Change or rekey · Orono
Deadbolt Installation in Orono
The back door has a deadbolt in name only: a short bolt, a thin brass strike held by two little screws, and a jamb you can flex with your palm. It was fine for a builder's showing.
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 goesThe front door has a handsome lever and a keyed knob, and that is all. Nothing above it. When the door is shut, the only thing keeping it closed is a spring latch the width of a thumbnail, and you have started to notice.
Orono
How the visit goes
Which key should open it
A deadbolt is also a key decision, so the locksmith asks how the household's keys are arranged now. If every door shares one key, the new cylinder can be pinned to that same key, provided the keyways match, so nobody's ring grows. If the house has just changed hands, this is the natural time to set the new bolt and the other exterior locks to a fresh key and retire whatever copies are out there. Restricted or high-security keyways, keypad models with a backup cylinder and locks that must match a rental building's system all steer the choice of hardware, and it is easier to settle this before the box is opened than after.
Setting a strike that reaches the framing
A reinforced strike or strike box is centred over the pocket, squared to the edge of the jamb, and its outline is scored and chiselled to a depth that leaves the plate flush. Pilot holes are drilled, and the two holes nearest the door stop take 75 mm screws that pass through the jamb and the shim space into the stud behind, with shorter screws in the remaining holes. The long screws are driven by hand for the last turns so the heads seat without crushing the jamb. Where the jamb is thin or has been split by an earlier attempt, a full-length jamb reinforcer is fitted under the strike instead.
A frame that now holds the bolt
Behind the new strike plate is the part of the job you cannot see and will never need to think about. The pocket has been bored deep enough for the bolt to seat fully, the plate has been let into the jamb so it sits flush, and the long screws reach through the jamb into the framing behind it. On a door that had been forced or had stripped screw holes, a full-length reinforcer may sit under the strike. If you press the jamb with your palm now, it does not flex. That stiffness is what a bolt needs to do its work, and it is the reason the installation took as long on the frame as on the door.
Deadbolt Installation
In the van
- Rekeying pins and key blanks
- Boring jig and 54 mm hole saw
- Bolt faceplate or drive-in collar
- Manufacturer's bore template
- Reinforced strike plate
What affects the quote
Same fees day, night or weekend
1Hardware 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.
2Number of doors
One front door is the simplest case. Front, back, side and garage-to-house doors done in one visit share the travel and setup, so the per-door figure usually eases as the count rises.
3Keying alike or a fresh key
Pinning the new cylinder to your existing key, or setting several doors to a new key, is bench work quoted per cylinder, plus the number of keys you ask to have cut.
Deadbolt Installation: questions
Why does the strike plate matter so much?
The strike is the metal plate the bolt throws into, and it is where a kicked door usually fails: short screws bite only into the thin jamb board, which splits. A reinforced strike or strike box fastened with 75 mm screws passes through the jamb into the stud behind, so a blow is met by the framing of the house. On a wood frame, strike screws that reach at least 30 mm into solid wood behind the jamb are what actually holds.
Should I choose a single-cylinder or a double-cylinder deadbolt?
For any door people leave the house through, a single cylinder with an inside thumb-turn is the sensible choice, and provincial building rules for dwellings call for exit doors that open from inside without a key. Double-cylinder bolts are keyed on both faces and are sometimes proposed where glass is near the lock, but a captive thumb-turn, laminated glass, or a tested security-film system with its specified attachment, addresses that without a key on the inside.
What about glass beside the door or a window in it?
Glass within reach of the lock is the one case where a plain thumb-turn deserves thought. Options include a captive thumb-turn that turns freely until you remove its small key, laminated glass or a tested security-film system with its specified frame attachment, or simply setting the bolt farther from the glass. Lock manufacturers describe sidelights as a weak point, so the locksmith measures the reach and lays out the choices rather than defaulting to a key on the inside.
Change or Rekey Locks
- Lock Replacement & UpgradeThe brass handleset has gone blotchy and green where the winter salt reaches it, and the coating on…
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceThe knob flops loose on its spindle and never springs back to level.
- Smart Lock InstallationArthritis has made the small house key hard to grip and turn, especially with gloves on in January.
Deadbolt Installation near you
Think of this as the workshop list for Orono. Emergency lockouts and key extraction. Rekeying after a move or a staff change. Lock replacement and deadbolt installation. High-security cylinders and reinforced strikes. Commercial hardware, closers and master keys. Safe opening and service. Key cutting for house and car.