Change or rekey · Clarington
Deadbolt Installation
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
The right deadbolt for a door depends on how the door is used and where it sits. A front door that a family goes through twenty times a day needs a durable mechanism and a finish that shrugs off salt spray and sun; a side door in a laneway wants a heavy bolt and a strike that reaches the framing. Residential deadbolts carry letter grades for security, durability and finish, and heavier commercial-pattern bolts carry numbered grades, so there is a plain way to compare. The locksmith talks through those options, then fits the one you choose with the same care whichever grade it is.
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.
Clarington
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.
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.
A bolt with a full, deadlocked throw
What you feel at the end is a bolt that travels its whole length into the frame with one turn and stops with a definite click, which is the deadlocking position that stops the bolt being pushed back from the edge. From outside, the key turns a cylinder that sits in a collar which spins if gripped. From inside, the thumb-turn moves the same bolt without a key. The locksmith shows you both, throws the bolt with the door closed so you hear it seat, and hands over the packaging with the model, finish and backset written on it for the day a matching lock is wanted on another 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
1New bore or replacement into existing holes
Boring a door that has never had a deadbolt takes more time and tooling than dropping a new bolt into holes that are already there, and the quote reflects which of the two your door needs.
2Glass near the lock
A captive thumb-turn, laminated glass, security film or a relocated bolt height each carry their own cost, and the choice you make about glass shapes that part of the quote.
3Storm door or restricted clearance
A tight storm door, a narrow lock stile or a decorative panel at bolt height can require low-profile trim or a shifted position, which is settled and quoted at the assessment.
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
Below is the full menu of lock and key work available in Clarington, written for people who are not locksmiths. Each entry says what the service is, when it makes sense, and roughly how a visit unfolds, so you can arrive at the door already knowing what the technician is going to do and why.