Sound familiar?Sullivan
- The call
- The brass handleset has gone blotchy and green where the winter salt reaches it, and the coating on the deadbolt is lifting in flakes. It still locks, but it looks tired beside the fresh paint on the door.
The century home's original mortise lock takes a key the size of a spoon, sticks in humid weather and has worn its strike to a groove. You want a lock that works every day without giving up the old door.
In plain words
After a break-in or an attempt, the door tells a story, and the new hardware should answer it. Splintered wood around the strike means the jamb gave before the lock did, so the repair pairs a heavier deadbolt with a reinforced strike and 75 millimetre screws that reach the framing behind the jamb. A bent bolt or cracked housing is replaced with a graded deadbolt whose bolt has a hardened core. A knob lock that was bumped or forced is swapped for a set with better pins. The aim is a whole opening that resists force, not merely a shinier lock.
Lock Replacement & Upgrade · Sullivan
How the visit goes
Scene 1
Function, and the way out
Each door has a job, and the hardware should match it. The main entrance needs a keyed deadbolt with an interior thumb-turn so anyone inside can leave without hunting for a key. A door with glass beside it is better served by a reinforced strike and glass protection than by a keyed cylinder on the inside. Interior doors may want passage, privacy or a keyed function, and a lever suits hands that find a knob awkward. Sorting function out first keeps looks from overriding how the door has to work.
Scene 2
Installing a keypad or smart deadbolt
A smart lock is fitted like any deadbolt, then brought to life. The bolt and exterior keypad go on first, the interior module with its battery pack after, and the door is closed so the lock can learn where the bolt sits; a bolt that meets resistance in the strike is corrected before pairing, because a straining motor drains batteries and fails early. Codes are programmed for each person, auto-lock and sound settings are set to your liking, any phone or hub pairing is completed, and the mechanical override cylinder is tested with its key. Fresh batteries go in last.
Scene 3
The rental paperwork, quietly sorted
If the door belongs to a rental unit, the visit finishes with the keys in the right hands. When a landlord orders the change, giving the tenant a full set of new keys is standard practice. When a tenant orders it with the landlord's consent, a key for the landlord is cut alongside the household's and the consent is noted. The locksmith can leave a short written record of the hardware fitted and the keys issued for the property file, so both sides know what is on the door and nobody is surprised at the next inspection or move-out.
In the van
- 75 millimetre strike and hinge screws
- Key blanks and key cutter
- Filler plates and thick-door extension kits
- Chisels, mallet and hand screwdrivers
- Reinforced strike plate and strike box
What shapes the quoteAgincourt Locksmith Pros
- Door material and thickness
- Wood, steel and fibreglass doors are drilled and fitted differently, and a door thicker than the standard 45 millimetres needs extension parts, so the door itself shapes part of the quote.
- Type of lock
- A knob set, a lever, a deadbolt, a full handleset with deadbolt above, a patio door lock and a keypad or smart deadbolt each carry a different hardware cost and take different time to fit.
- Number of doors
- One back door is a small visit; the front, back, side, garage man-door and patio slider together are a longer one, though several doors done at once share the travel and setup.
FeesSame any hour
Straight answers
Will a new lock fit the holes already in my door?
Usually, yes. Most residential doors are prepared to standard sizes, a 54 millimetre cross bore and a backset of 60 or 70 millimetres, and most modern hardware adjusts between those backsets. The locksmith measures before choosing, so the new lock is matched to the door rather than the other way around. Where an older mortise lock or an unusual bore is found, filler plates, extension kits or a carefully jigged new bore bring the door to standard.
Is a smart lock a good upgrade, and what happens when the batteries run out?
For a household with many people coming and going, codes that can be added and removed are a real convenience. Behind the keypad it is still a deadbolt, so grade and strike matter as much as ever. Batteries typically last months and the lock warns you as they fade; depending on the model, a dead battery is handled with a mechanical override key or with external contacts for a temporary power source, so it is worth confirming which one your lock uses.
How long does a lock replacement take?
A straightforward like-for-like deadbolt or knob set on a standard door is often a matter of an hour or less including testing. Add time for a reinforced strike, for keying several locks alike and cutting keys, for a smart lock's setup and pairing, and for repairing a split jamb or adapting an older door. When several entrances are done together, the locksmith gives a realistic window before starting so you can plan the day.
Change or Rekey Locks
- Deadbolt InstallationThe old deadbolt has grown lazy.
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceThe brass knob on the front door of your century home turns, but nothing happens on the other side.
- Smart Lock InstallationYou have just taken possession of the house and the previous owners handed over a keypad deadbolt with a code nobody wrote down…
- Gate & Building Entry LocksThe gate to the side yard used to close with a satisfying click.
- Mailbox Lock ReplacementThe mailbox key snapped clean off in the lock last week, and the stub is still sitting somewhere inside the cylinder.
Sullivaninformation
TorontoOntario
Lock Replacement & Upgrade · Toronto, Agincourt, Agincourt North, Clarks Corners, Tam O'Shanter
- Town
- Sullivan, Toronto
- In business
- 35 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7
- Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 806-4250
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
2021 census: what it means at the door
Every square is one home in a hundred.
- 58 in 100 homes · older homes
- 23 in 100 homes · mostly attached
- About 58% of homes in Toronto were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.Layers of paint build up on older doors and frames, and a lock that seemed to fail is sometimes a latch glued shut by the last coat. Part of the visit in an older area is freeing hardware, cleaning the edges and checking the door swings true.
- Single-detached houses make up about 23% of homes in Toronto (2021 Census).Townhouse rows often share a keyway chosen by the builder. A locksmith can move a household onto a keyway of its own so a neighbour's key, or a key from the construction phase, no longer has any chance of fitting.
On-site assessment
Request a visit.
The century home's original mortise lock takes a key the size of a spoon, sticks in humid weather and has worn its strike to a groove.
(289) 806-4250, open 24/7.