You moved in three weeks ago. The previous owner left a handful of keys, none labelled, and the bolt on the side door rattles in its housing.
Deadbolt installation puts a solid bolt lock on a door that either has none or has one that is past its useful life. Unlike the spring latch in a knob or lever, a deadbolt is a straight bar of metal that only moves when the key or thumb-turn moves it, so a card slipped into the gap or a shove against the door does nothing. The locksmith bores the door if needed, fits the bolt and cylinder, cuts a proper pocket in the frame and secures a reinforced strike with screws long enough to reach the framing. You are left with a door that locks with a firm, full throw.
Sound familiar?Coverdale
Deadbolt Installation · Coverdale
Scene 1
The first thing the locksmith reads is the door itself, because it decides how the holes get cut. A solid wood slab in a century home bores cleanly but can split at the edge if the mortise is rushed. A steel-clad insulated door has a thin metal skin over foam, sometimes with a wood block at lock height, and needs a metal-cutting hole saw run slowly. Fibreglass behaves like a hard plastic and chips if the bit grabs. Thickness matters too: most exterior doors are 44 mm, some older ones 35 mm, and the deadbolt's screws and collar have to suit that. Ten seconds with a tape and a knuckle on the face answer all of this.
Scene 2
The strike is located from the bolt itself rather than from a measurement. The bolt tip is chalked, the door is closed and the bolt is thrown firmly against the jamb to leave a mark at the true centre. The locksmith bores the pocket there with a 25 mm bit to a depth of at least 28 mm, so a 25 mm bolt seats fully and reaches its deadlocked position instead of stopping short and feeling stiff. The pocket is checked with the bolt extended before any plate goes on, because a strike screwed over a shallow hole hides the fault until the first cold morning when the door has moved.
Scene 3
A deadbolt asks for very little, and most of it happens twice a year. In spring and again in autumn, throw the bolt with the door closed and notice whether it still slides in freely; wood doors swell in humid summers and shrink in dry winter air, and the first sign is a bolt that needs the door pulled before it will lock. If so, a small strike adjustment puts it right. Give the bolt and keyway a puff of whatever lubricant the lock's own maker specifies, often dry PTFE or graphite, since some cylinders are serviced with oil instead. Wipe salt off the outside trim after a slushy week so the finish stays bright.
What shapes the quoteCobourg Lock & Key Co.
FeesSame any hour
A replacement into existing holes is generally the shorter visit, and boring a fresh door with a new strike takes longer, roughly an hour or two per door including the frame work and testing. Steel doors, keying alike, frame repairs after a forced entry and fitting a jamb reinforcer each add time. The locksmith can give a realistic estimate once the door and frame have been looked at.
The usual position is 140 to 150 mm above the centre of the knob, which lines the two locks up and keeps both within one reach. Manufacturers' templates assume that spacing, which helps a later keypad or handleset line up, though many handlesets still need their own lower hole drilled to that model's template. The height is nudged if it would land on glass, a decorative panel or a hollow spot inside an insulated door, and to make sure the frame behind it is solid.
Yes, on nearly any wood, steel-clad or fibreglass entry door. The locksmith marks a spot above the knob, clamps a jig to the door and bores a cross hole through the face and a smaller hole through the edge, then cuts a pocket and fits a strike on the frame. The main things checked first are the door's thickness, what is inside it at that height and whether glass sits close by.
NorthumberlandOntario
Deadbolt Installation · Cobourg, Alnwick/Haldimand, Brighton, Cramahe, Hamilton, Gosport, East Colborne, Norham, Codrington, Orland, Smithfield
Every square is one home in a hundred.
On-site assessment preferred · (289) 677-1674, open 24/7
