Change or rekey · Sonya
Vintage Mortise Lock Service in Sonya
You bought a house with its original hardware and a bag of loose keys.
In plain words
Where the door has moved, the lock gets blamed. Solid wood doors in older houses swell in humid weather, shrink in winter and settle on their hinges, and a mortise lock that was set decades ago ends up with its latch and bolt aiming a little below the strike. Part of every vintage lock service is reading how the door hangs, tightening or packing the hinges, and moving or filing the strike so the latch catches and the bolt throws without lifting the handle. Often that alignment work, plus a clean and new springs, is the entire repair, and the customer gets back a door that closes with one hand.
How the visit goesThe knob flops loose on its spindle and never springs back to level. When you turn it the latch pulls in, but you have to push the knob back yourself, and lately the latch has started staying inside the door instead of catching.
Vintage Mortise Lock Service
How the visit goes
Bit key or cylinder
Older mortise locks come in two families, and the check sorts out which one is on the door. A keyhole shaped like a small keyhole silhouette takes a bit key, the skeleton key style, and the case works on wards and levers that the key's bit must match. A round face on the door with a slot for a flat key is a pin-tumbler cylinder threaded into the case. The distinction matters for everything that follows: how a lost key is replaced, whether the lock can be rekeyed, and what to do if the mechanism is worn out. It also settles whether a spare can be filed on the bench or cut on a key machine.
Reassembly and setting the trim
The case slides home and is screwed off, then the cylinder or keyhole escutcheon goes on, followed by the spindle, knobs and rosettes. The spindle is trimmed to length so the knobs sit against the door without pinching, and the set screws are tightened so there is no free play before the latch moves. The thumb-turn is aligned with the deadbolt tail so it throws with a light touch. Paint is cleared from the faceplate and strike edges where it was catching. Then the door is closed and the whole lock is worked from both faces with the key, the knobs and the turn, several times, listening for the latch to seat.
Parts, records and the house file
Anything that came out of the lock, a broken spring, a worn lever, the old cylinder, is offered to you rather than thrown away; some owners keep the originals with the house's papers. The locksmith leaves a short account of what was done: the case type and size, what was replaced, whether keys were made or a cylinder rekeyed, and how the strike was adjusted. For a designated heritage property this record shows the original hardware was retained. For everyone else it is simply the sheet you hand to the next locksmith, or the next owner, so nobody has to rediscover what is inside the door.
Vintage Mortise Lock Service
In the van
Hub followers and lever packs
Mortise cylinder and cam
Latch and hub springs
Light lock oil
Warding files
Vintage Mortise Lock Service
What affects the quote
Paint and seized parts
Hardware buried under decades of paint takes time to free and clean without damage. A faceplate, strike and thumb-turn that have to be stripped back add to the visit and are noted in the quote.
Whether the door has to come off its hinges
Some mortise cases can be serviced with the door hanging in place, while a tight jamb or a stubborn case sometimes means lifting the door off its hinges onto a level bench. That step is identified once the case is open and the repair needs are clear.
Parts that must be ordered
A reproduction case or an unusual cylinder size may have to be ordered to measurement, which means a second visit to fit it. The quote separates the first visit from the return.
What to have ready
- How many doors need attention, and are any of them interior doors?
- Does the deadbolt throw fully with the key or the thumb-turn?
- How many keys do you have, and do any of them work?
Vintage Mortise Lock Service: questions
QuestionsWhat does the service visit involve, step by step?
The locksmith checks your authority to request the work, examines the door and lock, and tells you what it needs. The knobs, plates and cylinder come off, the case slides out of the door edge and is opened on a bench, cleaned, re-sprung and repaired. Keys are made or the cylinder rekeyed, the door pocket is tidied, everything goes back on, and the strike is adjusted. You test the finished lock from both sides.
Which parts usually need replacing?
Springs, first and foremost: the latch spring, the hub spring that returns the knob, and the small springs on the deadbolt levers. After that, the spindle and knob set screws, a hub whose square has worn round, a worn deadbolt lever or follower, and on later locks the cylinder set screw or the cylinder itself. Bolts, cases and trim are almost always kept, cleaned and refitted rather than replaced.
The lock works with the door open but not when it is closed. Is the lock broken?
Almost certainly not. That pattern means the door has moved in its frame so the latch and bolt no longer meet the strike squarely. Solid wood doors in older houses swell in humid weather and settle on their hinges over the years. The service adjusts or shims the strike and tightens or packs the hinges so the bolt throws without lifting the door, and the lock itself is usually cleaned and lubricated at the same time.
Related services
- Deadbolt InstallationThe back door has a deadbolt in name only: a short bolt, a thin brass strike held by two little screws, and a jamb you can flex with your palm.
- Lock Replacement & UpgradeThree teenagers, a dog walker, a cleaner and one house key that keeps going missing.
- Smart Lock InstallationYour mother still lives on her own, and the personal support worker, the pharmacy delivery and two siblings all need to get in on different days.