Every journey of 1,000 steps begins with the first one, right? Fixing up the real Flashback Garage is going to be a many-step process. Major stuff to start with: electricity, water, heat, windows, ceilings, doors. Lots of doors.
There are more than a dozen doors on the property. I did not get one single key when I took ownership. Actually, I found one in the floorboards of the back porch from when I lived there briefly in 2007. It no longer worked.
First thing I did was to get in through one of the auto bay roll doors, and change the back porch lock. The front door was padlocked. No key. I unscrewed the hasp off the door frame. The whole apparatus was now hanging on the door, fastened with four inaccessible screws behind the locked padlock. Like a redneck DIY door knocker. It offended my sensibility.
I went to one of my tool stashes (note to self: consolidate, organize, and inventory tools!), and found my new, never-used Power Grip 24-inch bolt cutter, the real star of this story.
It took a few tries, and I can’t say it cut through the dang thing like butter, but it did the job. I cut open the padlock and removed the hasp. Then I replaced the front door lock with one of four “keyed-alike” Probrico locks from Amazon. The strike plate didn’t line up and the door wouldn’t latch, but I chiseled the wood and repositioned the plate until I got it. Success! I will go back soon and re-do the strike plate installation with better screws and some Liquid Nails® or wood putty.
The whole job only (!!) took about 3-1/2 hours. What I really need to do is replace the whole door because it’s water damaged, in terrible shape. I don’t know how to do that, so for now I’m just happy I can get in and out through the front and back of the building.
Power Grip 24-inch Bolt Cutter
My rating: 5/5
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GACDKAO/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_R55MEbWZNHCV9
Awesome must-have tool for cutting old bolts and padlocks.
It even folds to go easily into a tool bag. The grips are comfortable. You do need a bit of strength to open the jaws wide enough to receive the padlock shackle (u-shaped part) and then squeeze it together hard. I lodged one side up against the door and pushed with my full body weight. It scored the padlock, but didn’t cut it. On the third try (open, squeeze / open, squeeze), it sliced cleanly through. I love this thing!
Probrico Keyed-Alike Entry Locks (set of 4)
My rating: 2.5/5
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JMTG8Y6/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_d85MEbWDZMRXZ
These I’m not a fan of.
After I finally managed to get the new doorknob screwed in – an arduous task due to the shape and placement of the ball knob on the rosette – the turn button didn’t work, and the key only sort of worked.
When I had to go take a coffee break out of frustration, I read through the instructions, and played with one of the other locks in the set in case the first one was defective. It didn’t appear to be any different. The instructions were in tiny print (come on, guys!), poorly written (expected), and described a lever lock, not the ball knob I was installing (grr!). The one good piece of information I read was that the key slot must be pointing down.
I also found a video online of a similar Probrico, which was helpful. However, I took another look at mine and realized the shaft was just a thin spindle, and it was bent! I straightened with my thumb and forefinger a little too easily. With just a bit more pressure, it might have snapped in half. Most locks have a thick half cylinder around the spindle, but not these. I decided I would return the whole set of four, and I ordered a new, different one on Amazon. Rather than leave the door unlocked for a week till the new one arrived, though, I went back and reinstalled the first one (with the straightened shaft and the key slot down). It works, but feels flimsy. I will keep the set for use on some of the non-critical doors, but I can’t recommend them. For $47, I feel like the quality should be better. Lesson learned – I should have read all the reviews on Amazon before I ordered.
– Adele
Adele Field is a writer and editor based in rural eastern Montana.