Sound familiar?Cedar Grove
- The call
- The house is fifteen years old and every exterior door still wears the light hardware the builder fitted: a short bolt, a thin strike held by two small screws, and a knob lock that never suited a street entrance.
Three teenagers, a dog walker, a cleaner and one house key that keeps going missing. You are tired of cutting copies and would rather give each person a code you can switch off, with a proper deadbolt behind it.
In plain words
A replacement lock has to fit holes that already exist, and that is where the visit begins. The locksmith measures the backset, the distance from the door edge to the centre of the bore, which on most doors is 60 or 70 millimetres, checks the cross-bore diameter and edge-bore size, notes door thickness and handing, and looks at the strike cut-out. Most residential hardware is made to these standard preparations, so the new lock usually drops into place with no new drilling. Where a mortise lock or a thick door departs from the norm, filler plates, extension kits or a careful new bore bring the door up to standard.
Lock Replacement & Upgrade · Cedar Grove
How the visit goes
Scene 1
How the old lock behaves in use
The locksmith works the existing hardware the way you do every day and watches for the tell-tale signs. A key that must be lifted or wiggled points to worn pins or a worn key. A knob that turns too far, or a lever that droops, suggests a tired spindle or spring. A latch that stays retracted, or a bolt that stops short, can be internal wear or something outside the lock altogether. Doing this with the door open first, then closed, separates faults inside the mechanism from faults in the fit of the door, and that distinction decides whether new hardware is the answer or part of the answer.
Scene 2
Stepping up the grade of a deadbolt
When the brief is a stronger door, the new deadbolt is chosen for what is inside it: a bolt with a full 25 millimetre throw and a hardened steel insert that spins against a saw, a housing that stands low so a wrench has nothing to grip, and a cylinder with pins that resist picking and bumping. Fitting follows the normal steps, but the locksmith confirms the bolt reaches full extension with the door closed, because a high-grade bolt seated halfway into a shallow pocket behaves like a low-grade one. The strike is upgraded alongside it so both halves of the lock share the same standard.
Scene 3
The rental paperwork, quietly sorted
If the door belongs to a rental unit, the visit finishes with the keys in the right hands. When a landlord orders the change, giving the tenant a full set of new keys is standard practice. When a tenant orders it with the landlord's consent, a key for the landlord is cut alongside the household's and the consent is noted. The locksmith can leave a short written record of the hardware fitted and the keys issued for the property file, so both sides know what is on the door and nobody is surprised at the next inspection or move-out.
In the van
- Adjustable latch or bolt
- Filler plates and thick-door extension kits
- Reinforced strike plate and strike box
- Boring jig and hole saws
- Cylinders, plug follower and pinning kit
What shapes the quoteBox Grove Locksmith Pros
- Strike reinforcement and jamb repair
- A reinforced strike with long screws is a modest addition; repairing a jamb split from a forced entry, or fitting a strike box into a frame that has never had one, adds labour and materials.
- Number of doors
- One back door is a small visit; the front, back, side, garage man-door and patio slider together are a longer one, though several doors done at once share the travel and setup.
- Special-order hardware
- Most standard locks come from the van. A specific style, an unusual finish or a restricted system may need ordering, which affects scheduling and is noted in the quote rather than discovered on the day.
FeesSame any hour
Frequently asked questions
Can a lever replace a knob on the same door?
Yes, and it is a common change for anyone who finds a knob hard to grip. Levers use the same bore and backset as knobs, so the swap is usually a direct fit. Levers are handed, so the locksmith checks which way the door swings and chooses or adjusts the lever accordingly. A keyed entry lever pairs well with a deadbolt above it, and interior passage and privacy levers complete the set.
Can every door in the house work from one key?
Yes, provided the cylinders share a compatible keyway, which the locksmith checks when choosing hardware. New cylinders are pinned on site to a single new key and any existing locks worth keeping are repinned to match. Front, back, side and garage doors commonly end up on one key, and a shed or gate padlock can join them. You then decide how many copies exist and who holds each.
What does a higher grade of lock actually give me?
Grades follow ANSI/BHMA standards, with Grade 1 the highest and Grade 3 the lightest, and residential hardware carries a separate label that scores security, durability and finish. The grade reports how the lock performed on the standard's own operational, strength and security tests; a higher grade often comes with a longer bolt, a sturdier housing, pins that resist picking and a strike built to anchor into the framing, but those features are worth confirming on the specific model rather than assumed from the grade alone.
Change or Rekey Locks
- Deadbolt InstallationThe old deadbolt has grown lazy.
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceThe knob flops loose on its spindle and never springs back to level.
- Smart Lock InstallationYour mother still lives on her own, and the personal support worker, the pharmacy delivery and two siblings all need to get in on…
- Gate & Building Entry LocksThe padlock on the side gate has gone stiff every winter for three years running, and this year the key simply will not turn past…
- Mailbox Lock ReplacementAfter a winter of road spray and salt, the little lock on the mailbox door has gone stiff, then gritty, then almost immovable.
Cedar Groveinformation
YorkOntario
Lock Replacement & Upgrade · Markham, Mount Joy, Box Grove, Locust Hill
- Town
- Cedar Grove, York
- In business
- 35 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7
- Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 301-8897
- 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.
- 19 in 100 homes · newer homes
- 56 in 100 homes · mixed housing
- About 19% of homes in Markham were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.In areas of recent construction, doors mostly carry builder-grade locks that were chosen for the whole development at once. They work, but a household that wants more can upgrade the cylinder or the whole set without any surprises about fit.
- Single-detached houses make up about 56% of homes in Markham (2021 Census).A mix of detached and attached housing means a mix of key habits: spare keys under pots at houses, fob-and-key combinations in buildings. A locksmith can improve both, with a proper key safe or keypad here and a tidy suite cylinder there.
On-site assessment
Request a visit.
Three teenagers, a dog walker, a cleaner and one house key that keeps going missing.
(289) 301-8897, open 24/7.