer lines up (our guide to pedestrian gate lock problems lists what to look at first);
• security gates and burglar-bar doors with a worn padlock or lock body (see choosing padlocks for gates and burglar bars);
• garage, outbuilding and staff-room doors that nobody remembers the key for;
• a study or bedroom safe that won't open: safe opening is one of our normal services, and we'll ask for proof that the safe is yours.

Keys in many hands

In a large household, keys tend to spread: a housekeeper, a gardener, a relative, perhaps a guard or a response company holding a gate key. When someone leaves your employ, or a bunch goes missing, the safe question is which doors those keys still open. A lock replacement or a new cylinder on the affected doors closes that gap, and new locks come with their own keys.

We don't cut or copy keys, so plan who gets which key before the work is done. Our article on key control is written for landlords, but the same list-keeping habit works for any home with staff.

Older houses and heritage streets

Houghton's houses range across Arts and Crafts, Spanish Mission, Cape Dutch Revival and Modern styles, and Upper Houghton was declared a heritage area in 2010. Many of these homes still have their original timber doors and old mortice locks. A heavy door that has dropped on its hinges, or a frame that has moved, can make a sound lock seem faulty. The technician checks door, frame and lock together and will tell you whether a repair keeps the original hardware in service. If your property is subject to heritage rules, check with the relevant body before changing an original door. Older doors, older locks goes into this in more detail.

After a break-in

Report the burglary to SAPS first and get a case number. After that, a damaged door, a forced gate lock or a lock you no longer trust can be dealt with through our break-in repairs. The aim is to get every door and gate locking properly again.

At the gate: what to tell us

• the street address, and the cluster name if you live in a subdivided complex;
• whether a guard, an intercom or a person at the gate will let the technician in;
• which lock is the problem, and whether anyone is shut out or shut in.

For a lockout we ask for proof that you live there, and we always try non-destructive entry first. R250 call-out fee. The technician assesses the job on site and gives you the price before any work starts. Nothing is done until you agree. You can pay by EFT, cash or card.

Locksmith services available in Houghton

• Residential locksmith

  Door locks, gate locks and home safes at houses, flats, townhouses and cluster homes, sorted at your front door.

• Lock replacement

  New cylinders, deadlocks, nightlatches, multipoint gearboxes and gate locks, supplied and fitted at your door.

• Break-in lock repairs

  After a burglary or an attempt: damaged locks replaced, doors made lockable again, and keys that may be compromised taken out of use.

• Safe opening

  No code, no key, a keypad that's gone dark or a door that refuses to budge. Home, office and firearm safes opened in place.

• Emergency lockouts

  Keys inside, a lock that refuses to turn, or someone stuck behind a deadlocked door. Phone any hour and we drive out to you.

• Lock repairs

  Stiff keys, bolts that catch, doors that won't latch and gate locks that have seized: repaired on site where the fault allows.

All of these are part of our mobile locksmith service in Johannesburg.

Useful guides

• Pedestrian Gate Lock Problems at Home and in Complexes
• Key Control for Landlords and Short-Let Hosts
• Older Doors, Older Locks: Lock Care in Established Suburbs
• Choosing Padlocks for Security Gates and Burglar Bars

Nearby areas we cover

• Killarney
• Parktown
• Saxonwold
• Norwood
• Oaklands
• Birdhaven

All Johannesburg areas