Locksmith Guide to Berala: Family Homes, Villas and Shops

Berala is our next-door neighbour. It shares the 2141 postcode with Lidcombe and sits just to the south of our workshop at 15 Vaughan St, which makes it one of the quickest suburbs for us to reach. Compared with the busy apartment blocks of Auburn or the station precinct of Lidcombe, Berala is quieter and mostly residential: family homes, villa and townhouse developments, and a small shopping area around Woodburn Road and the station.

This guide covers the kinds of property you find in Berala, the lock problems each tends to have, and practical ways to keep them secure. For our service page, see locksmith Berala.

Family homes

Most of Berala is made up of detached houses, many single-storey brick or fibro homes built over several decades, with some knock-down rebuilds and newer homes mixed in.

Front doors

Older homes often still have their original front door lock, which may be a simple latch or an early deadlatch. Some have had a deadbolt added over the years; some have not. If your front door only has a latch, adding a deadbolt is one of the most useful upgrades available. See door lock installation and our guide to deadlocks and deadlatches.

Back and side doors

In a family house, the back door often gets as much use as the front, especially when it opens onto the yard. It is also often the weakest door: a single latch, a door that has moved in its frame, or a strike held by short screws. Reinforcing the strike and adding a deadbolt are common jobs.

Sliding doors

Many Berala homes have aluminium sliding doors to a patio or yard. Standard hook latches can wear and, on some doors, the panel can be lifted off its track. A keyed sliding door lock and an anti-lift block are simple, inexpensive improvements.

Windows

Bedrooms at the back of older homes often have windows without locks, or with catches that no longer work. Keyed window locks on reachable windows, and restrictors where children sleep, are worthwhile. See window locks.

Villas and townhouses

Berala has a number of villa and townhouse developments, often with several dwellings sharing a driveway.

Many similar doors

A villa might have a front door, a back or courtyard door, a garage door and a side gate. Each may have come with its own key. Keying them alike, so one key opens everything, is one of the most popular jobs in these complexes. See lock rekeying.

Garages

Internal doors from the garage into the house are often overlooked. If the garage door can be opened, an internal door with only a passage set offers little protection. A keyed lock on that door is worth considering.

Community title and strata rules

Some villa complexes are strata or community title schemes, with by-laws about external appearance. Check before changing visible hardware. Our guide to strata lock rules in NSW explains the general principles.

Side gates and sheds

Side gates in Berala are often the easiest way into the backyard and from there to the back door. A gate with a simple drop bolt that can be reached over the top offers little security. A keyed gate lock or a padlock on a suitable hasp is a modest upgrade.

Sheds often hold tools that could be used to force a door. A sturdy padlock and a hasp fixed with security screws help.

Shops near the station

The small shopping area around Woodburn Road and Berala station has a handful of local businesses. Their lock needs are typical of small shops:

• aluminium shopfront doors with narrow-stile locks;
• door closers that need adjusting;
• roller doors and padlocks;
• rekeying after staff changes.

See our commercial locksmith page and commercial locksmith guide.

Local conditions that affect locks in Berala

Older timber doors and seasonal movement

Timber doors in older homes swell in wet weather and shrink in dry spells. A lock that works perfectly in summer can bind in winter. The fix is usually adjusting the strike or keeper rather than replacing the lock. See lock repair.

New owners

Berala has seen many homes change hands as families move in. New owners rarely know how many keys the previous owners handed out, so rekeying after settlement is a common and sensible first job.

Quiet streets

Quiet residential streets are pleasant, but they can also mean fewer people around during the day. Good locks, used every time you leave, matter more than any single product.

Typical jobs we see in Berala

• A family that has just moved in and wants every lock rekeyed to one key.
• An older brick home where the owners want a deadbolt added to the front door and a reinforced strike on the back door.
• A villa where the front, courtyard and garage doors are being keyed alike.
• Window locks fitted to the back bedrooms of an older house.
• A lockout after the front deadlatch pulled shut with the keys inside. See lockout service.

A simple security plan for a Berala home

If you want to improve security without spending heavily, this order suits most homes:

1. Rekey if you do not know who has keys.
2. Fix any lock that sticks before it fails.
3. Add a deadbolt to external doors that only have a latch.
4. Reinforce strike plates on the front and back doors.
5. Secure the sliding door.
6. Fit window locks to reachable windows.
7. Lock the side gate.

Our security locksmith service can walk through the house with you and price each item so you can decide what to do now.

Bringing a lock to the workshop

Because Berala is so close, some customers find it easiest to bring a cylinder or padlock to the workshop at 15 Vaughan St, Lidcombe during opening hours. Call first so we can make sure someone is there.

Talk to us

If you are in Berala and need a lock repaired, replaced, rekeyed or opened, call 02 4503 6922. We are open 7 days, 7:00 AM to 12:00 AM, and every job is quoted before we start. You can also request a quote or read our locksmith Berala page.