After a Break In Security in Orlando

The first minutes matter more than the repairs

If you come home and suspect someone is still inside, or you are not sure, do not go in. Step away, get to a safe place and call 911. Your belongings can be replaced, and the order of priorities should never be reversed. A locksmith is a later call, not an emergency response to an active danger.

Once the police or sheriff have cleared the scene and said you may go back in, the practical questions begin. Ask whether they need to document the door or window before anything is touched, and whether they want you to leave a broken lock or frame as it is. Photographs of the damage are useful for your own records and for any insurance claim, so take them before anyone repairs anything.

After that, the home still has to be secured before you sleep in it. A door that does not latch, a frame that has split or a window lock that no longer holds are all weak points tonight. That is where a locksmith call becomes useful, and it is also where the quality of the information you give on the phone shapes how well the visit goes.

Reading the damage on a door

Doors fail in a few typical ways during forced entry, and each tells you something about what needs fixing. A split in the wood where the strike plate sits means the frame took the impact, not the lock. A bent or cracked lock body means the hardware itself is compromised. A scarred cylinder suggests tampering. Splintered edges around the latch suggest the door was pushed or kicked until something gave.

It is easy to look at a door that still closes and assume it is fine. A door can shut and appear intact while the screws holding the strike have loosened, the frame has hairline cracks or the bolt no longer extends fully into its pocket. Try the door gently, from inside, with the deadbolt thrown. If you notice movement, rattling or a bolt that does not seat, say so on the phone.

Do not attempt to hammer, glue or screw a damaged frame back together unless you know what you are doing. Short screws into a cracked frame feel solid and give no real strength. Our guide to screw length and strike plate security explains why that small detail has such large effects.

What to tell the locksmith when you call

Describe what happened plainly: which door or window was forced, what it looks like now and whether it still closes. Mention if you can lock it at all. Say where in Central Florida you are and whether the home is a house, a condo, an apartment or a business, because each has different access and different people who may need to be involved.

Ownership or authority is checked before work begins, which is standard whenever someone asks for locks to be changed or opened. If you rent, expect to be asked about your landlord and your lease. If you own, expect to confirm the address and show ID. This can feel awkward on a hard day, but it is the same step that keeps strangers from ordering a lock change on your home.

The work and the price are explained before anything starts, and the finished work is tested with you. Because a break in can involve several repairs at once, ask the locksmith to separate what must be done tonight from what can wait. That gives you a clear picture of cost and sequence instead of one lump decision made under stress.

It also helps to have a few facts ready: roughly how many openings were affected, whether the damaged lock is a knob, a deadbolt or a handleset, and whether a door is solid wood, metal or hollow. If you can send photos or describe the damage in detail, the locksmith can arrive with a better idea of what the job involves. Do not worry if you do not know the technical names, because plain descriptions such as the wood around the latch is split are perfectly useful.

Keys that may have been taken or copied

Some break ins involve a stolen purse, wallet, bag or car with house keys inside. In others, nothing seems to have been taken from the front door at all. Either way, if a key could have left your control, the lock that key fits should be treated as unsafe, even if the door looks fine. A thief who has your key and your address does not need to force anything.

This is where the question of rekeying or replacing becomes practical. If the hardware is undamaged, rekeying makes the old keys useless and gives you new ones. If the hardware was damaged, it needs replacing anyway. The guide on whether rekeying is enough after a break in walks through it in detail, and the page on rekeying after losing a wallet or purse covers the stolen bag case.

Remember the less obvious keys too: a spare in a vehicle, a hide a key container, a garage remote clipped to a visor and any code you gave to guests. Thieves know where people keep these, and one overlooked item can undo a careful repair at the front door.

If you live with others, gather everyone and count the keys. Who has a copy, who lent one and who cannot say where theirs is? A missing key you cannot account for belongs in the same category as a stolen one. It is better to treat it that way, change what it opens and then relax, than to wonder for months whether it is in a drawer or in a stranger's hand.

Ways in that are easy to overlook

People hurry to repair the damaged door and forget that the person who entered used a plan, which often included alternatives. Walk the whole perimeter, inside and out, with a calm eye. Try each lock, and note anything that sticks, wobbles or fails to engage. Write the list down as you go, because stress makes details slip, and the list becomes the agenda for the locksmith visit. Include ground floor windows and any door that opens onto a balcony, a lanai or a screened porch.

Our guides on sliding glass door lock basics and garage entry door lock basics describe what to look at on those two common weak points,.

• The door between the garage and the house, which is often a weaker lock than the front door.
• Sliding glass doors where the track lock is worn or the door lifts out of its channel.
• Side doors and back doors that are hidden from the street and rarely used.
• Window locks that have loosened with age or humidity.
• A gate, shed or storage closet where tools or ladders are kept.

