What You Need To Know
- Thanks to rapid turnover and typical student behaviour, lock replacements can feel common
- Learning how to replace door lock cylinders on your own is a valuable skill to have long-term
- Save yourself time and money by learning about DIY lock replacements for student flats
- Keep locks up-to-date, quickly replace locks and avoid security breaches with new locks
- Remember to replace Euro cylinder locks after each tenancy period comes to an end
If you own student rental accommodation, learning how to replace door locks yourself is a great skill to have in your locker. Lock replacements can become expensive, especially if you own several flats. By learning how to replace the Euro cylinder locks in your door on your own, you’ll be more self-sufficient.
Look, we all know what owning student accommodation can be like. Students are a little wild and often a little naïve when it comes to security. From lost keys to broken locks or even just the peace of mind of a post-tenancy lock replacement, replacing a Euro cylinder lock is a common task for any landlord. The high level of turnover, as well as the increased risk of key loss and lock damage, is worth noting.
In this quick guide, we’ll give you a step-by-step instruction on how to replace a standard Euro lock cylinder. The information in here has been informed by a team of expert staff at Locks & Hardware, who are among the UK’s leading specialists in door lock provision. By the end of this, you’ll be able to quickly make a replacement door lock cylinder on most standard student flat doors!
Student Turnover & Key Loss: A Common Headache For Landlords
Student flats can be a great money-maker, but they do come with some potential challenges. A few examples of the reasons why you would need to think about replacing cylinder locks in your flats include:
- Key Loss. Students have a nasty habit of losing their keys, giving them to flatmates or friends, or misplacing the keys & not being able to find them. Ergo, you need to replace the locks ASAP.
- Key Damage.Keys are also commonly broken. Modern keys are a little more brittle than the old-school keys we used to use, so keys – and thus the locks – may need replacing regularly.
- Break-Ins.While rarer, student accommodation can be a target due to their party lifestyle. You may wish to avoid any risk of a break-in occurring by upgrading keys and locks regularly.
- When a student’s term ends, they’ll be moving on from the flat. That means you now need to find a new tenant; replacing the locks provides a fresh start for all parties involved.
As you can see, then, there are plenty of reasons why you might need to think about learning how to replace door lock cylinders. It’s a relatively easy process, though, and below we’ll guide you through the steps you need to take. Of course, if you have more high-security locks or you are working with a specific type of door, you might still need professional assistance for the first few installations.
Steps To Replace Euro Cylinder Locks In Student Accommodation
For most standard student flats, though, replacing the cylinder Euro locks you already have is a simple enough task. What do you need to do to replace door locks in your student accommodation?
Removing The Old Lock
Locate the screw on the door’s edge; it should be around the level of where the keyhole is. With a screwdriver, unscrew the screw and remove it – this should give you access to the lock mechanism. If the screw won’t budge, add some lubricant – like a 3-in-1 oil lubricant – and see if that loosens it off.
Now, put your key into the door from the inside, not the outside. Use your screwdriver to loosen the door handle screws, too, so you can remove everything at once. Now, turn the key slightly from side to side, pulling it towards you slowly – you should eventually feel the lock mechanism release.
At this point, the key should be aligned with the cam, and the lock cylinder barrel should be removable. Slide it out of the door carefully.
Finding A Replacement Euro Cylinder Lock
Next, you’re going to need to find out what lock type you need. The goal here should be to buy an anti-snap and anti-bump Euro cylinder lock; these are usually referred to as British Standards locks in the UK. With the old lock barrel in your hand, you are going to need to measure the barrel carefully.
To measure your old lock, measure from the end of the barrel to the centre of the screwhole on the middle of the barrel. Measure this each way. With these measurements, look for a similarly sized Euro cylinder lock online or in a local store. If you cannot find one, take your old lock to a hardware store – the staff there should be able to point you in the direction of a suitable, high-security replacement.
Installing The New Euro Cylinder Lock
Now, this is the ‘easy’ part – you just need to reverse-engineer what you did above. Put your new lock cylinder into the hole in your door, and make sure that it lines up correctly. If it has to be forced in or it feels like it is shoving around in the hole, it’s either too big or too small.
Once you get the correct size of replacement lock barrel, slide it into place and then fit the attaching screws that you removed before. Put the door handles back on and re-screw them into place. Test out your handiwork; make sure that the handles open and close on both sides and that the locks work.
If you are having trouble with this, it might be worthwhile contacting a locksmith to demonstrate what you are doing wrong. You can then learn from their process and self-install future locks on your own.
Don’t Delay On Lock Changes: Keep Students & Property Secure
Your student apartments are simply too expensive to take any risks with. If you want to make sure that your investment is suitably protected, replacing door locks ASAP should be a priority for you.
If you have the time and the tools, you can usually replace a barrel lock in a matter of minutes. Once you have done this a few times, it becomes something you can deal with without any issues. We highly recommend you try replacing locks on an empty apartment first, though, so you aren’t taking any risks.
As soon as you get a notification from a tenant about a damaged lock or lost key, though, take action. Replace the lock with a new lock & key set, and you’ll have total peace of mind – and one less thing to worry about!
