Change or rekey · Glenwood Park
Vintage Mortise Lock Service in Glenwood Park
You bought a house with its original hardware and a bag of loose keys. Some open interior doors, some fit nothing, and the front door lock has a keyhole shaped for a key you do not have.
Call now · open 24/7(289) 816-4986In plain words
Keys are the part of the job people expect to be impossible, and they rarely are. A bit key, the skeleton key style used on older doors, is cut and filed on the bench to the wards and levers of your particular case, so a lost key can be replaced from the lock itself. A round cylinder on a later mortise lock is rekeyed like any modern cylinder, or exchanged for a new cylinder of matching thread and cam if it is worn out. Either way the service ends with keys in your hand that turn the original lock, and a spare made while the case is on the bench.
How the visit goesThe brass knob on the front door of your century home turns, but nothing happens on the other side. The latch stays tucked in, the door swings free, and the only thing holding it shut is the deadbolt and a bit key that has worn down to a nub.
Vintage Mortise Lock Service · Glenwood Park
How the visit goes
- 1
How the knob and key actually behave
A short conversation with the hardware comes next. The knob is turned and released: does it return smartly, sag back, or not return at all? Is there free play before the latch moves? The key is tried in the deadbolt with the door open: does the bolt throw fully, catch part way, or ignore the key while the key turns? The thumb-turn gets the same test. Each answer points somewhere different inside the case, a latch spring, a hub spring, a worn hub square, a deadbolt lever, a cylinder cam, and the locksmith is building a short list of likely parts before the cover ever comes off.
- 2
When a case is fitted new
If the old case could not be saved, the replacement is fitted to the door rather than the door to the replacement. A reproduction or modern mortise case matching the measured height, depth, backset, faceplate and hub is chosen with the goal of it dropping into the existing pocket; where a small difference remains, the pocket is trimmed with a chisel by the least amount that works, never bored out. The original knobs, escutcheons and strike are refitted wherever their spacing allows, and a new cylinder is keyed to match the rest of the house if wanted. The result reads as the original lock from either side of the door, with the reliability of a fresh mechanism.
- 3
Looking after the finish
The brass or bronze knobs and escutcheons on an old door have earned their patina, left alone unless you ask otherwise. Paint cleaned from a faceplate or strike leaves the bare metal as found, not polished bright. If you would rather see them shine, check the finish first: unlacquered brass takes a gentle polish well, kept off the keyhole and spindle; polishing a lacquered piece can scratch through it and start tarnish underneath. Lacquered reproduction parts resist tarnishing rather than darken to match; an unlacquered reproduction is built to age and blend in over a season or two. A light wipe when dusting is all the upkeep the trim needs; wet cleaners find their way into the case.
In the van
- Hardwood dowel and wood glue
- Mortise cylinder and cam
- Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
- Hub followers and lever packs
- Deadbolt lever springs
What affects the quote
- 1
How many keys you want
Bit keys are made individually by hand and cylinder keys are cut per copy, so the count you ask for is a line of its own. Decide who in the household needs one before the visit.
- 2
Whether the door has to come off its hinges
Some mortise cases can be serviced with the door hanging in place, while a tight jamb or a stubborn case sometimes means lifting the door off its hinges onto a level bench. That step is identified once the case is open and the repair needs are clear.
- 3
Replacement cylinder
When a pin-tumbler cylinder is past rekeying, a new mortise cylinder of the right thread and cam is fitted. A standard cylinder and a high-security one are different hardware and are quoted as such.
Same fees day, night or weekend.
Vintage Mortise Lock Service: questions
Can a modern cylinder be fitted to my old mortise lock?
Often, on cases that already take a threaded cylinder. Mortise cylinders are made in standard thread sizes and lengths with different cam shapes, and a new one is selected to match the case and the door thickness. That gives you keys cut on a machine and the option of keying the door alike with the rest of the house. A bit-key case has no cylinder to swap; its keys are made on the bench instead.
Can my interior doors be serviced too, and can one key work all of them?
Usually yes to the first, and to the second once the locksmith checks the locks. Interior mortise latches with privacy turn buttons are lighter versions of the entry lock and respond to the same clean and re-spring. Interior locks in a house were sometimes supplied to one bit key, and where the key sections, warding and levers actually match, the locksmith can restore that arrangement so a single key opens several bedroom and bathroom doors. It is a practical thing to have when a child locks a bathroom from inside.
Is it safe to keep a deadbolt that is keyed on both sides of the entry door?
It is better not to. A bolt that needs a key from inside can trap the household when a key is not to hand, and a door people leave the home through works better opening without keys or special knowledge. During service the locksmith fits a thumb-turn to the bolt tail or otherwise makes the inside release without a key, keeping the vintage lock and the clear way out.
Vintage Mortise Lock Service near you
Halton, Ontario
Glenwood Park information
- Town
- Glenwood Park, Halton, Ontario
- In business
- 16 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 816-4986
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
What the census means at the door
47%
Homes of every age. About 47% of homes in Burlington were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
In an area of varied housing ages, rekeying is the one job that fits every door. Old cylinders and new ones both take fresh pins, so a household moving into either kind of home can start with keys that nobody else holds.
50%
A mix of homes. Single-detached houses make up about 50% of homes in Burlington (2021 Census).
Neighbourhoods of houses beside townhouses and low-rise buildings have a range of door constructions: solid wood, steel, fibreglass and metal-clad. A locksmith who works in such an area is used to fitting hardware to all of them without new holes.
Open 24/7
Request a visit
You bought a house with its original hardware and a bag of loose keys.
Call now · open 24/7(289) 816-4986- On-site assessment preferred
- Same fees day, night or weekend
- 16 years in business