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Four groups
Cars and keys
Keys made at the vehicle, programming, lockouts, ignitions and broken blades.
Homes
Rekeys, lock changes, deadbolts, repairs, smart locks and house lockouts.
Businesses
Storefronts, panic hardware, master keying, closers, access control and safes.
Emergencies
Locked out, broken in, key snapped, or a door that will not secure tonight.
Group one
Cars, keys and everything attached to them
Most of this happens where the vehicle is parked. A tow to a dealership is rarely the only route and it is almost never the fastest one.
- Car key replacement. A new key cut and programmed at the vehicle when every copy is gone. Covers bladed keys with a hidden transponder, integrated flip keys, and proximity fobs on push button cars.
- Spare key cutting. A second key made while you still have a working one. Considerably simpler than the all keys lost version, and the right time to do it is before you need it.
- Key fob and remote programming. Pairing a fob to the vehicle so the buttons and, where fitted, the proximity function work. The button layout has to match how the car was built, not what the shell has printed on it.
- Transponder key programming. The coded chip inside the key head has to be recognised by the immobilizer before the engine will run. Cutting the blade is only half the job.
- Proximity and push button start keys. Intelligent access fobs, including the small mechanical blade hidden inside the case for when the electronics stop answering.
- Car lockout entry. Opening a vehicle without marking paint, bending frames or damaging weatherstripping. Keys on the seat, keys in the trunk, or a fob that has gone flat.
- Broken key extraction from an ignition or door. Getting the snapped half out, then an honest look at whether the cylinder survived the break.
- Ignition trouble. A key that turns and does nothing, a cylinder that will not turn at all, or a worn blade that has stopped being reliable. Diagnosis before parts.
- Motorcycle and powersport keys. Smaller cylinders, the same principles. Availability varies more by make than it does on cars.
- Year, make and model pages. We are building a page for each vehicle we cover so you can read about yours specifically rather than a generic explanation.
Group two
Homes
Almost all of this is about one question: who currently has a key to your door, and are you certain?
- Lock rekeying. The cylinder stays, the pins change, and every old key stops working. Cheaper than replacing hardware and the correct answer far more often than people expect.
- Lock replacement. New hardware when the old lock has failed, when the finish no longer matches, or when the security grade of what is on the door is not what you want on it.
- Deadbolt installation. Adding a proper deadbolt to a door that only has a knob lock, including the strike and the screws long enough to reach the framing rather than just the jamb.
- Lock repair. A sticking cylinder, a bolt that will not throw fully, a handle gone loose. Frequently a repair rather than a replacement, and worth checking before buying new.
- House lockout entry. Front, back, side or garage entry doors opened without damage where the lock allows it.
- Broken key extraction. The half in the cylinder removed, and the cylinder assessed afterwards rather than assumed to be fine.
- Smart lock installation. Keypad and connected locks fitted and set up, with a frank conversation about what they do well and where a mechanical backup still matters.
- Sliding door and patio locks. The hardware most likely to be overlooked on an otherwise well secured house.
- Mailbox locks. Small job, common request, and one that is genuinely difficult to do yourself without the right blank.
- Moving into a new place. Nobody knows how many keys the previous occupant handed out. Rekeying on day one closes that question permanently.
- After a break in. Securing the door tonight, then repairing or replacing properly once the immediate problem is handled.
- Door and frame security. Strike plates, longer screws, reinforcement and hinge work. The lock is rarely the weakest part of a door that gets kicked in.
Group three
Businesses
Commercial hardware is built for volume and for code compliance, which makes it different from anything on a house.
- Storefront door locks. Aluminium and glass doors with narrow stiles, mortise cylinders and hook bolts. Different hardware from a residential door and different failure modes.
- Panic bars and exit devices. Push bars and exit hardware, installed and repaired. This is life safety equipment and there are code requirements attached to it.
- Master key systems. One key for the manager, one for the whole building, and staff keys that open only what they should. Designed properly, it scales; designed badly, it has to be torn out.
- Rekeying commercial cylinders. Staff turnover is the normal reason. Doing it the day someone leaves rather than the month after is the whole point.
- Door closer repair and adjustment. A closer that slams, drags, or leaves the door standing open. Often adjustable rather than replaceable.
- Access control. Keypads, fobs and card readers where a mechanical key has stopped being practical, with realistic advice about what a system will and will not solve.
- Electric strikes and maglocks. Powered hardware, including what happens to the door when the power does not.
- Safe work. Opening, servicing and combination changes, within what can be done responsibly and with proof of ownership.
- Cabinet, desk and file locks. The small hardware that holds the paperwork nobody wants walking out of the building.
- Restricted and high security keys. Key blanks that cannot be copied at a hardware counter, for the doors where that matters.
- Landlord and property manager work. Turnovers, unit rekeys and lost key situations across a portfolio, with a clear record of who authorised what.
Group four
Emergencies
The calls where waiting until Monday is not an option.
- Locked out, any hour. Car, house or business. The number is answered around the clock rather than routed to a voicemail box.
- Key snapped in the lock. Extraction, then a straight assessment of the cylinder rather than a reflex replacement.
- Break in repair. Getting the opening closed and secure tonight, with the proper repair scheduled once you can think about it.
- Lost every key. Entry first, then a working key. On a vehicle those are two distinct jobs and the second is the longer one.
- Lock failed and the door will not lock. A door that will not secure is an emergency even though nobody is standing outside it.
