Men: Can you change a door lock?

[Jack_Dawson]

I can't. Just paid a locksmith $50 to change my front door deadbolt and keylock. I'm always paying people to do this or that, cuz my Dad wasn't handy and here I am not handy as well. Other than being able to install things like video cards, I can't do shit and frankly it pisses me off. Anyway, just wondering if I have any company.

[no name no slogan]

1. My dad left when I was four

and I was raised as an only child by a single mother. Consequently, I know fuckall about cars, sports, ball-scratching and other male stuff.

After I bought a house, I forced myself to become "handy". I bought six new interior doors, and finished and hung them myself. I learned how to paint. I also learned how to do doorknobs and locks, too.

I would check with your local hardware/building supply megastore, as they often offer classes on basic home improvement/handyperson subjects. Most of the time, they're free. They might be of some help.

[cssmall]

2. Yeah. It's not all that hard, just takes practice.

The keylocks are easy, what kind of deadbolt was it?

[jmowreader]

3. Probably a Kwikset

If the complete price was $50, you're looking at $35 for the lock and $15 for labor, which actually isn't outrageous.

The only lock you're going to get for $35 is a Kwikset. It couldn't be a Schlage--those are over $50 just for the lockset--and it definitely ain't a Medeco.

[Jack_Dawson]

22. Schlage

[SOteric]

4. I'm a chick, and I can change a door lock.

In fact I did just that not long ago. My dad bought some new locks for my place after I was burgled. He did the sliding glass door and I helped put in the front door lock.

:hi:

[blueraven95]

5. my sister and I just put in new locks too.

but we hired a locksmith to rekey the locks we had when we were robbed.

(oh yeah, I'm a girl too)

[Hell Hath No Fury]

11. Lock changing chick checkin' in!

I had a seriously old big square dead bolt that, when I removed it to replace it with a new one, it left a hole in the door so big I had to leave it alone.

Had to start from scratch with new hole locations in the door and frame, then added the new deadbolt.

Piece of cake. ;)

:hi:

[radwriter0555]

31. 'nuther lock changing handy dandy chick checking in! Plumbing, electrical,

landscaping, arborist, irrigation, masonry, minor woodworking, painting, plastering, fountain and pond installation, upgrade, improvement and maintenance; but most of all, good solid general contracting home improvement skills. I know who to hire for what, how they should do it, and know more than enough to ensure they do a good job for a fair price.

Oh and I can change out brake pads, windshield wipers, do oil changes, fluid replacement, not to mention wash and wax and detail the car out to far, far surpass anything a car-wash can do.

I tend to do a lot of stuff myself because I do it better than most... but if I find someone who can do it for me better than I can do it, then I'll gladly pay them!!!

Oy.

"If you want something done right, do it yourself..."

[Dave Reynolds]

6. I never was taught that kind of stuff,

cars yes, but not household things. Now, I can cut the hole for a lockset, install it, and it actually works. I recently moved a stove plug from one side of the kitchen to the other, calling for running new wire from the plug to the breaker. Passed the smoke test!

Seriously, I learned from "how-to" books, like you can find at home improvement stores.

[sendero]

7. That's really an easy job..

... the holes are already cut!

But hey, people expend their time and energy on things that are important to them. Maybe fixing stuff around the house just isn't important to you. Nothing wrong with that.

I love doing stuff like that because I hate spending money unnecessarily :) I'd rather spend the $50 on the tools I need to do it, and then have the tools for next time!!!

[GOPisEvil]

8. First thing I did when I bought this place was change the locks.

I just sorta figured it out. :shrug: I made a couple of errors, but in the end it all worked.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. No wonders those keys I bought on ebay never fucking work.

The guy said they would still work!

Damn you!!

