Change or rekey · Moore Park
Deadbolt Installation in Moore Park
Someone 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.
Deadbolt Installation
In plain words
Replacing an existing deadbolt is usually a matter of matching rather than cutting. The locksmith measures the cross bore, the edge bore and the backset, checks the door thickness, and picks a bolt that drops into the holes you already have. Where the old lock was a builder-grade unit, the replacement can step up to a heavier grade with a hardened bolt, a free-turning collar around the cylinder and a low-profile face that gives a wrench nothing to grip. The old strike is checked against the new bolt's instructions, and where it calls for it, a reinforced strike and long screws go in while the door is already apart.
How the visit goesSomeone 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.
Moore Park
How the visit goes
Where the bolt should sit on the door
On a door with no deadbolt yet, its height is not fixed by the manufacturer but by the door in front of you. The usual spot is 140 to 150 mm above the centre of the knob, which places the bolt near the strongest part of the lock stile and keeps both locks within one comfortable reach. The locksmith checks that this height misses any glass, decorative panel, hinge line or the wood block inside an insulated door, and that the frame behind that spot is solid rather than a gap between shims. If a storm door or screen door shares the opening, the bolt's thumb-turn and cylinder have to clear it as well.
Fitting the bolt and setting the backset
The bolt assembly slides into the edge bore with the faceplate set the way its maker marks, commonly the word "top" facing up. Most residential bolts adjust between 60 mm and 70 mm by twisting or sliding the faceplate, and the locksmith sets it to the backset measured earlier so the tailpiece from the cylinder lands in the centre of the bolt's cam. The bolt is secured with its two short screws, and the locksmith works it in and out by hand to feel that it runs freely through the door without rubbing on the bore. On an insulated door a round drive-in collar may replace the flat plate where the edge is too thin to mortise.
Ready for a smart lock later
Because the door was prepared to the standard bore and backset, it suits many future options, though the model chosen later still sets its own bore, backset and thickness requirements. Keypad and app-controlled deadbolts fit the same 54 mm cross bore and the same edge bore as the mechanical lock fitted today, so upgrading later means swapping the hardware, not cutting the door again. The backset and bore measurements are written on the packaging left with you. If you want to think about a keypad down the road, ask the locksmith which models suit the door thickness and whether a backup keyed cylinder is worth having for the one day the batteries are flat.
Deadbolt Installation
In the van
- Single-cylinder deadbolt
- Sharp chisel and mallet
- Boring jig and 54 mm hole saw
- Rekeying pins and key blanks
- Reinforced strike plate
What affects the quote
Same fees day, night or weekend
1Travel to the property
Distance and access are part of any call-out: a house on a suburban street and a rural property down a long road involve different driving time, and the quote says so.
2Hardware supplied by you or by the locksmith
If you have already bought the lock, the quote covers labour and any adaptation of the door to that kit. Hardware supplied from the van is listed separately with its grade and finish.
3Door material
Solid wood, steel-clad and fibreglass doors are each cut differently. Metal skins call for slower cutting and cleanup of filings, so the material is one of the first things a quote takes into account.
Deadbolt Installation: questions
How high above the knob does the deadbolt go?
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.
What do lock grades mean when I am picking a deadbolt?
Residential deadbolts are graded under an industry standard in three categories, security, durability and finish, with letter grades from C through A, so a lock marked with three A grades has met the highest level in each. Heavier commercial-pattern bolts are graded 1, 2 or 3, with 1 the highest. The grades let you match hardware to a busy family door or an exposed side entrance without relying on the weight of the box.
Do I need a deadbolt on the door from the garage into the house?
It is worth having. The door between an attached garage and the living space is in practice often the softest way in, since a garage door left open leaves a passage knob as the only barrier. A thumb-turn deadbolt there costs a few minutes a day and closes that gap.
Change or Rekey Locks
- Lock Replacement & UpgradeEvery morning the front door key needs the same little dance: push in, lift, wiggle, turn.
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceSomeone painted the door years ago without removing the hardware.
- Smart Lock InstallationThe rental turns over every few months and each time you drive across town to swap keys, then…
Deadbolt Installation near you
The pages that follow describe the lock services offered in Moore Park one by one, without sales talk. Where a service has a simpler or less involved cousin, the page says so. Where a repair will do instead of a replacement, the page says that too. The aim is for you to choose well, not to choose more.