"Saves a ton of polishing headaches later... learned that the hard way after hours spent buffing cloudy hinges."
Been there myself—nothing worse than realizing you've accidentally created more work. PTFE definitely helps; I usually just dab a little on, wait a minute or two, then wipe gently. Makes life easier for sure.
Had a similar experience restoring my old Victorian—spent ages polishing brass doorknobs only to realize I could've avoided most of that hassle. PTFE's a lifesaver... wish I'd known sooner, but hey, live and learn, right?
Haha, been there with the brass polishing marathon—my wrists still ache thinking about it. Smart locks seemed like a dream until mine decided to update mid-unlock... cue awkward porch waiting session. Lesson learned: always keep a backup key hidden somewhere handy.
Totally agree about the backup key—smart locks are great until they're suddenly not. I've found it's also helpful to periodically check battery levels and firmware updates proactively, rather than waiting for the lock to prompt you. Learned this after mine drained batteries way faster than expected, leaving me stranded outside at night. Now I set a reminder every couple months to run through a quick maintenance check... saves a lot of hassle down the road.
That's a solid tip about setting reminders... I learned the hard way too, but my issue wasn't battery-related. One evening I got home late from a client project and the smart lock just wouldn't respond at all—no lights, no beeps, nothing. Turned out it had auto-updated firmware earlier in the day and something went wrong mid-update. Had to climb through a window (thankfully unlocked!) which wasn't exactly my most graceful moment, lol.
Since then, I've disabled automatic updates and now manually approve them when I'm home and have some spare time to troubleshoot if needed. Honestly, I love tech and convenience, but sometimes I wonder if we're overcomplicating things. I mean, a good old-fashioned key never needed firmware updates or battery checks...
Curious though, has anyone else run into firmware update issues like mine, or was it just my bad luck? Maybe it's brand-specific or something?
