Greetings. The renovation is nearing complete and I guess it's good time to start sharing. Over the next few days you can find information, hopefully useful, being posted here.

Some of the things I will talk about are:

1) The concept of going 'keyless' while maintaining enough security and safety,

2) Shops that were used and the experience with them,

3) Costs,

4) Challenges,

5) Invisible grill,

6) Paint work,

7) The contractor and his team,

8) Water heater tank,

9) Precautions,

10) Water-proofing the floors,

11) Selection of material, etc.

Feel free to ask questions.

Keyless concept.

For the wooden door, the Samsung SHS5230 was installed in a prompt, punctual and neat manner, credit goes to interlock.com.sg. I would advise to factor in additional $80 on top of the price (which is very good price). Reason is Interlock cannot guaranty that the set brought to your house will not malfunction after a few days/weeks. Details available on the website. I was unlucky to find mine cannot read/register finger prints after coming back from overseas. The malfunction happens intermittently, may be 1 out of 20 attempts, and Interlock is still in contact with me, monitoring this set.

Anticipating the above problem I chose SHS5230. You can open the door using either finger print, number code, or metal key, if any 1 or 2 of the above fails.

... to be continued.

Keyless Concept for the Metal Gate.

The electronic digital locks found in Singapore all have a emergency feature (panic open) that allows the lock to be opened easily from inside of the house, commonly by means of turning the inside handle. As such, they are not suitable for installing on metal gates because the lock can be opened from outside the gate, by reaching through the metal grills of the gate.

The way to work around this problem is to modify or build a metal gate that has smaller than usual gaps between the grills, or add panels that obstruct access to the inside handle of the electric digital lock. This is even more challenging if house owner prefers to leave the wooden door open while the metal gate locked, for the view or ventilation.

My own solution moves away from electrical digital lock to MECHANICAL digital lock. Similarly I can't find one that uses key-pad access from both sides of the metal gate in Singapore; They only sell those with key-pad access from outside, but simple turn of the knob from inside to open; same problem as the electrical digital lock.

The double sided key-pad mechanical lock can be ordered from overseas. After going thru ebay, amazon and some websites, decided to order from http://www.gokeyless.com/product/106/1/lockey-2230dc-dual-sided-keyless-lock.

There is an option of ordering the metal case adapter, to be wielded onto metal gate.

The shipment took about 10 days to reach me, by USPS then by Singpost.

Factors to consider are: It must be key-pad entry from both sides; Ease of changing number code; and at least one master key over-ride if key-pad fails to open the lock. The most important consideration: FIRE ESCAPE. With the master key, the lock can be opened from inside also, by reaching through the metal gate grills. If both the key-pad and master key fail to open the lock, the last resort is to unscrew the whole lock using a screwdriver, only possible from inside the house.

You may wonder if it is possible for thieves to use screwdriver from outside the metal gate. Yes, quite possible if the wooden door is open, it will take at least a few minutes. That brings me to the last line of defense, the conspicuous motion triggered IP camera that would first deter, then send videos and images of the thief to remote hard disk or smartphone/tablets.

The metal gate must have the usual feature of using the normal padlock, when leaving the house for long periods.

... to be continued.

Outside

Inside

Hi Poika, did you managed to fix the imported dual keypad lock successfully on your metal gate? Did you order and use the metal case adapter? DIY or u engaged a locksmith to fix it? Any pics to show the completed installaton?

I'm having wrought iron gate on my HDB flat and I'm contemplating to use your idea to go totally keyless.

Hi,

Did you install invisible grille ? Please share your experience.

TIA !