Nobody should have to nod along while a stranger works on their front door. We show you the worn pins, the misaligned strike or the failed spring, describe the choices in ordinary words, and let you decide what happens next.
Open 24/7 · Kitchener
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Nobody should have to nod along while a stranger works on their front door. We show you the worn pins, the misaligned strike or the failed spring, describe the choices in ordinary words, and let you decide what happens next.
Plenty of people call us slightly embarrassed, as if losing a key or snapping one in the cold were a personal failing. It is not; brass wears, pockets have holes, and locks age. We would much rather you tell us exactly what happened, including the bit where you tried a screwdriver, because the true story tells us which tools to bring and how to put it right.
The key you reach for. The door you come home to. Good locksmith work begins with understanding how you use them.
31years in business
24/7open every day
Locksmith services
We would rather you knew what a service involves before you book it. That is why every page below walks through the checks, the work and what you are left with afterwards, in plain language, with no assumption that you already know the names of the parts.
Home Lockout ServiceAfter a week of humid weather the back door has swollen in its frame.
Business Lockout ServiceMinus eighteen with a wind, and the exterior cylinder on the shop door has frozen solid overnight after yesterday's slush.
Broken Key ExtractionThe padlock on the shed has been stiff all summer.
Break-In Damage Lock RepairYou came home to find the front door standing open.
Seized & Jammed Lock OpeningThe lock works, but only if you lean on the door with your hip while turning the key.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit RekeyYou were shovelling the driveway after dark and the ring must have slid out of your coat pocket somewhere under a metre of snow.
Lock RekeyingThree months of renovation are finally done.
Deadbolt InstallationThe bolt on the front door is keyed on both sides.
Lock Replacement & UpgradeThe lever on the side door droops toward the floor and rattles in your hand.
Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceAfter a wet summer the entry door sits lower in its frame.
Smart Lock InstallationThe rental turns over every few months and each time you drive across town to swap keys, then wonder whether copies were made.
Gate & Building Entry LocksSomeone pried at the gate latch overnight, and now the strike plate hangs by one screw and the cylinder spins loose in its housing.
Mailbox Lock ReplacementThe little brass key for your curbside mailbox was on the same ring as the one you lost at the gym last week.
One key for the front door, another for the back, a third for the side door into the garage, and a fourth for the shed. You stand on the step every evening flipping through them in the dark, trying each one until something turns.
Lock RekeyingThe lever on the side door droops toward the floor and rattles in your hand. The latch no longer springs back on its own, so the door drifts open behind you unless you pull it shut and check it twice.
Lock Replacement & UpgradeAfter the attempted break-in the police officer pointed at your door and said the strike plate was held by two short screws. Nobody got in, but you have looked at that door differently every evening since.
High Security LocksHigh security
We describe cylinders by what they resist: picking, bumping, drilling, wrenching and pulling. We describe key systems by who can order a copy. Together those two descriptions tell you what a high security upgrade actually changes for your door.
You run a home office with client files and equipment, and your insurer has asked what kind of lock is on the door.
The lever on the side door droops toward the floor and rattles in your hand.
The bolt on the front door is keyed on both sides.
You came home to find the front door standing open.
Commercial
Access control does not have to mean a control room. For a small office it can be a single keypad on the staff door with a code that changes whenever a staff member moves on. These pages start small and scale up with the building.
High security
A customer's rifle safe at the range has a dial that simply will not respond to the combination written on the sales receipt from years ago.
A community group counts the weekend's raffle and bake-sale cash on a kitchen table, then carries it home in a tote bag until the bank opens Monday, because there has never been anywhere safer to leave it.
Sensible optionUpgrade the deadbolt within the building's rules.
WhyMost buildings allow a better lock in the same finish; we check with management first.
Sensible optionHave the mailbox lock replaced through management.
WhyLobby mail units belong to the building, so we arrange it with the property manager.
Sensible optionRekey the suite lock.
WhyThe cylinder is re-pinned so only your new keys work; any building access key is preserved.
Sensible optionCommercial-Grade Lock Replacement
WhyWhere a home lockout is mostly about getting one door open again, a commercial lock replacement is mostly a decision about a system: how this one door's hardware fits into every other lock the business already manages.
Sensible optionHome Lockout Service
WhyWinter creates its own kind of lockout.
Sensible optionBusiness Lockout Service
WhyCommercial doors carry hardware that most homes never see, and reading it correctly is the first skill of a business lockout.
Describe the property, the hardware and what has changed, and the visit starts from what you have seen.
01
We look at the cylinder, the bolt, the strike, the hinges and any glass nearby, and say plainly which parts are sound and which are thin.
02
A graded deadbolt with a patented cylinder for most homes, rated cylinders and heavier lock bodies for businesses. You pick the doors and the depth.
03
Cylinders go in, strikes are screwed into the framing, keys are cut from code, and the system is registered so only you can order more.
Waterloo, Ontario
2021 Census
About 49% of homes in Kitchener were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
In an area of varied housing ages, rekeying is the one job that fits every door. Old cylinders and new ones both take fresh pins, so a household moving into either kind of home can start with keys that nobody else holds.
Single-detached houses make up about 48% of homes in Kitchener (2021 Census).
Where housing types are mixed, the same lost-key call means different things. In a house, rekey every door on the property. In an apartment, rekey the suite door and check with management about the common entrance. The locksmith asks which it is first.
This is more common than people expect, especially in older houses and at the change of seasons. A door that has swollen, sagged on its hinges or been pushed out of square by thick weatherstripping can pin the bolt against the strike so it will not draw back even with the right key. The locksmith relieves the pressure to free the bolt, then adjusts the strike, hinges or seal so the door closes and locks without a shoulder.
Rekeying keeps the lock you have and changes only the pins inside the cylinder so a new key operates it and the old one no longer does. It suits hardware that is in good shape and simply needs a fresh key. Replacing swaps the whole lock or cylinder for new hardware, which makes sense when the existing lock is worn, damaged, of low grade, or when you want a different style or a keypad. Either can be done during a lockout visit.
Yes. The same skills apply to any residential lock: a storm door that self-latched on the porch, the man-door into the garage, a shed, a gate with a padlock or a keyed latch, and a mailbox or storage locker in a condo building. Tell the locksmith about every opening involved so the right tools are in the van. Several small locks opened in one visit is common, especially after a move when keys were never handed over.
Because that is where a kicked door fails. The bolt is strong, but it sits in a pocket in the jamb held by a thin plate and short screws, and a boot splits the wood around it. A reinforced strike or box strike fastened with three-inch screws into the wall framing spreads the blow along the frame. It is the least visible part of the upgrade and often the one that does the most.
Rekeying is our favourite answer in Kitchener because it keeps good hardware in service. The lock stays, the pins change, the old keys stop working and the new ones are cut on the spot. It suits a move, a lost key or a staff change, costs less than replacement, and leaves the door looking exactly as it did.