- Frozen or seized cylinder. A Delaware winter speciality, and one where the wrong first move makes it considerably worse.
How to think about it
Which service you actually need
The name of the problem and the name of the fix are frequently different.
Start with what changed
A lock that worked yesterday and does not today has a specific cause, and it is usually either the key, the cylinder, or the door and frame around it. Naming which one saves a wasted visit. If the key looks worn and the lock is fine, buying a new lock solves nothing.
Rekey before you replace
Replacing hardware because you want old keys to stop working is the expensive route to a result that rekeying achieves. Replace when the hardware itself has failed, when you want a higher grade, or when the finish matters. Rekey when the only issue is who holds a key.
Entry and a key are two jobs
This trips people up most on vehicles. Getting the door open and producing something that starts the engine are separate pieces of work with separate requirements. Ask for both if you need both.
Ask what happens to the lock
Any time manipulation will not work, something has to give. Knowing in advance whether that means a replaced cylinder is the difference between an expected outcome and an unwelcome surprise.
Read more
Guides worth five minutes
Written to be useful before you call, not to sell you something.
My key will not turn
What that actually means, and the order to check things in.
Lost house keys
What to do first, and what to do about the keys still out there.
Rekey or replace
The honest comparison, including when replacing genuinely is right.
Locked out of a car
What to do while you wait, and what not to try.
Moving in
The day one list for a place someone else used to live in.
Choosing a locksmith
What to ask, and what a straight answer sounds like.
Standards
How we decide what to recommend
The cheapest correct answer, not the biggest invoice
If a rekey solves your problem, we say rekey, even though replacing the hardware would be worth more to us. If a closer can be adjusted rather than replaced, it gets adjusted. This is not generosity, it is the only version of this business that produces a second call from the same customer.
Diagnosis before parts
A great deal of money is wasted in this trade replacing things that were working. A key that stops turning could be the key, the cylinder, or the door and frame around it, and those are three different repairs with three different costs. Finding out which one it is takes a few minutes and saves considerably more than that.
Proof of ownership, every time
On every vehicle and every door, including ones in your own driveway. It slows a job down by a minute and it is the difference between a locksmith and something else entirely. Anyone who does not ask you for it should worry you more than the minute costs.
No hardware we would not put on our own door
The market is full of locks that look substantial and are not. Where a grade actually matters, such as an exterior deadbolt or anything on a commercial opening, we will tell you what the difference buys and let you decide, rather than fitting the cheapest thing that closes.
Straight answers about what we cannot do
Some cylinders will not open by manipulation, because they were built specifically not to. Some vehicles report a fault underneath the key that no amount of programming will resolve. Saying so before the work starts is worth more than optimism that runs out at your expense.
Timing
When to call, and when it can wait
Some of this is urgent. A good deal of it is not, and knowing the difference saves money.
Call now
You are locked out. A key has snapped in a lock. A door will not lock at all and the building has to be left. Someone has got in, or tried to. A lock has failed on the only exterior door you have. None of these improve with time and several get worse.
Call this week
You have just moved in. Someone with a key no longer works for you or no longer lives with you. A key has started sticking or needs jiggling. A deadbolt does not throw fully. A door has begun to catch on the frame. These are all early warnings and they are far cheaper to answer now than after they finish failing.
Plan it
A master key system for a growing business. Access control to replace keys that keep walking. Upgrading exterior hardware to a grade that matches what is behind the door. Adding a spare car key while you still have a working one. Every item in this group costs less and goes better when it is not being done under pressure.
Probably never
A smart lock on a door whose frame will fail before the lock does. High security cylinders on an interior closet. There are places where spending more buys nothing, and it is worth having someone tell you that.
Small print, said plainly
Things worth knowing before you call anyone
A locksmith should ask you for identification
Every time, on every job, including a car in your own driveway. If someone opens a vehicle or a door for you without ever asking who you are, understand what that tells you about the other calls they take.
The phone number should reach a person
Not a call centre that dispatches whoever is nearest and knows nothing about the job. You should be able to describe the problem and get an answer about the problem, not a promise that someone will look at it.
Ask what the van will actually have on it
A great deal of frustration in this trade comes from a technician arriving without the blank, the cylinder or the tool the job needs. Describing the vehicle or the hardware properly on the phone is how that gets avoided, which is why the questions at the start are not a formality.
A quote that changes on arrival is a pattern, not an accident
It is the most common complaint about locksmiths anywhere, and it works because the customer is already outside, already tired, and already committed. The defence is simple: get the number before the van leaves, and ask what specifically would change it.
Rekeying is usually the answer to who has a key
Replacing hardware is the answer to hardware that has failed. Confusing those two is the most expensive routine mistake homeowners make, and it is made constantly because replacing sounds more thorough.
Grade matters on the doors that face outward
Interior hardware can be almost anything. An exterior deadbolt, a storefront cylinder, or anything on a door that is the only thing between a building and the street is where the difference between grades stops being theoretical.
Nobody should be pressuring you at your own door
A recommendation is fine. Urgency manufactured on your doorstep, at night, while you are locked out, is not. You are allowed to say you will think about it, and a legitimate operation will simply secure the door and let you.
Coverage
Where we work
Every town has its own page with the local detail. All of the services above are available in all of them.
Not sure which one you need?
Describe what happened and you will get a straight answer about what the job actually is.
Every service, one list.
Guides worth reading first.
Plain answers to the questions we hear most, before you spend money on the wrong fix.