You bought a flat, and the safe in the wardrobe will not open
The deeds say nothing about the safe. Who to ask first, what the maker can and cannot do, and how it is opened if nobody has the code.
Guides
Notes from the dunes: doors, locks and what to do first
Written for the questions that come up in Guardamar more than anywhere else: a house that has been shut since September, sand in a cylinder or a terrace track, a bungalow in El Raso that looks like all its neighbours. Each guide says what you can do yourself, and when it is time to ring someone.
Houses that wait for summer
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Three homes in four stand empty: what the winter does to their locks
Guardamar has the lowest share of lived-in homes of any Spanish town over 10,000 people. What months without a key do to a lock, and a short routine for leaving and coming back.
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Who else can open your door? Counting the keys you have lost track of
The agency, the cleaner, the neighbour, tenants from three summers ago, the builder. A way to count who can open a house that stands empty most of the year, and when to stop counting.
Sand, salt and wind
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Reopening a beach shop in spring, and the shutter will not budge
Months of sea air on a shutter padlock and a door cylinder. What to check the week before reopening, what to try on the morning, and what not to force.
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Sand in the cylinder: what helps, and what turns it to paste
A key that grinds in a lock near the beach is usually sand. What is safe to try, why oil makes it worse, and how to tell when the cylinder is past cleaning.
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A sliding door full of sand that no longer locks
Terrace doors near the dunes fill their tracks with sand. How to clean the track and its drain slots, how to tell sand from a worn roller, and when the lock itself is to blame.
Finding the right door
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A low house in the 1829 grid: street door, patio and back gate
Guardamar was rebuilt after 1829 as straight streets of low houses with deep patios. Three doors to think about in one of them, and which one usually lets you down.
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How to describe a house in El Raso so the right door is found
Rows of bungalows that look alike, a lagoon on one side, an urbanization with two names on the map. What to say on the phone so help reaches the right door first time.
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Keys locked in the car at the edge of the pinada
Cars do not go into the pine forest, so they wait at its edge with the keys sometimes still inside. What to try, what not to do to a modern car, and what to have ready.
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