Locksmith in East Vancouver
From Commercial Drive to Hastings-Sunrise.
East of Main is old-house country: pre-war homes, many split into a main floor, a basement suite and sometimes a laneway house. Call with your address for the method and price before any work begins.
Character homes and laneway houses, mortise locks and doors that swell.
Much of the housing east of Main is pre-war, from Strathcona and Mount Pleasant to Riley Park, Grandview-Woodland and Kensington-Cedar Cottage. A lot went up between 1910 and 1940 and still wears its first hardware.
What you tend to find: mortise locks with the body buried in the door edge, rim locks screwed to the face, skeleton-key locks on inside doors, and backsets nothing on a hardware-store shelf matches.
Old fir doors swell in a wet December and shrink again by August. That is why a deadbolt that threw easily in summer suddenly needs your shoulder behind it.
Your choice is usually repair or convert. A worn or gummed mortise lock can often be stripped, cleaned and re-pinned. Or the mortise pocket takes a modern cylinder: more work, but a current key.
Plenty of East Van lock complaints are not lock faults. The house has settled, the strike no longer meets the bolt, and moving the strike plate is a cheap lock repair worth ruling out first.
A laneway house out back adds a newer door with modern hardware. It can be keyed alike with your main house or kept on its own key, whichever suits who lives there.
Locked out of the house or the suite? We try non-destructive home lockout entry first, wherever the lock allows.
Basement suites and side entrances off the lane.
A split house has more doors than you first count: front, suite side door, back porch, garage and laneway unit. We walk every entry and agree the keying plan with you before any pinning starts.
Separate keys for the suite and the main house
Most owners want one key for every door they control, and a separate key for the suite. Your tenant opens their own door and nothing else. We settle that before any cylinder comes apart.
Rekeying a basement suite between tenants
Keys get copied over a tenancy, and asking for them back is not the same as getting them all. A rekey re-pins the cylinder, so every old copy stops working and your lock stays put.
Deadbolts and strike plates on side and lane doors
Side and lane doors are harder to see from the street and often carry the oldest hardware. A kicked door usually splits the jamb, so the strike needs long screws into the stud.
Storefront locks along Commercial Drive and East Hastings.
If you run a shop on the Drive or along East Hastings, your doors are a different job from the houses behind them: glass and aluminum, hook bolts and closers rather than house deadbolts.
The lane door at the back gets less attention than the front, which is often why it has the weaker lock. It is worth checking whenever your front door is serviced.
If your shop has several doors, we usually price the job after a look at them, and a commercial walk-through costs you nothing. See storefront locks, panic bars and closers and commercial rekeys.
The jobs East Van calls about most.
Rekeys when a character home changes hands
As the new owner, you inherit every key the last owners ever cut, plus the suite tenant's. A rekey on possession day keeps the original hardware and retires all of those keys at once.
Deadbolt upgrades on original wood doors in Mount Pleasant
Original panel doors vary in stile width, thickness and backset, so we measure your door before any drilling and choose the deadbolt to fit it.
Storefront lock repairs along the Drive
Hook bolts that miss, closers that slam and cylinders worn down by years of foot traffic. Repaired or rekeyed, and you agree the price before any work begins.
Car key replacement in East Van driveways and lane garages
For most vehicles, the key is cut and programmed where your car sits, driveway or lane garage. You need proof of ownership and matching photo ID, and a surviving key makes the job simpler.
Padlock and gate lock swaps for lane sheds in Renfrew
Rusted hasps, seized padlocks and gate latches that no longer line up. Replaced with a hasp, padlock or latch that suits your door and the weather.
Garages, sheds and lane gates from Hastings-Sunrise to Renfrew.
If you live further east, in Hastings-Sunrise, Renfrew-Collingwood, Killarney or Victoria-Fraserview, the lane is half the property. Garages, sheds and gates face it, and they tend to carry the cheapest locks on the lot.
A garage side door deserves a real deadbolt, especially when the garage opens into your house.
After a break-in, the frame usually needs a reinforced strike and box plate. If keys were taken, rekey your whole address, garage included. A board-up is only a stopgap; see break-in repair.
Our shop at 929 Drake Street opens soon; every job is mobile until then, anywhere in the Lower Mainland. Evenings, weekends and holidays are by appointment.
What East Van owners ask about old locks, suites and lanes.
Can a 1920s mortise lock be rekeyed, or does it need replacing?
Usually it can stay. If it takes a pin-tumbler cylinder, that rekeys like any other. A worn body can often be cleaned and re-pinned, and we check your door before suggesting a replacement.
Can you match a skeleton key for an old Mount Pleasant door?
Often. Skeleton keys work warded locks, which are simple inside, so a key can usually be fitted to your lock. Warded locks give privacy, not security; an outside door still wants a deadbolt.
Will the van fit down a lane behind Commercial Drive?
Usually. Residential streets east of Main mostly have parking, so the lane is rarely needed. If the job is your lane garage or gate, tell us the nearest cross street when you call.
Is a padlock enough for a lane-facing shed?
Only as good as what it hangs on. A strong padlock on a thin hasp fails at the screws. Your hasp should hide its screws and bolt through the door, with a padlock to match.
Can a basement suite get its own deadbolt without changing the main door?
Yes. The suite door takes its own deadbolt on its own key, and the main house stays as it is. For a rental, we need authorization from the owner or the property manager.
Rekey the address before the next set of keys goes out.
Tell us your address and how many doors: front, suite, back, garage and lane. The mobile service call, from $75, is never the whole bill; you hear the full price before any work begins.