[GOPisEvil]

17. I'm crafty like that.

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Actually, it's pretty easy

But I'm with ya - except that my dad WAS fucking handy, and tried to teach me, but I'm not good with the regular day to day maintenance mechanical kind of stuff...

and to make it even worse, I'm an engineer! (but electrical, not mechanical, so like you, I can do video cards and set up networks and program in assembly and also solve third-order six-variable differential equations, but towel racks? They fucking amaze me, how they can be connected, but with no screws showing).

[WCGreen]

12. Not that hard....

If you can install a video card, you can install a lock....

Just read the directions and make sure you have the proper tools.....

[swag]

13. Did it again very recently

after yet another houseguest lost the houseguest keys. Considering banning houseguests.

[bettyellen]

14. it'ss so easy. even women have done it.

[BikeWriter]

15. No problem. I worked as a carpenter for years.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

16. Not an excuse...

"...my Dad wasn't handy and here I am not handy as well."

I am a woman who grew up in a household FULL of women, no man around to show me how to be handy.

All I had were home repair books, some tools and the knowledge that the house would fall apart if someone didn't learn how to do these things! I was doing the home repairs when I was in my teens.

Just a few months ago, I completed framing in and finishing an extra bedroom in my basement.

You must make the home repair service people in your area very happy!

[Jack_Dawson]

23. Are you heterosexual?

I mean do you live on Wisteria Lane? I'm just askin' don't get all bent.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

35. Het to the max, baby!

Dykes aren't the only gals to love Lowes. :loveya:

[raptor_rider]

18. I am a woman

and I can, then again, I have had through out all my years.
:pals:

[miss_kitty]

19. I can

and I'm not a man. I can do minor plumbing jobs and have rebuilt a car engine, done the brakes and do minor household electrical stuff. I started doing stuff like this when I was a kid. My dad was not handy either. My brother is handy, too, and so are his kids.

I tested in the top 1% of mechanical reasoning and ability when I was 5-6 years old. I suck at clerical speed and accuracy.

[chaska]

20. No, you have no company. Face it, you are just a girly man....

;-)

[Jack_Dawson]

25. Blow Me

:hi:

[trackfan]

21. Yeah. Sometimes things like that might take a while if I haven't

done them before, but I can almost always figure them out if I fiddle with it long enough.

[NaturalHigh]

24. Are you kidding me?

I'm lucky if I can find a screwdriver. A handyman I'm not.

[NMMNG]

26. I can change a door lock

However I can't paint a room worth crap, so I have to get someone else to do it for me. :shrug:

[hfojvt]

27. locks are one of the few things I can do fairly easily

but not re-keying. My older sister's first husband needed my dad to do a lock at their house, so you are not alone on that. You should have had a friend do it before you blew $50 on a locksmith.

[enigmatic]

28. Oh yeah

Done it many times..

[Wapsie B]

29. I can change a lock

without too much trouble. Lining up the screws that hold the lock together can be a challenge sometimes. But it gets easier the more you do it. And like other tangible things I get pleasure knowing I could do something like that.

[yewberry]

30. Eowen moment: I am no man!

...but I have changed out a deadbolt. I'm comfortable with most household projects.

The only stuff I don't do is electrical. :scared: You can actually die that way!

[kwassa]

32. Being handy is just being logical, if you can do video cards

you can do many other things. Just get a book and some tools. It is like doing little 3-D puzzles, that's all. It can be fun, actually.

And sometimes it turns into a whole can of worms, but not very often.

[BiggJawn]

33. You can LEARN.

Do it like I did.
My dad taught me a lot of stuff, but there are still some things I had to go get a book from the library for.

Check out the Black and Decker "Handyman" series.

[Redstone]

34. Oh, come on. You're only talking about half a dozen screws,

and evertyhing new fits right where everything old was.

You should have at least TRIED before saying you couldn't do it.

Sorry to sound critical, but where I grew up, people did pretty much everything themselves. That notion has stuck with me, though I do have enough sense nowadays not to do my own plumbing and some other stuff that would cripple me if I did it myself.

Redstone

[xmas74]

36. I'm a "chick" and I can change a deadbolt on a door.

No problem.