Change or rekey · Toronto
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
Most old mortise locks fail for boring reasons. A coil spring that has been compressed a hundred thousand times since the house was built finally breaks, or the grease inside the case dries into something like wax and the levers stick in it. Neither justifies cutting a new hole in a solid oak door. The service opens the case, cleans out the old lubricant, replaces the springs with the right size, matches any worn follower or lever and lubricates the mechanism lightly. The same case goes back into the same pocket, and the knob returns to level with the crisp snap it had decades ago.
How the visit goesThe key turns freely in the round cylinder on the door, all the way around and back, without the bolt shifting at all. The cylinder itself wobbles slightly when you press it, as if it has come loose inside the door.
Toronto
How the visit goes
The door before the lock
Before blaming a lock that may be perfectly sound, the locksmith looks at the door. With it open, the lock is cycled; with it closed, the latch and deadbolt are tried again. A lock that works open and fights when shut is telling you the door has moved. The gap around the door is checked top to bottom, the hinges are watched for a sag when the door is lifted, and the strike plate is inspected for bright wear marks where the bolt has been scraping past. In an older home with a solid wood door this is a routine finding, and correcting it is often most of the repair.
Reassembly and setting the trim
The case slides home and is screwed off, then the cylinder or keyhole escutcheon goes on, followed by the spindle, knobs and rosettes. The spindle is trimmed to length so the knobs sit against the door without pinching, and the set screws are tightened so there is no free play before the latch moves. The thumb-turn is aligned with the deadbolt tail so it throws with a light touch. Paint is cleared from the faceplate and strike edges where it was catching. Then the door is closed and the whole lock is worked from both faces with the key, the knobs and the turn, several times, listening for the latch to seat.
Watching the door through the seasons
The lock is aligned to the door as it hangs today, and a solid wood door in an older home will move again. Through a humid summer it swells, through the heating season it shrinks, and each year the hinges settle a fraction. Twice a year, close the door and try the latch and bolt; if either has started to scrape or needs the door lifted, the strike wants a small adjustment or the hinge screws want snugging, which is a five-minute job. Doing that early keeps the rebuilt case from being strained, and it is the single habit that makes a vintage lock last another few decades without fuss.
Vintage Mortise Lock Service
In the van
- Warding files
- Hardwood dowel and wood glue
- Deadbolt lever springs
- Bit key blanks
- Hub followers and lever packs
What affects the quote
Same fees day, night or weekend
1Replacement case
A case that is cracked or worn through is replaced with a reproduction or modern mortise case sized to the pocket. The case itself, any trimming of the pocket and the refitting are itemised separately from a repair.
2Paint and seized parts
Hardware buried under decades of paint takes time to free and clean without damage. A faceplate, strike and thumb-turn that have to be stripped back add to the visit and are noted in the quote.
3Number of locks in the visit
One entry lock is the simplest case. A whole floor of interior latches, or the front and back doors together, is a longer visit, and each case is quoted on its own so the total is easy to follow.
Vintage Mortise Lock Service: questions
The key turns all the way round but the bolt stays put. What is wrong?
On a cylinder mortise lock this points to the cylinder rather than the case. The set screw that holds the cylinder in the door has loosened or stripped so the whole cylinder rotates, or the cam on the back of the cylinder has worn or is the wrong shape and no longer catches the bolt lever. Both are fixed by resetting or replacing the cylinder and its set screw, and the case itself is usually fine.
Why does the deadbolt scrape or need a shove to throw?
Two causes cover most cases. Either paint has built up on the faceplate, the bolt or the strike so the bolt drags across it, or the door has dropped so the bolt is entering the strike pocket at an angle and rubbing its edge. Occasionally a bent deadbolt lever inside the case adds friction. Cleaning the paint back, adjusting the strike and checking the lever all happen as part of the service.
What if the case is too worn to repair?
Then a replacement case goes into the existing pocket. Reproduction mortise cases are made in the common vintage sizes and backsets, and a modern mortise case with a cylinder fits many old pockets with minor trimming. The locksmith measures the case height, depth, backset and trim spacing before ordering, aiming for the new case to drop in with the original knobs and plates going back on, though a small pocket trim or fixing change is sometimes needed. Cutting the door for a different kind of lock is the last choice.
Change or Rekey Locks
Vintage Mortise Lock Service near you
For a household in Toronto the common requests are a rekey after moving in, a lockout, a deadbolt that grinds, and a lock that finally needs replacing. For a business they are storefront hardware, staff key control and exit devices. Both lists, and a few less common jobs, are laid out here.