I had a locksmith by this morning to give me an estimate on re-keying my locks and/or having new locks installed.
Well, besides trying to sell me some really expensive locks, he removed a couple locks from the door and replaced them. It looked like it would be really easy to do it myself – a matter of unscrewing the old locks and popping new ones into place. Is it really that easy or am I missing something? Are the holes of standard size or will I need to cut the wood in my door?
Thanks . . .
The holes are pretty much a standard size.
You can get all the parts you need at your local home improvement store.
What you could do is this, you could take out your lock (with somebody in the house looking after the place or a secondary lock on the door) and bring it to your local DIY store. Buy a lock of the same size and specs and it should fit well , I’ve changed plenty of locks the only trouble that can really happen is that the holes that secure the lock mechanism in place usually get pretty chewed up if the lock is changed too often.
I am not at all “handy”. I don’t “do” power tools.
I change my own locks. It’s just that simple.
Really!
Lock sizes are standard and it is very easy to replace, as you noticed. Even I, with two left thumbs, changed mine. Just follow the instructions that come with it.
The holes are pretty much standard, with some small variations in details. The new locks I bought for my front door came with adapters to fit most of the variations. I bought a kit with a deadbolt and doorknob that used the same key, so I don’t need to fumble with 2 keys to open my door.
On that note, at the home improvement depot-type stores, all the lock sets will be numbered – if you’re going to change several locks, avoid the hassles of multiple keys and get the same lock numbers.
Usually you could just take out the whole thing, take it to the locksmithy store & they put in a new cylinder with a new key but that costs as much as new handle set…so I would always take the door handle to the store to get another one. that way you won’t get one that’s keyhole is upsidedown.
First off ** Why are you changing the locks? **
If the current locksets are broken old, tarnished Then replacing them is very easy to do. Most residential locksets have a total of 4 screws. I could train a monkey to swap out new hardware in most cases.
Most residential locksets both knob locks and Deadbolts are 2 and 3/8 backset (from edge of door to center of hole)
with a 2 1/8 hole on the face of the door. In some cases the backset will be 2 3/4 inch.
Almost all doors are drilled to those measurments. You could run into a problem if you have a smaller hole in the face of the door with some brands of locks.
If you run into this problem let me know and I can go into more detail.
Even if you have to do some slight modification to the door it is not that difficult most times. I can most likely walk you thru how to do that as well.
If your changing the locks to have a new key (having them rekeyed) You can pull them off the door yourself and take them to a locksmith shop and have them rekeyed reasonably cheap. It would save you a service call anyway. Also remember to take the currently working key with you. It makes disassembling the lock easy and painless.
If you break down the estimate the locksmith gave you I can be of further help to your question.
QUestions
1)What brand hardware do you have currently on your doors? Most times you can find the name located on the latch plate on the side of the door above or below the latch (little thingie that actually sticks in the door.)
2)Do you currently have all your locks on one key? or do you have to carry around more than one key to open the doors in your house.
If you are going to buy new hardware Home depot and Lowes and I would guess any mega-mart home improvment place will have better prices on their lockset. The main reason for that is because they can buy in such HUGE bulk they do not have to mark up the locksets as high.
Finally:
Handy Disclaimer clarification service announcement 
1)When a locksmith rekeys a lockset he disassembles the lockset and replaces the PINS in the cylinder, not the cylinder itself.
2) having a cylinder rekeyed is almost always less expensive by at least a few dollars than buying even the less expensive lockset at your local mega-mart home improvement place. Also keep in mind you will get what you pay for. The off brand cheapo discount locks I would not put on a dog house much less a home.
Handy is right, some lockset brands come prehanded so when they are installed the keyhole is mounted upside down. This is not a major problem mechanically (not for many years) but it can be annoying having to flip a key to unlock a deadbolt after unlocking the knob.
Ok that’s all from me for now
Osip
You can get multiple tumblers (for the key) that are all keyed the same key, aka your front and back door and garage door. They are easy to replace…what you need to know when going to a home improvement store or even to another lock smith is the diameter of the tumbler and the length from the inside of the door to the outside.
It is better to take the tumbler with you though and if you have a manufacturer’s name of the door it might help someone with less experience.
But they can be replaced very easily.
Simply unscrew the handle from the inside, and the assembly will pull apart. Replace the tumbler (make sure you put the keyhole inside correctly, reassemble the handle set and screw it back in. Test the handle to ensure it functions properly before you close the door and test the key. You’re done.
Should read, hardware manufacturer’s name, not the door, the door doesn’t mean squat.
Thanks for the tips, everyone.
Osip: I’m changing the locks for several reasons.
First, we just moved in, many people have been living in our house, and we feel it would be a good idea to re-key.
