j
Established Member
Hi,
My brother is going to be working abroad for 2 years, and while he's gone he will be renting his house out.
He's put a few personal possessions in the Loft and now needs to somehow stop the tenants from poking around up there.
I'm trying to come up with an easy way of locking the hatch so that they won't be able to get up there (unless they're determined). Any ideas would be appreciated.
It's just a standard squareish hole with a piece of wood to fit that just drops in. It's a fairly new house, and there should be no need to access the loft as there are no pipes or accessible wires up there.
My first thoughts were to secure a batten above one edge of the hatch, and fitting a hasp and staple at the opposite edge. To lock I'd slide the hatch under the batten, drop it down and lock the other side. The disadvantage of this is that there would be a big padlock hanging down from he hatch which may tempt somebody to try and get in.
Another idea I had was to glue the hatch in place, and then in 2 years time when we need to open it, just force it.
I'm trying to think of some kind of simple mechanism that would lock when we put the hatch in place, but would have nothing visible from below.
I don't mind having to force it open in 2 years time, and any damage could easily be repaired afterwards.
TIA
J
My brother is going to be working abroad for 2 years, and while he's gone he will be renting his house out.
He's put a few personal possessions in the Loft and now needs to somehow stop the tenants from poking around up there.
I'm trying to come up with an easy way of locking the hatch so that they won't be able to get up there (unless they're determined). Any ideas would be appreciated.
It's just a standard squareish hole with a piece of wood to fit that just drops in. It's a fairly new house, and there should be no need to access the loft as there are no pipes or accessible wires up there.
My first thoughts were to secure a batten above one edge of the hatch, and fitting a hasp and staple at the opposite edge. To lock I'd slide the hatch under the batten, drop it down and lock the other side. The disadvantage of this is that there would be a big padlock hanging down from he hatch which may tempt somebody to try and get in.
Another idea I had was to glue the hatch in place, and then in 2 years time when we need to open it, just force it.
I'm trying to think of some kind of simple mechanism that would lock when we put the hatch in place, but would have nothing visible from below.
I don't mind having to force it open in 2 years time, and any damage could easily be repaired afterwards.
TIA
J