Change or rekey · Hamilton
Gate & Building Entry Locks
The driveway gate drags a groove into the gravel every time it swings, and the latch stopped catching weeks ago.
In plain words
Some building entries add a buzzer, a keypad or an electric strike to the mechanical lock, and any one of those pieces can be the reason a door stops releasing on cue. This service checks the wiring, the power supply and the mechanical override together with the lock itself, rather than assuming the fault sits wherever the last person guessed. Whatever combination of electronic and mechanical hardware the entry uses, it leaves working as one system: a mechanical key still able to open it wherever the installed lock provides one, and a fail-safe strike or maglock still releasing on its own if the power ever goes out.
How the visit goesEvery time the courtyard gate closes, it slams hard enough to rattle the fence panels, and the deadlatch never quite drops into the keeper before the spring yanks it the rest of the way. One good gust of wind and it bounces right back open.
Gate & Building Entry Locks
How the visit goes
Reading how the gate or door actually moves
Before touching the lock, the locksmith watches the gate or door open and close by hand: how far it swings, whether it drags, sags or springs back with too much force, and where the latch lands relative to the strike. A gate held shut with a brick or a door propped for the mail carrier is a clue about what the lock is being asked to work against every day. This first look decides whether the real fix sits in the hardware, the hinges, or the frame the whole assembly hangs from, and it shapes every choice made afterward.
Freeing a seized or salted padlock
A padlock or gate cylinder stiffened by rust, dried grease or old grit is worked open with patience: a penetrating product suited to locks, gentle heat where appropriate, and a pick or the original key worked in small movements rather than forced. Where the internals have corroded past saving, the padlock or cylinder is replaced with a weather-rated unit built for that kind of exposure. Afterward the mechanism is dried and treated with the lubricant the manufacturer specifies for that cylinder, since the right product for one model can gum up another.
Hardware set up to last outdoors
Anything replaced or adjusted during the visit is chosen and finished for life outside: corrosion-resistant fasteners, a cylinder rated for weather exposure, and a lubricant matched to whatever the cylinder maker specifies for it, since the wrong product collects grit and gums up in the cold. A light coat of that lubricant at the interval the maker recommends, worked through with the key a few times, keeps a cylinder turning smoothly well beyond what the hardware would otherwise manage sitting exposed at a gate or a street-facing door.
Gate & Building Entry Locks
In the van
Strike plates and keepers
Key blanks and code cutter
Gate and door closers
Hinges, pivots and shims
Voltage tester for electric strikes
Gate & Building Entry Locks
What affects the quote
Any upgrade chosen while the locksmith is already there
Some property owners use the visit to move to a heavier closer, an electric strike, a master key system or additional padlocks for other gates. None of this is required to address the original problem; each option is priced as a separate line.
Access to the gate or entry
A ground-level gate on an easy driveway is straightforward. A shared building entry behind a locked lobby, a gate at the far end of a long property, or awkward scaffolding around the hardware adds time the quote takes into account.
Whether the property manager or a board is involved
Work on a shared building entry sometimes needs sign-off from a property manager or condo board before proceeding, and coordinating that approval, along with providing a record of the work for their files, is part of the visit.
What to have ready
- Is the gate wood, metal, aluminum or vinyl?
- Do you manage this property, or should someone else be involved in the decision?
- Is the gate sagging, dragging, or hard to close by hand?
Gate & Building Entry Locks: questions
QuestionsCan several padlocks around a property be keyed alike?
Yes, provided the padlocks themselves are a type built to be rekeyed or matched, which is a feature of the specific model rather than something price or quality decides. The locksmith either rekeys the existing padlocks to a shared combination or replaces any that cannot be rekeyed with new ones cut to match. The result is one key working the front gate, the side gate and the shed, instead of a separate key for each, though a utility gate can be left on its own key.
Does this service cover the gate itself, or only the lock?
Both, where the two are connected, which on a gate they usually are. A locksmith working on a gate lock also looks at the hinges, the post and the closer, since a lock rarely fails on its own when the real cause is a sagging gate or a post that has shifted. Work that goes beyond hardware the locksmith carries, such as rebuilding a rotted post or a damaged fence panel, is flagged so it can be handled by whoever normally does that kind of repair.
A tenant moved out of our building. Do we need to rekey the shared entry?
It is worth doing, since a move-out is exactly the situation a rekey is meant to cover: a former tenant's key still operates the same lock everyone currently living there relies on. Rekeying resets the cylinder to a fresh combination and issues new keys to current residents, without requiring a whole new lock in most cases. Bringing any other gates or doors that share that key along at the same time keeps the whole property on one current combination.
Related services
- Deadbolt InstallationSomeone tried the door last winter.
- Lock Replacement & UpgradeThe house is fifteen years old and every exterior door still wears the light hardware the builder fitted: a short bolt, a thin strike held by two small screws, and a knob lock that never suited a street entrance.
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceSomeone painted the door years ago without removing the hardware.