Downtown Vancouver locksmith
For Yaletown, the West End, Coal Harbour and Gastown.
Most downtown doors sit behind a lobby, a concierge and a fob reader. Tell us the building and the door when you call, and you hear the method and the price before any work begins.
High-rise lockouts, from Yaletown towers to West End walk-ups.
We cover the whole peninsula: Coal Harbour, the West End, Davie Village, Yaletown, Downtown South, Crosstown and Gastown. Your building decides the job more than your street does.
Concrete towers in Coal Harbour, Yaletown and Downtown South
Your suite deadbolt may be keyed into a building-wide restricted system. Lobby, elevator, parkade and amenity doors usually run on fobs, and strata bylaws cover suite-door hardware.
West End walk-ups and older rental blocks
Usually standard suite cylinders, an intercom at the door and a mailbox bank in the lobby. The suite lock is a plain residential job; the mailbox bank needs the building's say-so.
Gastown walk-ups and converted warehouses
Behind the brick fronts, many doors still run mortise locks and odd backsets from before the tower era. A Water Street job often resembles an old East Vancouver house more than a tower.
Strata desks, concierges and fob systems downtown.
Three doors, three owners: the building, the parkade and your suite. Here is what a locksmith can do alone, and what needs the strata or the concierge.
Your own suite door
Opened with proof you live there. No strata permission is needed to let you back into your own home. Non-destructive entry first, wherever the lock allows.
Snapped keys and storage lockers
We can extract a snapped key from a suite cylinder and check it still turns. We can open a parkade storage locker too, when the locker and its lock are yours.
Restricted keys need a sign-off
On a patented profile such as Mul-T-Lock or Medeco, the strata or property manager has to authorize a new key. That is the point of the system, and we respect it.
Fobs come from the building
Lobby, elevator and parkade fobs live on the building's access-control system. New fobs come from the strata or the management company, not a locksmith.
Fire-rated suite doors
Tower suite doors are rated assemblies. Drilling yours is a last resort, quoted first and usually avoidable. New hardware has to suit the rated door and the bylaws.
Concierge and security desks
A staffed desk can let us up once you tell them a locksmith is coming. Some buildings want the resident to confirm first, so call the desk ahead.
If your key says do not duplicate, read this.
A stamped warning on an ordinary key is not a restricted key. A restricted profile has a controlled blank and a patented keyway, and only an authorized dealer for that system can cut one.
Buildings use them so a departing tenant cannot keep a copy. A spare runs through your strata or property manager, slower than a hardware-store copy by design. For businesses, see high-security locks.
Parking, loading zones and getting a van to a downtown door.
Our shop at 929 Drake Street is on the peninsula itself. It opens soon; every job is mobile until then, anywhere in the Lower Mainland.
Give us the building, not just the street
A tower name, the suite number and the street the lobby faces tell us which door to find, and whether there is a concierge desk to check in at.
Meet us at the lobby
We cannot buzz ourselves in, and we do not pick a common door. Someone has to let the locksmith past the front door: you, a neighbour or the concierge.
Tell us where the van can stop
Downtown has little curb space, and many towers have no visitor stall. If yours has a loading bay or a visitor level, ask the desk whether a service visit can use it.
Storefront and office locks from Gastown through to Robson.
Gastown frontages mix heritage doors with modern exit hardware. Your lock often has to fit a door older than itself. Repair and rekeying come first, wherever the hardware allows.
Along Robson and the business district, it is aluminum storefront doors, panic bars and closers. If your office has staff turnover, a master key system is worth planning.
Office doors on fobs or keypads fall under access control. Any commercial job can start with a free walk-through. Evening and weekend work, outside your opening hours, is by appointment.
What downtown towers, shops and parkades call about most.
Condo lockouts after the concierge has gone home
Evening visits are by appointment. Arrange who lets us through the lobby, and your suite door is opened non-destructively first, wherever the lock allows.
Fobs and spare keys for downtown rental suites and roommates
We cut spare suite keys, except on a restricted system, where the strata signs off first. Fobs are the building's to issue. If you manage that system, ask about access control.
Car lockouts in downtown parkades
Tell us the parkade level and stall, and arrange the gate or elevator fob. Non-destructive entry first, wherever the lock allows. Most lost keys can be cut and programmed at the car.
Rekeys after a Yaletown or West End tenant moves out
Standard suite cylinders rekey from $35, plus the mobile service call. If your suite is on the building's restricted system, the strata or property manager has to authorize it first.
Storefront deadbolt and panic bar repairs in Gastown
A shop door that opens all day is hard on its deadbolt, panic bar and closer. Each is repaired or replaced, with the price agreed before any work begins.
Downtown questions, from concierge desks to loading zones.
Can a locksmith reach my condo door once the concierge desk is closed?
Yes, if someone can let us through the lobby: you, a neighbour or building security. Evening visits are by appointment. See emergency lockouts.
Do I need strata permission to rekey my condo door?
Not usually, if you own the suite and its cylinder is standard. If the suite is keyed into a restricted or master system, the strata or property manager authorizes it first. Check your bylaws too.
Can you copy a building fob, or does that come from the strata?
From the strata or the management company; they issue fobs on the building's own system. Lost your fob and suite key together? Call the building office for the fob, and us for the suite door.
Where does the van park in Yaletown without a loading zone?
Tell us when you call if your building has a loading bay, a lane door or a visitor level. Otherwise we find legal parking nearby. See Yaletown.
Can you open a Gastown roll-up shutter lock?
Usually. Most shutters lock with a padlock, a cylinder or a bolt at the base. With proof you run the shop, non-destructive entry comes first, wherever the lock allows.
Tell us the building and we will tell you what it needs.
Give us the building, the suite and the door. The $75 mobile service call is never the whole bill; the work is quoted on top. Evenings, weekends and holidays are by appointment.