The thing nobody tells you
Most "broken lock" calls are not the lock.
Across Delaware's older housing, which is most of New Castle County and a good deal of Kent, the fault is usually the door or the frame, and replacing the cylinder achieves nothing at all.
What is actually happening
A wooden door in a wooden frame moves. It swells with summer humidity and contracts in a January freeze, and over decades the hinges settle and the door drops a few millimetres. The bolt no longer meets the centre of the strike. You feel that as a lock that has to be lifted, shouldered or wiggled, and the instinct is to force the key, which is how blades snap.
Why it matters to your wallet
A strike plate adjustment is minutes of work. A new deadbolt on a misaligned door is a new deadbolt that will bind in exactly the same way by next season, and you will have paid for hardware that was never the problem. We check the strike and the hinges before we quote you anything, because on Delaware housing stock that is usually where the answer is.
When it genuinely is the lock
Worn cylinders that no longer grip a key. Springs that have lost tension so the latch does not return. Corroded internals in river and marsh areas, which is a real pattern from Newport and Edgemoor through to Leipsic and Little Creek. Keys copied from copies until the cuts have drifted far enough that the pins are being dragged rather than lifted, and that last one is often fixed by cutting a fresh key to code rather than touching the lock.
Home services
What we do on a house.
House Lockout
Picked, bypassed or manipulated in the great majority of cases, leaving the lock working. Drilling is a last resort, explained and priced first.
Most usefulLock Rekeying
Same hardware, new key, every old key dead. The right answer after a purchase, a tenant, a builder or a lost keyring, and far cheaper than replacement.
UpgradeLock Replacement
New hardware where the old is worn, damaged or genuinely not up to the door. Grade, backset and bore matched to what you actually have.
RepairLock Repair
Strikes, hinges, latches and cylinders. Often the fix is alignment and costs a fraction of the hardware somebody else quoted you.
BothBroken Key Extraction
A blade snapped in the cylinder. Removed without wrecking the lock, and a fresh key cut on the spot, plus a look at why it snapped.
SecurityDeadbolt Installation
Fitted with a reinforced strike and three-inch screws into the framing. On Delaware's older housing this is the single highest-value upgrade there is.
Rekey or replace
The decision that saves people the most money.
These are two different jobs with very different prices, and a great many households pay for the expensive one when the cheap one was correct.
Rekeying
The cylinder stays on the door. The pins inside it are changed to match a new key, and every key ever cut for that lock stops working. It takes a technician minutes per lock, it reuses hardware you have already paid for, and it achieves the entire security outcome most people are actually after. It is the right answer after buying a house, after a tenant leaves, after builders or cleaners have had access, and after a keyring goes missing.
Replacing
New hardware on the door. This is the right call when the existing lock is worn past reliable service, when it is damaged, when it is genuinely inadequate for the door, a knob lock as the only lock on an exterior door, for instance, or when you want a different function or a higher grade. It is also right when the finish has failed to the point where the mechanism has followed, which on forty-year-old builder hardware is common.
How we decide
We look at it and tell you which one you need, including when the honest answer is the cheaper one. A locksmith whose first recommendation on every visit is new hardware is not diagnosing, they are selling. And there is a third answer people rarely hear: sometimes the lock is fine, the key is worn, and a fresh key cut to code fixes a lock nobody needed to touch.
Security that is worth the money
Four upgrades that actually change something.
Ordered by how much difference they make per dollar on typical Delaware housing. The first one costs almost nothing and is the one nobody does.
| Upgrade | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| Reinforced strike, 3-inch screws | The highest-value change on almost any Delaware house. Original strikes are thin plates held by three-quarter-inch screws into door trim, not into the framing behind it. Under force the trim splits and the door opens with the bolt still thrown and undamaged, the lock never failed, the frame did. Minutes per door. |
| A real deadbolt where there is only a knob | A cylindrical knob lock is a spring latch with a keyway. The angled latch can be pushed back with a card by somebody with no skill at all. It was never meant to be the only lock on an exterior door, and on post-war housing across Brookside, Wilmington Manor and half of Kent County it frequently is. |
| Patio and slider hardware | The factory latch on an older aluminum slider is a hook of pressed metal that gives up under a shoulder. An auxiliary foot lock or keyed slider lock is inexpensive and turns a decorative catch into an actual barrier. |
| The garage-entry door | The most neglected door in any house with an attached garage. It opens into an unheated space, nobody weatherproofs it, and it usually carries the cheapest lock on the property, behind a garage door that is itself often the easiest way in. |
What we will not sell you
A high-security cylinder on a door whose frame will split before the lock is touched. Smart locks on a door with a failing strike. A full hardware replacement when the actual fault is a hinge that has dropped four millimetres.
