Sound familiar?Gosport
- The call
- The shop's lever handle goes down as usual, but the latch inside the mortise case never pulls back. Staff are waiting on the sidewalk with their coffees, the door is locked, and the handle is simply moving air.
Every time you pull the key out of the side door it comes away gritty. The lock has been sticky since the salt trucks started running, and today it has gone from sticky to solid, with the bolt still thrown.
In plain words
This service has a season here. The first wet fortnight of winter sends meltwater into keyways that freezes overnight, and doors on the north and shaded sides of a building stay iced the longest. Salt spray from driveways and walkways leaves a crust that thickens with every thaw. Then summer humidity swells wood doors until the bolt drags in its pocket. A jammed lock opening in these conditions means thawing without boiling water, flushing out salt, drying the cylinder, and dressing it with a lubricant that sheds moisture, along with a check of the door so the same weather does not jam it again next month.
Seized & Jammed Lock Opening · Gosport
How the visit goes
Scene 1
What is inside the keyway
A small mirror and a bright light show what the keyway has collected. Salt crust, sand, metal filings, sawdust from a renovation and the gummy residue of household spray oils are all common, and each reads differently: a dry gritty feel, a sticky drag, or a plug that will not accept the key to full depth. Ice shows as frost on the cylinder face and a key that stops short. A cylinder cap that has loosened lets the plug sit crooked so the pins never line up. This look decides whether the cylinder needs a flush and dry lubricant, a thaw, a re-tightened cap, or a full strip on the bench.
Scene 2
Inside a mortise case or lever set
For mortise locks and lever hardware the work moves from the cylinder to the case. The locksmith gets the door open, then removes the trim and draws the case out of the door edge. Inside, a broken lever return spring, a worn hub, a bent spindle or a latch that has lost its spring is replaced with the matching part, and years of dust and hardened grease are cleaned from the contact surfaces before a fresh application of a grease suited to lock mechanisms. The case is reassembled, the spindle and cylinder are refitted, and lever, key and thumb-turn are each tested so the latch and bolt travel fully.
Scene 3
What was done, in writing, with the old parts
You are told plainly which family the jam belonged to and what was done: cylinder cleaned and rebuilt, tailpiece replaced, strike moved, hinges shimmed, mortise spring fitted, or cylinder replaced and keyed to your existing key. Replaced parts are handed over so you can see the wear or the break for yourself. For a rental, tenants and landlords both benefit from that note, since it records that the lock was serviced rather than changed. For an owner it goes in the home file beside the keyway and key code, which makes the next key cut or the next service a shorter conversation.
In the van
- Long hinge screws
- Dry PTFE or graphite lock lubricant
- Penetrating lubricant
- Replacement tailpiece or cam
- Lock de-icer
What shapes the quoteCobourg Lock & Key Co.
- Door and hinge adjustment
- When the door caused the jam, hinge screws, shims, a strike move or a deepened bolt pocket are quoted as their own line beside the opening.
- Keying a new cylinder to your existing key
- Pinning a replacement cylinder to the key already on your ring, or rekeying other doors to match a new key, is extra work per cylinder and simplest to do in the same visit.
- Type of lock on the door
- A residential deadbolt, a knob latch, a lever set, a mortise case in an older house and a high-security cylinder each take different tools and time to open and to service.
FeesSame any hour
Short answers to common questions
Will I need a whole new lock?
Usually not. Most jammed locks are saved by cleaning the cylinder, fitting a small part such as a tailpiece or spring, or adjusting the door so the bolt has room. A new cylinder is fitted when the plug or shell is corroded through or twisted by forcing, matched to your finish and, where possible, pinned to your current key. A complete new lockset is usually a choice you make rather than a requirement, though some internal failures cannot be serviced in place and call for a full replacement.
Should I spray something into the keyway while I wait?
Better not, unless it is a proper dry lock lubricant. Household oils, general penetrating sprays and hinge silicone thicken inside the cylinder and attract grit, so they buy a day and cost a service later. If the lock is frozen, a lock de-icer is fine; boiling water is not, since it refreezes deeper in. The most useful thing to do while waiting is to stop turning the key, so it does not bend or snap.
What should I tell you on the phone?
Say what the key does: refuses to turn, spins without effect, or works only when the door is pushed or pulled. Name the lock type if you can, whether it is a deadbolt, knob, lever or an old mortise lock, and which side of the building the door faces. Mention recent weather, any spray that went into the keyway, any other door you can use, and whether anyone is inside. That short list decides the tools that come.
Lockout Services
- Business Lockout ServiceYou signed the lease on the unit last week and the landlord handed over possession, but the previous tenant's locks are still on…
- Broken Key ExtractionYou were locking up on the way out when the key broke in the lock.
- Break-In Damage Lock RepairThe shop's aluminum door has a bent meeting stile and the hookbolt is jammed half out.
- Lost Keys — Same-Visit RekeyThe keys fell out of a gym bag somewhere between the arena and the parking lot.
Gosportinformation
NorthumberlandOntario
Seized & Jammed Lock Opening · Cobourg, Alnwick/Haldimand, Brighton, Cramahe, Hamilton, East Colborne, Coverdale, Norham, Codrington, Orland, Smithfield
- Town
- Gosport, Northumberland
- In business
- 13 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7
- Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 677-1674
- 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.
- 38 in 100 homes · mixed ages
- 88 in 100 homes · mostly houses
- About 38% of homes in Brighton were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.In neighbourhoods with a mix of older and newer homes, the finishes on the doors vary widely: aged brass, satin nickel, matte black. A locksmith serving such an area keeps a range of finishes so replacement hardware suits each house.
- Single-detached houses make up about 88% of homes in Brighton (2021 Census).Where homes are mostly detached, patio and sliding doors deserve attention alongside the hinged ones. Auxiliary locks, pin locks and better latches for sliders are routine additions that a locksmith brings on the same visit as the front door work.
Nearby
On-site assessment
Request a visit.
Every time you pull the key out of the side door it comes away gritty.
(289) 677-1674, open 24/7.