Second, every single lock is on a different key, which makes for 5 different keys. (There are 3 doors. Two of the doors have deadbold and knob-locks. The front door has a mortice lock.)
Third, the locksmith claimed that two of the doors had bottom-of-the-line locks on them. (He said the front door was ok.) The brand name is “Defiant,” and Mrs. Lucwarm will insist that they be replaced.
So, the plan is as follows: Replace the cylinder on the front door lock; Replace the dead-bolts and knob-locks on the other two doors.
The guy was pushing Medeco & Schlage on me.
Thanks again.
Yeah, Defiant is the bottom-of-the-line brand at Home Depot, but all that says is it’s the bottom-of-the-line at Home Depot, not necessarily that they’re bad locks. They DO seem kind of cheap to me, and, I know that because that’s the brand I installed when I installed new doors!
Anything else you want to know? I am sure I can type out a nice summary on the differances on brands and some tips and tricks to make the locks more secure.
Osip
If your doors have glass or there is glass close by where the window can be broken. Then buy deadbolts with a key on both sides. (not allowed by law in California and Indiana)
When you install the strike plates on the door. (brass plate latch inserts to lock) Use 3 inch long wood screws, this allows the screw to bit into the stud behind the frame and will make the door much more difficult to be forced open. (schlage deadbolts already come with very long screws and a reinforced strike plate. of course you will have to use a hammer and chisel to modify the doorjamb to countersink the plate.)
As I mentioned in passing, I do not like locking knoblocks on a house. Let me elaborate on my OPINIONS about them.
Ok I shall shut up now.
Osip
One more lock/key question, Osip, if you don’t mind
While it may be common in other parts of the world, I took a trip overseas and noticed the key to my host’s front door didn’t have the bumps and ridges normally associated with American keys - rather, the edges of the key was smooth, and instead had circular indentations along the flat part, into which fit the pins inside the lock.
Since you’re a locksmith - is a lock/key like that more or less secure than an American lock/key?
Damn good info Osip! All I can say is my apt doesn’t have a knob lock, just a deadbolt (when i am outside, i have to turn it with the key), and I am glad because I would have locked myself out a million times.
I’d like to hijack this post, if I may, on a related lock question. A while back, I replaced my front door lock with a Schlage. No problem then. I could lock the door without the key merely be turning it on the inside knob and closing the door as I left the house. The projection on the lock would recede and then fit nicely into the jamb in the locked position.
For some reason, a couple of months ago, I have been unable to do this. The projection will not recede and I need to close the door in the open position and lock it with the key. I could also hold the door switch as I lock it, but I have to keep holding it while I close the door.
What caused the lock mechanism to change? I noticed that one of the door hinges was up a little, but I knocked it back down. I don’t see how that was a factor.
Well, Pin tumber locks which are common here were first created and manufactured by a man named Linus Yale (If I remember correctly) In the mid to late 1800’s. How it became so popular after that I believe was mostly damn good marketing his new idea. But, I am not that well versed in some of the history involved. The keys you descibe I have seen quite often in my trips to Europe and Russia. They have been around for centuries The oldest lockset of that design was made in the late 1400’s.
Sorry cant fill in any more detail right now, if I get a chance I will try to dig up more info for you.
Osip
Now, that is something that does not happen to often. Lets try a few things eh?
Try this, with the door open. Lock the knob lock and try to push in the latch. Push the large protruding part of the latch (not the smaller one) see if it will go in.
If the latch does not go in the door when pushed it. Lubricate it at the latch and in the keyhole itself and if you feel frisky take the inner knob off and lubricate the insides as well.It never hurts to go crazy with a spray lubricate. I prefer tri-flow a teflon based lube found at many bicycle repair shops and IIRC wal-mart in the sporting section. Or hose it down good with WD 40 which may flush out any “gunk” (technical term for factory lubricants that can collect debris, dust and such, or dry out and become sticky.)
Check to see if the slope of the latch is making contact with the strike plate. If the strike plate hits the latch before the latch starts to slope it can cause this problem.
Check the latch and the striek plate for any burrs which might snag the latch enough to keep it from functioning properly.
Make sure the smaller protrusion For not on refered to as SP to save on typing) on the latch completely extends. The purpose for this handy thing is when the door is closed, the main latch inserts into the hole and the SP is pushed in and rests ON the face of the strike plate. The reason for this is when the SP is pushed in and the main part of the latch is extended into the hole the Main latch cannot be pushed in. This was designed to make credit carding a door much more difficult.
If your still having problems, Take the latch out and see if it will depress in your hand (if is will not on the door) Sometimes a tight fit will cause a bit of binding nothing a hammer and a small chisle cant fix.
Err, more when I can think of it or you can add more detail.
Osip “the long winded”