Security is a chain and money should go into whichever link is weakest. On most Delaware houses that link is the frame, and it is the cheapest one to fix.
Moving in
The first week in a new house.
- Rekey every exterior lock. You cannot know how many keys exist to a house that was somebody else's until last week, and neither can the seller. Previous owners, contractors, cleaners, relatives, letting agents, an agent's lockbox.
- Walk the property and count the doors first. Owners routinely say two exterior doors and we find four. Old houses in Wyoming, Milford and Wilmington often have a side or old summer-kitchen entrance nobody uses that still has a working lock on it.
- Check the strike screws. Pull one strike plate. If the screws are three-quarters of an inch, every exterior door in the house has the same weakness and it is an hour's work to fix all of them.
- Test the garage entry door. It is the door that gets forgotten, and in a house with an attached garage it is frequently the weakest point on the property.
- On a new build, try a neighbour's key. Builders often key a construction phase alike so trades can move between houses, intending to rekey at handover. That step gets skipped more often than anyone admits. It costs nothing to check.
- Batch it into one visit. Rekeying four locks in one appointment costs far less per lock than discovering the fourth door a month later and paying a second call-out.
Renting
What tenants can and cannot do.
Ask the landlord or agent before changing anything. Most agree and many pay, because a rekey between tenancies protects them at least as much as it protects you. What you should not do is change a lock without asking, it usually breaches the lease and you end up paying to put it back as well.
Ask a specific question rather than a general one: when were the locks last rekeyed, and by whom? "They were changed" without a date and a name is not an answer. In a house that has been let by the room for several years, which describes a great deal of Newark, the number of keys in existence is not the number on the file.
If you rent a room in a shared house and a previous occupant never returned a key to your room, that is an entirely reasonable thing to raise. An interior door rekey is a small job and most landlords will not object.
For landlords: batching turnover rekeys is dramatically cheaper than handling them one urgent call at a time, and it puts the work on your calendar rather than a tenant's.
Coverage
Residential work across both counties.
Wilmington row homes on mortise locks, Brookside ranches on knob locks, Hockessin multipoint entry doors, Middletown new builds, Kent County farmhouses and manufactured homes. Different housing, different answers.
Questions
About locks at home.
Should I rekey or replace my locks?
Rekey, in most situations. It changes the pins inside your existing cylinders so every key ever cut for the house stops working, and it keeps hardware you have already paid for. Replacement is right when the lock is worn out, damaged, or genuinely inadequate for the door, a knob lock as the only lock on an exterior door, for example. We will look at what you have and tell you honestly which applies, including when the cheaper answer is the correct one.
My key turns but the door will not open. What is wrong?
The lock is working and the door is not. The bolt has retracted but the door is bound in the frame, swelling, a dropped hinge, or a frame that has moved. Do not keep working the key; that is how blades snap and a small job becomes two. Try lifting the door slightly by the handle while turning, which tells you immediately whether it is a hinge issue, then call and describe it as binding rather than broken. It changes what we bring.
How much does rekeying a house cost?
It depends on how many locks, what type they are, and whether it is booked or urgent, but the important thing is that everything after the first lock on the same visit is substantially cheaper, because the travel and set-up happen once. Count your exterior doors properly before you call, including the garage entry and any side door nobody uses, and you will get an accurate figure on the phone rather than a revised one at the house.
Are smart locks worth it?
They solve a real problem, letting people in without handing out keys, and knowing when a door was opened, and for households with cleaners, dog walkers or teenagers that is genuinely useful. What they do not do is make a door harder to force. A smart lock on a door with a thin strike and short screws is a convenient lock on a weak door. Fix the frame first, then add the convenience. Also keep a mechanical key override where the hardware offers one, and check the door thickness before buying: many retrofit models have a narrower range than people assume.
