Freeze-thaw swells doors, road salt eats at brass, and a cylinder that was fine in October seizes in February. We free jammed locks without forcing them, adjust doors that have shifted, and use lubricants that stay workable well below zero.
Open 24/7 · Oakville
Tap the closest match.
Freeze-thaw swells doors, road salt eats at brass, and a cylinder that was fine in October seizes in February. We free jammed locks without forcing them, adjust doors that have shifted, and use lubricants that stay workable well below zero.
Moving house is a long list, and the locks are easy to forget until the first night. We suggest making them one of the first calls. A rekey of every exterior door, including the one from the garage into the kitchen, means the previous owner's spare under the mat and the copy their painter kept are just brass. You settle in knowing exactly how many keys exist.
The key you reach for. The door you come home to. Good locksmith work begins with understanding how you use them.
27years in business
24/7open every day
Locksmith services
Homes, businesses and vehicles each bring their own hardware and their own habits. We have grouped our services by where you are likely to need them, so you can find the one that matches your situation without wading through everything else.
Home Lockout ServiceSomeone pushed the privacy button on the bathroom door and pulled it shut behind them, leaving the room locked and empty.
Business Lockout ServiceA cook stepped into the alley with the recycling and the rear door swung shut behind him.
Broken Key ExtractionThe key went in like any other morning, you turned it, and something gave with a small metallic click.
Break-In Damage Lock RepairSomeone smashed the little window beside the door, reached in and turned the thumb-turn.
Seized & Jammed Lock OpeningThe old mortise lock on the front door of the house turns the key halfway and stops with a dull clunk.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit RekeyThe renovation wrapped up in the spring.
Lock RekeyingOne key for the front door, another for the back, a third for the side door into the garage, and a fourth for the shed.
Deadbolt InstallationYou moved in three weeks ago.
Lock Replacement & UpgradeThe lever on the side door droops toward the floor and rattles in your hand.
Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceSomeone painted the door years ago without removing the hardware.
Smart Lock InstallationArthritis has made the small house key hard to grip and turn, especially with gloves on in January.
Gate & Building Entry LocksThe driveway gate drags a groove into the gravel every time it swings, and the latch stopped catching weeks ago.
Mailbox Lock ReplacementThe mailbox key snapped clean off in the lock last week, and the stub is still sitting somewhere inside the cylinder.
A break-in overnight took the cash float and a staff member's bag with her work keys inside it. The glass is being replaced this morning, but the key that opened the door yesterday will still open it tonight unless the cylinders are changed.
Commercial RekeyingSomeone tried the door last winter. The frame took it, but the strike plate is bent, one screw hole is stripped, and the bolt sits in the pocket at a slight angle. It still locks, and it still bothers you every night.
Deadbolt InstallationYour basement tenant has given notice, and a new one arrives on the first. The lock on the separate entrance works perfectly well. You simply want a fresh key for the incoming tenant and for the old one to be retired.
Lock RekeyingHigh security
A strong lock in a weak frame is not high security, so we look at the cylinder, the bolt, the strike, the hinges and nearby glass before suggesting anything. The pages here explain each layer in plain words and where it belongs on your property.
Your shop has had four employees leave in two years and each one had a key.
The lever on the side door droops toward the floor and rattles in your hand.
You moved in three weeks ago.
Someone smashed the little window beside the door, reached in and turned the thumb-turn.
Commercial
The cash office, the stockroom, the server closet and the medication cupboard need locks that behave differently from the front door. Commercial services cover those internal doors with cylinders, keying and, where it fits, access control that records who opened what.
High security
A customer's rifle safe at the range has a dial that simply will not respond to the combination written on the sales receipt from years ago.
The office is moving three blocks over, and the old commercial safe that has sat bolted to the concrete for fifteen years now needs to come out, travel across town, and go back down just as solidly.
Sensible optionRekey every exterior door to one new key.
WhyThe seller, their agent and any tradesperson who held a copy are now locked out, and you carry a single key.
Sensible optionAsk the landlord to have the locks rekeyed.
WhyTenants generally need the owner's agreement, and most landlords are glad to do it when asked plainly.
Sensible optionRekey before the next tenant arrives.
WhyIt keeps the same hardware and closes the gap before viewings start.
Sensible optionVintage Mortise Lock Service
WhyMost old mortise locks fail for boring reasons.
Sensible optionSmart Lock Installation
WhySmart lock installation puts an electronic deadbolt or lever on your door that opens with a code, a phone, a fob or a fingerprint, and, on some models, a conventional key too.
Sensible optionGate & Building Entry Locks
WhyA gate or door that will not latch is rarely just a lock problem; more often the hardware is being asked to catch a moving target.
Describe the property, the hardware and what has changed, and the visit starts from what you have seen.
01
Who comes and goes, whether you want codes or phone access, how the door is used in winter. The answers shape which lock suits you and how it should be set up.
02
We check the door alignment before mounting anything, because a smart lock needs a door that closes freely. Then we install, wire or pair it and set the first codes with you.
03
We walk through adding and removing codes, changing batteries and what to do if the electronics ever sulk. You leave able to manage it yourself.
Halton, Ontario
2021 Census
About 27% of homes in Oakville were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
New homes frequently come with strikes held by short screws into soft framing. Replacing them with longer screws that reach the stud is inexpensive work that adds real strength, and it is one of the first things a locksmith checks in a newer area.
Single-detached houses make up about 59% of homes in Oakville (2021 Census).
In mixed neighbourhoods, a family may move from an apartment to a house or the other way around. A locksmith who knows both kinds of door can rekey the old place for the next occupant and set up the new one on the same visit.
Very little is needed. Each spring and autumn, lock the door from inside and feel whether the bolt still goes home without the door being pulled; if it hesitates, the door has moved with the season and a small strike adjustment restores it. Whatever lubricant the lock's own maker specifies keeps it smooth, often a dry PTFE or graphite type in the keyway and along the bolt, though some cylinders are meant to be serviced with oil. In winter, wipe road salt off the outside trim to protect the finish.
It does on an exposed door. Winter salt spray, summer sun and humid air all work on the outside trim, and residential deadbolts carry a finish grade that reflects how well the coating resists them. A lifetime or PVD-style finish stays bright longer on a south-facing or roadside door, while a sheltered porch door can carry any finish you like. Matching the knob or lever below is mostly a matter of taste.
The bolt should extend at least 25 mm into the frame, which is the standard throw for a dwelling's entrance doors and the length most residential deadbolts provide. Part of the bolt stays inside the door for support while the rest sits in the pocket. A hardened steel insert that spins under a saw blade is a common feature worth having on doors that face a street or laneway.
Because that is where a kicked door fails. The bolt is strong, but it sits in a pocket in the jamb held by a thin plate and short screws, and a boot splits the wood around it. A reinforced strike or box strike fastened with three-inch screws into the wall framing spreads the blow along the frame. It is the least visible part of the upgrade and often the one that does the most.
People in Oakville should understand what is on their door. So we explain in ordinary words: what grade of hardware you have, where the weak point is, and which change would actually make a difference. You get the reasoning, not just a recommendation, and then the decision is yours. Nobody is pushed into an upgrade they did not ask about.
