A house in Guardamar that is lived in for a few weeks a year still needs people to get in while you are away: to air it, to clean it, to check it after a storm. That means keys in other hands. Over a few years those keys multiply, and almost nobody knows exactly how many are out there.
Make the list
Sit down with a sheet of paper and write every person or company who has, or has ever had, a key:
- The agency that manages or once managed the house, and which of its staff carried the keys.
- The cleaner, and anyone who stood in for them.
- The neighbour who waters the plants, and whoever they passed the keys to on their own holidays.
- Tenants and guests, if the house has ever been let, especially long lets.
- The builder, the painter, the pool man, from any job that needed the house open.
- Family and friends who borrowed it one summer.
- The previous owners, if you bought it second-hand: you have no idea how many sets they handed out.
Ask three questions about each one
- Do they still have the key?
- Would they notice if it were taken?
- Would you know if they had passed it on?
If the honest answer to any of them is “I don’t know” for more than one or two names, the list has stopped being useful.
Key boxes and codes
A key box on the wall makes life easy for cleaners and guests. Its weakness is the code: it is sent in messages, written in notes, and rarely changed. Change it after every season, fix the box where it cannot be seen from the street, and never keep the only key in it.
When to stop counting
At some point it is cheaper to change the cylinder than to keep wondering. A new cylinder makes every old key useless at once, and you hand out new ones knowing exactly to whom. It is booked work, done on a day that suits you; see the lock change page, and for a house that stands shut much of the year, second homes.
Guardamar was rebuilt after 1829 as a town of low houses, and many still have more than one door; the guide on a low house in the 1829 grid covers the doors people forget. For what months of disuse do to the locks themselves, read three homes in four stand empty.