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Wasaga BeachLock Services · DunedinOpen 24/7(249) 492-2389Request a visit
Close view of a satin-nickel deadbolt thumbturn and edge faceplate on a painted timber door. — Deadbolt Installation, Dunedin

Change or rekey · Dunedin

Deadbolt Installation in Dunedin

The front door has a handsome lever and a keyed knob, and that is all. Nothing above it.

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Deadbolt Installation

In plain words

Steel-clad and fibreglass doors, the common insulated entry doors in newer subdivisions, take a deadbolt happily as long as they are cut for it properly. The skin is thin metal or resin over a foam core, often with a wood block at lock height, so the cross bore is made with a hole saw suited to the skin, at low speed, and the edge is finished with a plate rather than a chisel mortise. Solid wood doors in older homes are cut conventionally, with care for splitting at the edge. The locksmith reads the door before drilling and picks the method that leaves a clean opening and a true-running bolt.

Sound familiar?

You moved in three weeks ago. The previous owner left a handful of keys, none labelled, and the bolt on the side door rattles in its housing. You would like every exterior door to bolt, and to know exactly who can open it.

How the visit goes

Dunedin

How the visit goes

  1. Which key should open it

    A deadbolt is also a key decision, so the locksmith asks how the household's keys are arranged now. If every door shares one key, the new cylinder can be pinned to that same key, provided the keyways match, so nobody's ring grows. If the house has just changed hands, this is the natural time to set the new bolt and the other exterior locks to a fresh key and retire whatever copies are out there. Restricted or high-security keyways, keypad models with a backup cylinder and locks that must match a rental building's system all steer the choice of hardware, and it is easier to settle this before the box is opened than after.

  2. Assembling the cylinder and thumb-turn

    The outside housing goes on first, with its tailpiece threaded through the slot in the bolt cam and its mounting posts through the matching holes. Any plastic alignment bracket that ships with the lock is used on a 54 mm bore and removed on a smaller one. The inside thumb-turn plate is set against the door and the two long tapered screws are driven through it into the outside housing, snug rather than crushed, so the housings pull tight to the door without distorting the mechanism. The locksmith turns the thumb-turn before the door is closed to confirm the bolt throws its full length and returns without a catch.

  3. A bolt with a full, deadlocked throw

    What you feel at the end is a bolt that travels its whole length into the frame with one turn and stops with a definite click, which is the deadlocking position that stops the bolt being pushed back from the edge. From outside, the key turns a cylinder that sits in a collar which spins if gripped. From inside, the thumb-turn moves the same bolt without a key. The locksmith shows you both, throws the bolt with the door closed so you hear it seat, and hands over the packaging with the model, finish and backset written on it for the day a matching lock is wanted on another door.

Deadbolt Installation

In the van

  • Jamb reinforcer
  • 75 mm (3 in) strike screws
  • Manufacturer's bore template
  • Rekeying pins and key blanks
  • Boring jig and 54 mm hole saw

What affects the quote

Same fees day, night or weekend

  1. 1Hardware supplied by you or by the locksmith

    If you have already bought the lock, the quote covers labour and any adaptation of the door to that kit. Hardware supplied from the van is listed separately with its grade and finish.

  2. 2Removing and disposing of the old hardware

    Some visits end with the old deadbolt and strike left with the homeowner, and others ask for it to be removed and hauled away. Taking the old hardware away adds a small amount of time and is agreed before the new deadbolt goes in.

  3. 3Number of doors

    One front door is the simplest case. Front, back, side and garage-to-house doors done in one visit share the travel and setup, so the per-door figure usually eases as the count rises.

What to have ready

0 of 3 ready

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Deadbolt Installation: questions

Why does the strike plate matter so much?

The strike is the metal plate the bolt throws into, and it is where a kicked door usually fails: short screws bite only into the thin jamb board, which splits. A reinforced strike or strike box fastened with 75 mm screws passes through the jamb into the stud behind, so a blow is met by the framing of the house. On a wood frame, strike screws that reach at least 30 mm into solid wood behind the jamb are what actually holds.

Does a deadbolt work with a storm door or screen door?

It does, with one check: the thumb-turn and the outside cylinder have to clear the storm door when it closes. Most storm doors leave enough depth, but a low-profile deadbolt trim is chosen where the gap is tight. The storm door's own latch is separate and does not replace a bolt on the main door, since a screen frame gives little resistance on its own.

Can a keypad or smart deadbolt be fitted instead of a keyed one?

Yes, and the preparation is the same. Many electronic deadbolts use the standard 54 mm bore and the same edge bore, so a door cut for a mechanical bolt often accepts one, and a keyed bolt fitted today can usually be swapped for a keypad later, subject to that model's own bore, backset and thickness needs. The locksmith checks door thickness against the model, fits a reinforced strike as usual, sets up codes with you and shows where the backup cylinder or battery terminals are.

Change or Rekey Locks

Two detached brass lock cylinders and four house keys on a wooden counter. — Lock Rekeying, Dunedin
Lock RekeyingThe previous owners left a coffee tin of keys on the counter, some labelled, most not.

Deadbolt Installation near you

Homes and businesses in Dunedin tend to need the same handful of things from a locksmith, so that is how the list is arranged: emergency openings, changing or rekeying locks, stronger hardware for people who want it, commercial doors and access, and safes. Car keys sit at the end for the households that need them.

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