Rekeying, replacing and reinforcing

There are three levels of response, and most homes need a mix. Rekeying changes which keys work, replacing swaps out a damaged or tired lock, and reinforcing strengthens the parts around the lock: the strike plate, its screws and the area of the frame. A great lock set in a weak frame is only as strong as the frame.

A locksmith can explain which one applies at each door. A door with an intact deadbolt and a split frame needs the frame addressed. A door with a snapped latch needs a new latch or lock. A door with no visible damage but a missing key needs rekeying. Our lock replacement and repair and rekeying pages describe these jobs in more detail.

Be cautious about promises that any one product makes a door impossible to enter. No lock does. What good hardware and a sound frame do is make forced entry harder, louder and slower, which is often what decides whether someone tries. Ask the locksmith what they see in your actual door, and listen for specifics rather than slogans.

Frames, hinges and the weak side of the door

People focus on the keyhole, yet the hinge side of a door and the frame around the latch carry as much of the load. If the door swings outward, the hinge pins are exposed and need attention. If it swings inward, the frame at the latch is the usual casualty. Either way, the way the door hangs and the condition of the jamb count. A door with a tight, even gap all around feels solid when you push on it. A door with a wide gap at the top, or one that rubs at the bottom, may have shifted, and a shifted door often means the bolt is not engaging as deeply as it should.

Doors in humid climates also swell and shrink through the seasons, which can leave gaps or misalignments that were there long before the break in. After a forced entry, a locksmith may point out these older issues. That is useful information and not a sales pitch, as long as the explanation is clear and you can see what they mean.

Our guides to hinge side security basics and reinforcing a door frame give you the vocabulary to follow that conversation. Carpentry repairs to a frame sometimes involve other trades, and a locksmith will tell you honestly where their part ends.

What the visit and the testing look like

Expect the locksmith to inspect the door, the frame and the hardware before suggesting anything. They will explain what they see and what the options are. You choose, and the price is explained before work starts. If you need a temporary fix tonight and a full repair later, say so, and ask how the temporary measure holds up.

When the work is done, test it with the locksmith present. Open and close the door several times, throw the deadbolt, turn each new key and confirm the latch catches without force. Check the door from inside and outside. If you had a window or gate lock fixed, try those as well.

Take a moment as well to ask about anything the locksmith noticed on the way: a loose hinge, a door that rubs, a strike that was never quite aligned. Fixing these small flaws now is far easier than discovering them on the next stormy evening. Ask for a short explanation of how to look after the new hardware, especially in a climate where moisture and heat affect finishes and moving parts. Our lock maintenance for hot climates guide is a good follow up.

Digital locks, cameras and alarms after a break in

Many homes now have a keypad lock, a video doorbell or an alarm system. After a break in, it is smart to go through the permissions on each of those. Change codes that may have been known, remove old user accounts and make sure the system is set to alert you in ways you will notice.

Locks, cameras and alarms often come from different providers, and each handles its own part. A locksmith deals with the physical locks and can usually help with keypad and smart lock hardware, while an alarm company handles monitoring and sensors. Read our guide to alarm systems and locks and who handles what to avoid getting bounced between them.

If you use a smart lock, remember to keep a physical backup plan in case batteries or network access fail. The note in our page on when digital locks fail applies at the worst possible moments, including after a stressful night.

Rentals, condos and business premises

If you rent, notify the landlord or manager promptly. Doors and frames are usually the owner's property, and a repair may be their responsibility or may need their approval. Do not assume you can make permanent changes without asking. Requirements vary, so ask your landlord or manager what applies in your case.

Condo and gated community residents may have additional steps, such as reporting to a board or management office, and shared entries may be managed by someone else. For businesses, a break in often raises questions about which employees had keys and what should be changed. See the page on commercial and business locks for how that kind of work is scoped.

Shared walls and shared hallways also change what you can see. In a building with common areas, a neighbor may have noticed something, a manager may have camera footage and the building may have its own report process. Pass on what you learn to the police and to whoever manages the building, and keep a copy of any report number for your records. Wherever you live or work, the same principle applies: the person who has the authority over the property decides what changes, and the locksmith verifies that authority before starting.

Getting back to normal without overreacting

After a break in, many people feel tempted to buy every gadget they see. A calmer approach works better. Fix the damaged parts, change what keys may have been compromised, check the other entry points and add improvements only where they fix something specific. Good habits, such as locking the garage entry door and keeping spares out of obvious places, matter as much as new hardware.

Our page on what to do after a break in gives a checklist for the days that follow.

Give yourself time. Sleeping badly for a few nights is normal. Having locks you understand, doors you have tested and a short list of who holds keys can restore a sense of control sooner than any single product. Think too about the habits that made the house easy to enter. Was a door left unlocked during the day, a window cracked for air, a garage door open while you worked outside? None of this is blame, because ordinary routines in a warm climate involve open doors and breezes. It simply helps to know which routine to adjust, and a locksmith can suggest practical changes, such as a deadbolt that is easy enough to use that people actually use it every time.

Questions people ask