Hurricane Season Locksmith Checklist for Florida Homeowners

Three to four weeks before storm season (May)

Florida's official hurricane season starts June 1. May is the right time to walk every exterior door, test the lock, and look for anything sticky, dragging, or visibly corroded. Coastal Tampa Bay properties — Davis Islands, Apollo Beach, Treasure Island, St. Pete Beach — accumulate salt corrosion on exterior hardware that's invisible until the lock stops working. A 10-minute walk-around now beats a locked-out-after-the-storm scramble.

Also: pull out every spare key and verify it works in the lock it's supposed to. We get a surprising number of calls from homeowners who returned from evacuation, used their spare for the first time in three years, and discovered it was cut for the previous lock.

Two weeks before

Stash a spare key off-site. The best option is a friend or family member outside the immediate Tampa Bay evacuation zone (Orlando, Jacksonville, even Atlanta if your network reaches). Second best is a magnetic hide-a-key on your vehicle (not your house — burglars know where to look on a house). Worst option is the 'hidden' key under the doormat, which everyone checks.

Lubricate exterior cylinders with a graphite-based lock lube (Houdini, Lock Saver). Skip WD-40 and silicone sprays — both attract dust and the Florida salt particles riding the air. Spray a quick puff in the keyway, work the key in and out 5–6 times, and wipe the excess off the bow.

The day of (and during) the storm

Lock and secure every door, including the door from the garage to the house — that's the door we see breached most often after a window-blown garage. If you're evacuating, take both sets of keys (don't leave one in the house) and a copy of your driver's license. The locks you don't touch during the storm are the ones that come through it best; resist any urge to test or fiddle.

The first 48 hours after

If you're returning to a home that took water or wind damage, photograph all hardware before you touch anything — close-ups of the brand and model stamp on each lock, the deadbolt strike plate, the door frame. Insurance adjusters need this for hardware claims and the photos take 30 seconds to capture.

If a door won't open: don't force it. Florida hurricanes shift door frames just enough that the deadbolt binds against the strike. A locksmith can free it without damaging the lock; forcing it usually breaks the deadbolt or splits the frame and turns a $100 service call into a $400 frame repair.

If your power is out and you have an electric garage door opener, pull the red emergency-release cord hanging from the trolley. This disconnects the door from the motor so you can lift it manually. Re-engage when power returns by pulling the cord toward the door and running the opener once.

Storm-prep items every Tampa Bay garage should have

Three cheap items that have saved our customers an emergency call after every recent major storm.

• Graphite lock lube (Houdini) — ~$8, one bottle lasts years
• A backup mechanical key for any smart lock you own — printed code stored in your phone is not enough when power and Wi-Fi are out
• A photo album in your phone labeled 'home hardware' with close-ups of every lock, garage door, and gate