Change or rekey · Clarington
Vintage Mortise Lock Service
The knob flops loose on its spindle and never springs back to level. When you turn it the latch pulls in, but you have to push the knob back yourself, and lately the latch has started staying inside the door instead of catching.
Vintage Mortise Lock Service
In plain words
Where the door has moved, the lock gets blamed. Solid wood doors in older houses swell in humid weather, shrink in winter and settle on their hinges, and a mortise lock that was set decades ago ends up with its latch and bolt aiming a little below the strike. Part of every vintage lock service is reading how the door hangs, tightening or packing the hinges, and moving or filing the strike so the latch catches and the bolt throws without lifting the handle. Often that alignment work, plus a clean and new springs, is the entire repair, and the customer gets back a door that closes with one hand.
How the visit goesThe knob flops loose on its spindle and never springs back to level. When you turn it the latch pulls in, but you have to push the knob back yourself, and lately the latch has started staying inside the door instead of catching.
Clarington
How the visit goes
Reading the faceplate
Standing at the open door, the locksmith looks at the narrow brass or steel plate in the door edge. Its height, the spacing of its screws, any maker's stamp, and whether it shows one bolt or two tell a good deal about what is inside: a latch-only case for an interior door, a latch and deadbolt case for an entry, or a privacy function with a turn button. The distance from the door edge to the centre of the knob, the backset, is measured, along with the spindle size. These figures decide which springs, followers and, if it comes to that, which replacement case will fit, so they are written down before the lock is disturbed.
Putting the door edge right
Before the case goes back, the pocket and screw holes get whatever attention the check turned up. Stripped holes are drilled out, plugged with glued hardwood dowel and re-drilled so the faceplate screws bite. A pocket that has loosened is packed with a thin hardwood shim glued to one wall so the case sits tight. A split at the edge is glued and clamped. None of this changes the door's appearance; it simply gives the rebuilt lock something solid to sit in, which matters because a case that shifts in its pocket will bind the spindle and undo the bench work in a few months.
Looking after the finish
The brass or bronze knobs and escutcheons on an old door have earned their patina, left alone unless you ask otherwise. Paint cleaned from a faceplate or strike leaves the bare metal as found, not polished bright. If you would rather see them shine, check the finish first: unlacquered brass takes a gentle polish well, kept off the keyhole and spindle; polishing a lacquered piece can scratch through it and start tarnish underneath. Lacquered reproduction parts resist tarnishing rather than darken to match; an unlacquered reproduction is built to age and blend in over a season or two. A light wipe when dusting is all the upkeep the trim needs; wet cleaners find their way into the case.
Vintage Mortise Lock Service
In the van
- Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
- Cylinder set screw
- Spindle and knob set screws
- Warding files
- Hardwood dowel and wood glue
What affects the quote
Same fees day, night or weekend
1Strike and hinge work
Where the door has dropped or swelled, adjusting or moving the strike and tightening or packing hinges is part of the fix. It is small work but it is listed, so you see what was done to the door.
2How many keys you want
Bit keys are made individually by hand and cylinder keys are cut per copy, so the count you ask for is a line of its own. Decide who in the household needs one before the visit.
3Bit key or cylinder lock
A bit-key case has keys filed by hand on the bench, while a cylinder lock is rekeyed or fitted with a new cylinder on a key machine. The two take different time and materials, and the quote follows.
Vintage Mortise Lock Service: questions
What information helps before you come out?
Whether the door takes a skeleton-style bit key or a flat key in a round cylinder, roughly when the house was built, what the knob and bolt are doing, and whether the trouble is worse with the door closed. A photo of the faceplate in the door edge and one of the keyhole side is worth a great deal. Mention how many doors are involved and how many keys you would like afterwards.
Can you match a missing knob, plate or thumb-turn?
Often, yes. Locksmiths who work on older hardware keep salvage and reproduction trim in the common patterns and finishes, and a knob, rosette or escutcheon can usually be found close enough that the pair on one door match. Where nothing suitable exists, the trim from a less visible door can be moved to the entry and the reproduction fitted where it is seen less. Bring or photograph the surviving piece so it can be matched.
The lock works with the door open but not when it is closed. Is the lock broken?
Almost certainly not. That pattern means the door has moved in its frame so the latch and bolt no longer meet the strike squarely. Solid wood doors in older houses swell in humid weather and settle on their hinges over the years. The service adjusts or shims the strike and tightens or packs the hinges so the bolt throws without lifting the door, and the lock itself is usually cleaned and lubricated at the same time.
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Vintage Mortise Lock Service 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.