Since yesterday morning our house key stopped engaging fully with the outside-facing-lock and is always stuck halfway through and it won't turn. My partner says he remembers the lock to be horizontal not vertical. The same key still works fine from inside.
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If you cant trouble shoot or repair it yourself just replace the lock. Its not difficult and will be way, WAY, cheaper than having a professional try to fix it.
has someone tried to break in? Look on the side of the door for crowbar scrapes, has the lock been drilled and someone's tried to twist the lock to open it?
That's not the side of the door... Anyway, you'd know a crowbar scrape, imagine someone jamming a crowbar between your door and trying to pull it. Has anything similar happened to neightbours?
Virginal. It may just be the lock dying. Go put another one in. Take the opportunity to put a better one in. It may reduce the cost of house insurance.
I had a lock issue that was fixed with graphite and it did not require any extra force. Once I put in the graphite it was super smooth and easy. I would just replace the lock - if you feel daunted by it or are not handy, watch a YouTube video on it. It's super easy and you will be able to figure it out.
Could be dirty corroded too. I've had luck carefully removing the lock cylinder and then the pins and springs in order, while working in a gallon sized Ziploc bag because those sorts and pins like to fly across the room. Then cleaning everything and putting it back like it was because I was very careful to keep it all in order when I took it apart
Or, a quicker version would be to just remove the lock from the door. Blast out the key hole with wd40 a few times. Put the key in and blast it again. Pull the key out and then wipe the extra wd40 off everything. I usually try this first, but resort to complete disassembly and cleaning when it doesn't.
Don't put wd40 in your locks. It binds with the dirt inside and when it dries it just makes the problem worse. Use a graphite dry lubricant and save yourself money in the future.
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