The Locksmith's Wife

10/15/2026

10/13/2026

Mike did some work at one of our favorite local restaurants a little while back. The next time we went in for dinner, there was a locksmith sticker on their front door. It wasn’t ours.

It looked completely legitimate. It wasn’t. Mike peeled it off before we sat down.

These stickers have been turning up on shops and homes. The number on them goes to a call center, not a locksmith, and whoever they send out can overcharge you, ruin your lock, and in some cases copy your key and come back later.

I wrote about how to spot them and what to do instead. If you see one, please take it down, and if it’s on a business, let the owner know why.

https://thelocksmithswife.substack.com/p/whos-really-coming-to-your-door

10/07/2026

You know the jiggle. The key sticks, so you wiggle it just so, and pretty soon everyone in the house knows the trick.

That's a cheap lock telling you it's on its way out. This week I wrote about what's really inside a bargain deadbolt, and why it ends up costing more than the good one.

https://thelocksmithswife.substack.com/p/the-most-expensive-lock-is-the-cheap

09/23/2026

The clocks go back on Sunday, November 1, and soon it'll be dark by 5.

Most break-ins happen during the day when nobody's home, but after the time change your house also sits dark and empty in the early evening. I asked Mike what he'd want everyone to check before November, and we put together five quick questions about your locks.

Do you know who has a key to your home? Does your deadbolt go all the way in? Are you still using the lock the builder put in?

Read the full post here:
https://thelocksmithswife.substack.com/p/5-lock-questions-to-answer-before

09/17/2026

Mike came home the other day with a story I had to write down.

A woman called him from across the river in Virginia. Her mother-in-law was locked out of her own house, and there was nothing she could do about it from where she was. If you've ever been on that end of the phone, you know the feeling.

So Mike went. And what he found when he got there surprised both of them.

I wrote the whole story on the blog this week, plus three things I tell my own friends and family about keys. (One of them is: please stop hiding a key outside. I'm begging you.)

Read it here 👇
https://thelocksmithswife.substack.com/p/the-key-was-in-her-hand-all-along

09/08/2026

I am currently trying to talk a friend's son out of hiding a key outside his house, so you know what that means. New post.

Here's the thing people don't want to hear: your hiding place isn't clever. Under the mat, over the doorframe, inside the fake rock that looks like every other fake rock at the hardware store — a seasoned thug has checked all of them before, and he's faster at it than you'd like to imagine.

What surprised me when I went back to the current FBI numbers: more residential break-ins happen in daylight than after dark. 216,601 during the day versus 174,053 at night. So the "nobody's home anyway" logic doesn't hold up, especially if you work from home, or you're home with a baby, or you're home sick.

There's a better way to do this, and it doesn't involve hiding anything. 👇
https://thelocksmithswife.substack.com/p/your-secret-hiding-place-isnt-so

09/08/2026

Hello Friends!

I am currently trying to talk a friend's son out of hiding a key outside his house, so you know what that means. New post.

Here's the thing people don't want to hear: your hiding place isn't clever. Under the mat, over the doorframe, inside the fake rock that looks like every other fake rock at the hardware store — a seasoned thug has checked all of them before, and he's faster at it than you'd like to imagine.

What surprised me when I went back to the current FBI numbers: more residential break-ins happen in daylight than after dark. 216,601 during the day versus 174,053 at night. So the "nobody's home anyway" logic doesn't hold up, especially if you work from home, or you're home with a baby, or you're home sick.

There's a better way to do this, and it doesn't involve hiding anything. 👇

Under the mat, over the door-frame, in the fake rock. He's checked them all.

09/01/2026

New on the blog: "Can a Handyman Replace a Door Lock?"

Real talk from years of hearing about it secondhand at dinner — a handyman CAN swap a basic lock. But I've heard the stories: people locked out of their own homes, locked IN their own homes, locks that "worked" but were quietly not actually securing anything. All from a well-meaning handyman who just wasn't trained for lock work.

Did you know MD and VA actually license locksmithing? It's not just a preference thing — there's a real skill and licensing gap between "handy" and "trained security professional."

Full post here: https://thelocksmithswife.substack.com/p/can-a-handyman-replace-a-door-lock

Would love to hear — has this happened to anyone in this group?