The Catastro keeps a record of when every building was put up. For Sant Joan d’Alacant it tells a clear story: 31.5 % of the municipality’s built floor area dates from 2000–2009, 20 % from the 1990s and 19.6 % from the 1980s. Seven tenths of the town is now somewhere between seventeen and forty-six years old.
A front door does not mind its age. The cylinder in it is another matter.
What a cylinder from that time is likely to be
Most front doors built in those decades take a euro-profile cylinder: the brass or nickel barrel you put the key into, held in the lock by a single long screw through the edge of the door. They were made in their millions and they work. But many standard cylinders of that era were made before resistance to bumping (opening with a specially cut key and a tap) and snapping (breaking the cylinder at its weak point) became normal features.
That does not mean every old cylinder is a risk. It means the one in your door was chosen by the builder, not by you, and has had twenty years of use.
Five checks you can do in two minutes
- Does the key turn smoothly, all the way, without wiggling or pulling it back slightly?
- Does the cylinder stick out from the door plate by more than a few millimetres? A protruding cylinder can be gripped.
- Is there a guard plate (escudo) round the cylinder, or only a thin rose?
- Do you know how many keys exist? Builders, previous owners, tenants, cleaners, neighbours who watered the plants.
- Is there a brand or a mark on the face of the cylinder? A photo of it tells a locksmith a lot.
If two or more of those worry you, the cylinder is worth changing.
Swapping the builder’s cylinder for your own
On most doors it is a short job: the long screw comes out, the old cylinder slides out, a new one of the right length slides in. What makes it a good investment is choosing the replacement well:
- The right length, so it sits flush with the guard plate rather than sticking out.
- Anti-bump and anti-snap features, for very little more than a basic cylinder.
- A new set of keys that only you hold. Count them when they are handed over.
The price is agreed at the door before the old cylinder comes out.
And the rest of the house?
A townhouse from the 2000s has more than one door. The street gate and the patio slider are the same age as the front door and wear in their own ways: a street gate that no longer latches covers one of them. If the reason you are reading this is that someone has already tried your door, start with what to do after a break-in.