Lock repair in Vancouver
When a key sticks, seizes or snaps, we check the door as well as the cylinder.
A lock rarely fails without warning. It gets stiff, then fussy, then one cold morning it stops. Caught at the stiff stage it is a repair. Left alone it becomes a lockout.
The lock faults we get called out to repair most.
Sticking lock that needs a shoulder to turn
Usually alignment, not the lock. The door has dropped on its hinges or swollen, the bolt drags on the strike, and you compress the frame to get it home. Fixing the strike usually fixes the lock.
Key that won't turn in the cylinder at all
Either the cylinder is full of grit and worn pins, or the key is a copy of a copy and no longer matches the pin heights. A key cut from an original often solves it outright.
Broken key extraction from a deadbolt or knob
Extractor tools usually pull the blade out without taking the lock apart, unless someone has pushed it deeper first. Stuck outside, or can't lock the door? See jammed lock repair.
Deadbolt that won't throw or retract fully
A bolt that will not extend the full inch is not locking the door, whatever the handle tells you. Usually the strike hole is shallow or offset, sometimes the bolt mechanism itself has worn.
Loose handle, spinning knob or worn latch
Spindles wear round, set screws back out, and roses work loose until the handle turns without moving anything. Caught early it is a tightening; left long enough the spindle chews out and the whole set goes.
Locks seized after a wet Vancouver winter
Damp gets into the cylinder, winter cold thickens whatever grease is left, and by February the lock that was merely stiff in October has stopped. Exposed lane-facing and north-side doors go first.
Repair the lock or replace it. The cylinder usually tells us which.
Repair makes sense when the lock body is sound, the finish matches the house, and the fault is alignment, a spring, a spindle, a set of pins or a service and lubricate.
Older hardware is often better made than its replacement. A mortise lock from a 1920s Kitsilano or Mount Pleasant house is usually worth keeping.
Replace it when several keys turn the plug, the bolt mechanism is chewed, parts are no longer made, or the lock is the wrong grade for a lane-facing door.
At that point repair is money spent to arrive back where you started, and we will say so.
The fault decides what a lock repair costs.
Starting figures are on the price guide.
See starting pricesThe fault itself, from a dry cylinder to a snapped bolt
A service, clean and lubricate is at one end. A seized mortise body that has to come out of the door is at the other.
Parts needed, from springs and pins to a full cylinder
Springs, pins, spindles, set screws and strike plates ride on the van. A full replacement cylinder is a part, and it gets quoted as one.
Whether the broken key came out clean or in pieces
A blade that comes out in one pull is a short job. A fragment that has been pushed deep, or snapped again during a DIY attempt, can mean pulling the cylinder.
Older mortise locks that need parts sourced
Heritage hardware often can be repaired, but the parts are not on a shelf. We will tell you the lead time before you commit rather than leave you with a door that does not lock.
The questions that come with a sticking lock or a snapped key.
My key turns but the deadbolt doesn't move, what's wrong?
The connection between the cylinder and the bolt has failed, usually a sheared tailpiece or a stripped cam. The cylinder is doing its job and nothing downstream is listening. It is usually a repair, not a replacement.
Will graphite or oil fix a sticking lock or make it worse?
Household oil makes most locks worse: it holds dust and turns to paste. Graphite or dry PTFE usually helps, but follow the lock maker's advice. A lock needing lubricant every few weeks has another fault.
Can a broken key come out without replacing the whole lock?
Usually, with the right extractor and without forcing it. What turns a five-minute extraction into a cylinder replacement is someone trying first with superglue, a paperclip or a screw. If it has snapped, stop and call.
Is a lock that sticks in cold weather worth repairing?
Yes, and it is worth doing before it seizes. Cold-weather sticking is an early warning that the cylinder is worn or contaminated. Servicing it in autumn costs a fraction of a January lockout.
Licensed lock repair that saves the lock wherever it can be saved.
A repair call is not a sales call. We diagnose the fault, show you what we are looking at, and price the fix.
Often the fix is a strike plate moved four millimetres rather than anything you buy. Seized locks get picked or bypassed, not drilled, wherever that is possible.
Where a lock genuinely is finished, you get that verdict with the reason and the replacement cost, before anything comes off the door.
The locksmith shows identification when they arrive, and every repaired lock is tested from both sides, door open and closed, before we leave.
Tell us what is going on, and we'll price it first.
Call, book online or ask for a callback. You will have the method and the number before any work begins.