Someone tried the door last winter. The frame took it, but the strike plate is bent, one screw hole is stripped, and the bolt sits in the pocket at a slight angle.
If your door already has a knob or lever bore and nothing above it, adding a deadbolt is a boring job in the literal sense. A jig clamps to the door at the right height, usually 140 to 150 mm above the knob centre, and guides a hole saw through the face and a smaller bit through the edge. The locksmith mortises the edge so the bolt faceplate sits flush, sets the bolt to the door's backset, then fits the cylinder outside and the thumb-turn inside. The frame is marked from the bolt itself, bored and chiselled for the strike, and the lock is tested open and closed.
Sound familiar?Pinecrest
Deadbolt Installation · Pinecrest
Scene 1
Deadbolts are built around two dimensions. The cross bore is the large hole through the face of the door, 54 mm on most residential hardware, though some older or imported locks used 38 mm. The backset is the distance from the door edge to the centre of that hole, 60 mm or 70 mm on nearly every door in this part of the world. If a deadbolt is being replaced, both are measured so the new lock lands in the existing holes without a shim or a gap. On a new installation they are chosen to match the knob below, so the two locks line up and any future keypad or smart deadbolt drops straight in.
Scene 2
When an existing bolt is being replaced, the work starts by backing out the two inside screws and lifting off both housings, then removing the bolt from the edge. The bore and backset are measured against the new hardware, and any difference is dealt with before the new bolt goes in: a larger bore for a smart deadbolt, a different faceplate shape, or a spacer for a thinner door. The new bolt, cylinder and thumb-turn go on in the usual order. The old strike comes off too, the pocket is deepened if needed, and a reinforced strike with long screws replaces it, so the upgrade happens on both sides of the gap.
Scene 3
A deadbolt installation usually leaves the whole entry better than it found it. Hinge screws that were loose have been replaced with longer ones that bite into the framing, so the door hangs square. Weatherstrip that pinched the door has been trimmed and the latch below the new bolt has been checked against its own strike. The bore edges are clean, any shavings and steel filings have been vacuumed from the sill and the core, and the finish around the new hardware is unmarked. Open and close the door a few times over the next week and let the locksmith know if anything changes as the door settles.
What shapes the quoteAncaster Heights Locksmith Pros
FeesSame any hour
The bolt should extend at least 25 mm into the frame, which is the standard throw for a dwelling's entrance doors and the length most residential deadbolts provide. Part of the bolt stays inside the door for support while the rest sits in the pocket. A hardened steel insert that spins under a saw blade is a common feature worth having on doors that face a street or laneway.
Usually, yes. If the new lock shares a keyway with your existing cylinders, the locksmith repins it on the bench so your current key operates it, and nothing changes on anyone's ring. If the keyways differ, the other doors can be brought onto the new key instead. Say which key you want to keep before the hardware is chosen, because keyway is part of picking the lock.
Yes, on nearly any wood, steel-clad or fibreglass entry door. The locksmith marks a spot above the knob, clamps a jig to the door and bores a cross hole through the face and a smaller hole through the edge, then cuts a pocket and fits a strike on the frame. The main things checked first are the door's thickness, what is inside it at that height and whether glass sits close by.
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Deadbolt Installation · Hamilton, Ancaster Heights, Clearview Estates, Dancaster Courts, Greenside Acres, Harmony Hall II, Highland Park Survey, Maple Lane, Maple Lane Annex, Maywood, Mineral Springs, Mohawk Meadows, Nakoma, Oakhill, Parkview Heights, Perth Park, Pleasant Valley, Spring Valley
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