Sound familiar?Collison Heights
- The call
- Every morning the front door key needs the same little dance: push in, lift, wiggle, turn. It has been getting worse for a year, and this week it took three tries in the cold before the deadbolt finally gave.
Three teenagers, a dog walker, a cleaner and one house key that keeps going missing. You are tired of cutting copies and would rather give each person a code you can switch off, with a proper deadbolt behind it.
In plain words
Lock replacement and upgrade is the service that takes tired or under-built door hardware off and puts hardware suited to the door in its place. It ranges from a like-for-like deadbolt on a back door to a complete refit of every entrance with heavier-grade locks, reinforced strikes and one key for the house. The locksmith first confirms that the person ordering the work has the right to change the lock, then examines the door, measures the existing preparation and recommends hardware that fits it cleanly. The visit ends with each lock tested from both sides, keys in your hand and the packaging and instructions left with you.
Lock Replacement & Upgrade · Collison Heights
How the visit goes
Scene 1
The key plan for the whole house
A lock is only half of a system; the other half is who holds which key. The locksmith asks how many exterior doors there are, which ones should open with the same key, whether a garage man-door or a shed should join them, and who in the household needs a key of their own. If keys have been lent out over the years, the plan can retire all of them at once. Where copying keys without permission is a worry, a restricted keyway can be offered. Settling this before the hardware is chosen means the new locks arrive ready to be pinned alike rather than fixed up afterwards.
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
Simple habits that keep new hardware new
New locks ask very little. Once or twice a year, or at whatever interval the lock maker specifies, a puff of the lubricant that maker calls for in the keyway and a few turns of the key keep the pins moving freely, since the wrong product for that cylinder gathers grit instead of helping it. In winter, wipe salt spray off the exterior hardware when it appears, since salt is the finish's main enemy here. Each spring and fall, check that the hinge and strike screws are snug, because wood doors move with humidity and a dropped door makes a good lock feel worn. A key that starts to need coaxing is an early word from the cylinder.
In the van
- Handleset with matching deadbolt
- Boring jig and hole saws
- Reinforced strike plate and strike box
- Filler plates and thick-door extension kits
- Graded deadbolt
What shapes the quoteAshburnham Lock Experts
- Changes to the door preparation
- Adjusting a strike mortise is minor; boring a new hole for a deadbolt, fitting a filler plate over an old mortise pocket or adapting a thick door with extension kits is quoted as its own item.
- Strike reinforcement and jamb repair
- A reinforced strike with long screws is a modest addition; repairing a jamb split from a forced entry, or fitting a strike box into a frame that has never had one, adds labour and materials.
- 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.
FeesSame any hour
Questions we hear most
Can a lever replace a knob on the same door?
Yes, and it is a common change for anyone who finds a knob hard to grip. Levers use the same bore and backset as knobs, so the swap is usually a direct fit. Levers are handed, so the locksmith checks which way the door swings and chooses or adjusts the lever accordingly. A keyed entry lever pairs well with a deadbolt above it, and interior passage and privacy levers complete the set.
What happens to the old lock?
It is yours. Some people keep a sound old cylinder as a spare or move a decent deadbolt to a shed or garage door, and the locksmith can rekey it to the house key for that purpose. Worn or damaged hardware is taken away for recycling if you prefer. Either way, the old keys should be gathered up and discarded so nobody confuses them with the new set.
Is there anything different about steel or fibreglass doors?
The lock hardware is the same; the door construction changes the method. Steel and fibreglass doors have a wooden or composite block inside the lock stile, and existing bores are used wherever possible. Where a new deadbolt must be added, the locksmith drills with a jig and bits suited to the skin so the hole is clean and square, and fits an edge plate designed for that door. Insulated doors also move less with humidity, so alignment tends to hold well.
Change or Rekey Locks
- Deadbolt InstallationYou bought a keypad deadbolt online and pulled the old one off, only to find the hole in the door is a different size and the…
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceThe key turns freely in the round cylinder on the door, all the way around and back, without the bolt shifting at all.
- Smart Lock InstallationYour mother still lives on her own, and the personal support worker, the pharmacy delivery and two siblings all need to get in on…
- Gate & Building Entry LocksA neighbour mentions, in passing, that the key from three tenants ago still lets him into the building's front door.
- Mailbox Lock ReplacementThe little brass key for your curbside mailbox was on the same ring as the one you lost at the gym last week.
Collison Heightsinformation
PeterboroughOntario
Lock Replacement & Upgrade · Peterborough, Cavan Monaghan, Otonabee-South Monaghan, Ashburnham, Byersville, Claraday, Coldsprings, Downers Corners, Greenhill, Jackson Heights, Kawartha Heights, Westmount
- Town
- Collison Heights, Peterborough
- In business
- 27 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7
- Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (249) 494-7410
- 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.
- 64 in 100 homes · older homes
- 57 in 100 homes · mixed housing
- About 64% of homes in Peterborough were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.Decades of seasons move a frame, and an older house often has a front door that locks easily in summer and fights in winter. Setting the strike with the seasons in mind, and choosing a lubricant that stays fluid in the cold, keeps it working year round.
- Single-detached houses make up about 57% of homes in Peterborough (2021 Census).In areas of mixed housing, landlords may own a house here and a few units there. A locksmith can put all of it under one master system so the owner carries one key while each tenant's key opens only their own door.
Nearby
On-site assessment
Request a visit.
Three teenagers, a dog walker, a cleaner and one house key that keeps going missing.
(249) 494-7410, open 24/7.