Lock Change Vancouver

They solve different problems, and picking the wrong one is the most common way to overpay on a door.

Change the lock when the hardware has failed

Change it when the deadbolt drags or will not throw fully, when the handle wobbles on its rose, when the cylinder is corroded from coastal damp, when the finish has gone, or when you are moving up a grade: a builder-grade knob to a Grade 1 deadbolt, or a standard cylinder to a restricted keyway. A lock change is $80-$160 a door installed.

Rekey when the lock is fine and only the keys are wrong

Rekey after a move, a tenant change, a lost key, a contractor who never gave the spare back. The pins inside the existing cylinder are restacked to a new key and every old key stops working. That is $25-$45 per standard cylinder, $60-$120 for a high-security cylinder, and the hardware on the door never changes. Full detail on lock rekey in Vancouver.

Rule of thumb: if the lock still turns smoothly with its own key, rekey it. If it fights you, replace it.

Quoted before we start, and the same figures appear on the price list.

• Lock change, installed: $80-$160 a door.
• Rekey instead, standard cylinder: $25-$45 per cylinder.
• Rekey instead, high-security cylinder: $60-$120 per cylinder.
• Commercial lock change: $80-$380 per door, by hardware type.
• Mailbox lock replacement: $40-$140.
• Service call, standard hours: $75.

After-hours labour starts at $150 between 5pm and 9pm and runs $250/hour from 9pm to 8:30am. The rate is quoted on the phone before anyone is dispatched. Hardware is separate from labour and is quoted with the model, so you can compare it against a shelf price if you want to.

A lock that has stopped working is not automatically a lock that has to be replaced. Most of the faults we are called out to are repairable on the door, and a repair on a good cylinder is cheaper than a new one.

Usually a repair

• A key snapped in the cylinder. The broken half is extracted without damaging the plug, and a fresh key is cut from the remainder or from code.
• Sticky, gritty or slow action. Vancouver damp and salt air corrode pins and springs. Stripping, cleaning and relubricating the cylinder restores the turn.
• The bolt will not seat. Nine times out of ten the door has dropped or the strike has moved, not the lock. That is an alignment job: see door repair in Vancouver.
• Worn pins after years of use. A rekey at $25-$45 replaces the pin stack and often cures a lock that felt like it was dying.

Usually a replacement

• A cracked body or plug, or a bolt bent in a forced entry.
• Discontinued hardware with no parts left in the supply chain.
• A cylinder that has been drilled, however neatly.
• Anything you are upgrading anyway, where repairing a Grade 3 knob buys you another Grade 3 knob.

We say which it is on site, before starting, and the standard service call is $75. If a repair will not hold, we say that too rather than take the smaller job twice.

Schlage, Kwikset, Weiser and Yale cover most Vancouver homes and are carried as stock in the common finishes: satin nickel, oil-rubbed bronze, matte black and polished chrome. Unusual finishes are ordered against a model number.

For a step up in grade we fit Mul-T-Lock, Medeco, Schlage Primus and Abloy restricted cylinders, which cannot be copied at a hardware counter: see high-security locks. For keyless entry we fit and configure keypad and app-controlled deadbolts: see smart lock installation.

Every change includes the strike plate and 3-inch screws into the framing stud. A deadbolt anchored only in the jamb trim is a deadbolt that leaves with the door.

If a door has been forced, the lock is rarely the only casualty. The jamb splits, the strike tears out and the door drops on its hinges, so a new deadbolt fitted into damaged wood is secure for about one kick. We repair the frame and the strike in the same visit: door repair in Vancouver.

If a key is missing rather than the door, a rekey is usually the faster and cheaper answer, and it is immediate. If every key to a property is gone, start at emergency locksmith.

Turnovers are routine work. We change or rekey on the schedule you give us, hand over a documented key count, and invoice the management company directly rather than chasing a tenant at the door. Trade accounts are billed net-30 after the first job.

For a building that should run on one key hierarchy rather than a drawer of loose keys, a master key system starts at $300 setup plus $30-$80 per door cylinder, or $60-$200 per cylinder on a restricted keyway. That is commercial locksmith work and it is quoted per building.