Locks and Knobs

Have ready

Have a working key for the door and know how many keys you want, plus whether you want the new lock matched to a key you already carry. Tell the technician if the door is solid or hollow and whether it sticks in summer. The technician checks three things first: the bore diameter and whether the cross bore is centered, the backset from the door edge to the bore center, and the gap and alignment between the door and the jamb. A bolt that refuses to throw is a strike or alignment problem far more often than a lock problem.

• Rekey-ready installs
• Deadbolts aligned to the jamb
• Passage and privacy sets
• Sticky latches

The visit

A deadbolt that does not throw is usually a strike that was never mortised, or a door that sagged. We set the strike into the jamb and adjust the hinges before we condemn the lock. Passage and privacy sets get the latch direction right so the door actually closes.

Keyed locks on a swollen August door get the door eased, not a bigger hammer on the key. Forcing the bolt wallows out the strike and then it will not lock in January either.

Permit

A deadbolt or lockset on a door that already has the bore is hardware, so no permit is issued and nothing gets inspected. Two situations sit outside that. A rated door in a commercial space has to keep hardware listed for the assembly, which an inspector can ask about. Cutting a bore into a door that never had one belongs to a door replacement job, and that project may carry its own paperwork. A hardware swap does not.

On the Shore

Salt air is what kills low-grade hardware here. The finish pits, the cylinder gets gritty, and a thumb-turn starts to bind within a season or two. The other half is the door itself. Humidity swells the slab and the jamb in August and shrinks them in January, so a lock that worked in spring catches by fall. The technician eases the door and adjusts the strike rather than forcing the bolt, because forcing it wallows the strike and makes the next season worse.

When we leave

Every lock is cycled with the door closed, then latched, then deadbolted, and the technician confirms the bolt throws fully into the strike without lifting or pushing the door. The key is turned several times to check for binding, and the privacy sets are checked for the emergency release. On a new install the hardware is left clean and dry. The care note is to use a dry lubricant lightly if a cylinder gets gritty, and never to force a stiff key, because that bends the pins.

Built with

The parts are a keyed entry set with a matching deadbolt, passage and privacy sets for interior doors, and the strike plates and screws that come with them. Exterior hardware is chosen in a corrosion-resistant finish, since the finish is what salt air attacks first. The technician keeps the same keyway family when a homeowner wants one key to work the house. Where a strike needs more wood behind it, a longer screw or a reinforced strike is used.