Can you rekey all my locks to one key?
Usually yes, provided the cylinders share a keyway, and if they do not, we can often change the ones that do not match rather than replacing everything. Keying alike is worth doing: one key for the front, the back, the side and the garage entry means people actually lock the doors they currently skip because the right key is a nuisance to find. Where you want a house key that does not open an outbuilding, that is straightforward too.
Someone has my keys. Is changing one lock enough?
No. If a keyring is genuinely in somebody else's hands, every lock that keyring opened has to be rekeyed, including the garage entry and any outbuilding. Doing one door is the security equivalent of locking one of four windows. This is also the case where you want it done tonight rather than Tuesday, not because the lock is broken, but because the property is currently accessible to someone you did not choose.
My front door only has a knob lock. Is that a problem?
Yes, and it is one of the most common weaknesses in Delaware housing. A cylindrical knob lock is a spring latch with a keyway in it; the angled latch can be pushed back with a card or thin blade by somebody with no skill. It was never designed to be the only lock on an exterior door. Adding a Grade 2 deadbolt with a reinforced strike and three-inch screws into the stud takes under an hour and is the highest-value security change available on most houses here.
Do you work on old mortise locks?
Yes, and we carry parts for them, which most companies do not. Mortise locks, the heavy rectangular case set into the edge of the door rather than bored through the face, are all over Wilmington, Elsmere, New Castle and the older Kent County towns. They were built to be serviced, and one that has run for eighty years will often run for another twenty once cleaned and re-sprung. Replacement means new door prep on an old door, which is more disruptive and usually more expensive than people are told.
Older houses with newer hardware
Many homes in Delaware, from older rowhouses in New Castle County to farmhouses across Kent and Sussex, have doors that were hung long before today's hardware existed. Fitting a modern deadbolt into an old door sometimes means working around thin wood, an uneven frame, or a bore that was cut for a different lock. We look at the door first to see what it can take, because a strong lock in a weak door gives a false sense of safety. Reinforcing the door edge and strike area can matter as much as the lock itself.
Old doors also move with the seasons. Wood swells in humid summers and shrinks in winter, so a bolt that slid cleanly in October may bind in July. Before replacing a lock, we check whether the door has shifted, whether the hinges are tight, and whether the latch lines up with the strike. Adjusting alignment can be a better fix than buying new hardware. If the hardware is truly worn out, we explain the choices and what each one means for day to day use.
If you live in an older home, a few notes help us. Tell us whether the door has been painted many times, whether the lock has ever been changed, and whether there are other doors or windows that worry you. Gather any keys you have. Call us to describe the house and to confirm availability. The scope and any quote are explained before work begins, so you can decide what is worth doing and in what order. Asking questions at any point is welcome, and nothing proceeds until you are comfortable.
Rentals, move outs and shared entrances
Rental homes create questions that owner occupied homes do not. Who holds keys, who may change a lock, and what happens when someone moves out? A tenant usually needs the landlord's permission before changing hardware, and landlords often prefer to rekey between tenants so previous occupants cannot return with an old key. We ask for authorization where it applies, because we need to be sure the person asking has the right to approve the work on that door. Taking a few minutes to describe the situation properly usually makes the whole visit smoother for everyone.
Shared entrances add another layer. An apartment building may have a main door, a mailroom, a laundry area, and individual unit doors, each with its own key situation. Changing one without understanding the others can lock out neighbors or cause trouble with the property manager. We find it best to talk through the whole picture first: which doors are yours, which are shared, and who is responsible. Sometimes the simplest answer is rekeying just the unit door so a single key fits everything you use.
Before calling, think about what you need. Do you want to rekey so old keys stop working? Do you need extra copies for a family member? Is a lock damaged or just stiff? Have your lease, or a note from the landlord, handy if permission is needed. Call us to describe the situation and to confirm availability. The scope and any quote are explained before work begins, and nothing is changed until the right person has agreed. If anything about the situation changes before we arrive, simply tell us when we speak.