Change or rekey · Wellesley
Deadbolt Installation in Wellesley
Someone tried the door last winter. The frame took it, but the strike plate is bent, one screw hole is stripped, and the bolt sits in the pocket at a slight angle.
Deadbolt Installation
In plain words
If your door already has a knob or lever bore and nothing above it, adding a deadbolt is a boring job in the literal sense. A jig clamps to the door at the right height, usually 140 to 150 mm above the knob centre, and guides a hole saw through the face and a smaller bit through the edge. The locksmith mortises the edge so the bolt faceplate sits flush, sets the bolt to the door's backset, then fits the cylinder outside and the thumb-turn inside. The frame is marked from the bolt itself, bored and chiselled for the strike, and the lock is tested open and closed.
How the visit goesThe old deadbolt has grown lazy. You turn the thumb-turn and the bolt creeps out halfway, then needs a second push with the door pulled tight. Some mornings the key has to be jiggled before it will come back out.
Wellesley
How the visit goes
How the door hangs and closes
Before a new bolt goes in, the door has to close properly on its own, so the locksmith swings it a few times and watches. A door that drops on tired hinges, binds against thick weatherstrip or has to be pulled to latch will put a new deadbolt out of line the moment the season changes. Hinge screws are tested for grip, the gap around the door is read for evenness, and the existing latch is checked against its strike. Small corrections here, such as a longer hinge screw into the framing or a trimmed weatherstrip, are made first so the deadbolt can be set to a door that sits square and stays there.
Setting a strike that reaches the framing
A reinforced strike or strike box is centred over the pocket, squared to the edge of the jamb, and its outline is scored and chiselled to a depth that leaves the plate flush. Pilot holes are drilled, and the two holes nearest the door stop take 75 mm screws that pass through the jamb and the shim space into the stud behind, with shorter screws in the remaining holes. The long screws are driven by hand for the last turns so the heads seat without crushing the jamb. Where the jamb is thin or has been split by an earlier attempt, a full-length jamb reinforcer is fitted under the strike instead.
A safer way out as well as a stronger way in
With a thumb-turn inside, everyone in the household can leave through this door without hunting for a key, day or night. The locksmith walks the family through the thumb-turn and shows children how it turns. If a double-cylinder bolt was replaced, the inside key is no longer needed at all and can be retired. Where glass sits near the lock, whatever measure you agreed on, a thumb-turn that locks with its own small key, a laminated pane, or a tested security-film system that can delay an arm's reach, is in place, so security did not come at the cost of a clear way out.
Deadbolt Installation
In the van
- Reinforced strike plate
- Boring jig and 54 mm hole saw
- Rekeying pins and key blanks
- Sharp chisel and mallet
- Dry PTFE lubricant
What affects the quote
Same fees day, night or weekend
1Rental and building requirements
Matching a building's keyway, providing keys to a landlord or fitting a lock that a condominium corporation specifies can add hardware or bench work, each shown as its own item.
2Door and hinge corrections
A sagging door, loose hinge screws or thick weatherstrip are put right before a bolt is fitted, and that adjustment is quoted as its own line rather than folded into the lock.
3Number of doors
One front door is the simplest case. Front, back, side and garage-to-house doors done in one visit share the travel and setup, so the per-door figure usually eases as the count rises.
Deadbolt Installation: questions
What do backset and bore mean, and why does the locksmith ask?
Two measurements decide whether a deadbolt fits your door. Bore is the diameter of the big hole through the face, 54 mm on most current hardware. Backset is how far the centre of that hole sits from the door's edge, 60 mm or 70 mm on nearly all residential doors. A replacement must match both to use the existing holes, and a fresh installation is cut to match the knob below, so knowing them ahead puts the right hardware on the van.
Will drilling a new deadbolt damage my steel or fibreglass door?
Not when it is done for that door. Steel-clad doors are cut with a fine-toothed hole saw run slowly through the skin, guided by a jig so the saw cannot skate on the smooth face, and finished from both sides so each skin stays clean. Fibreglass is scored first so the surface does not chip. Shavings are vacuumed from the foam core, and the edge is finished with a collar or plate suited to the stile inside.
Can a deadbolt be added to a door that only has a knob?
Yes, on nearly any wood, steel-clad or fibreglass entry door. The locksmith marks a spot above the knob, clamps a jig to the door and bores a cross hole through the face and a smaller hole through the edge, then cuts a pocket and fits a strike on the frame. The main things checked first are the door's thickness, what is inside it at that height and whether glass sits close by.
Change or Rekey Locks
- Lock Replacement & UpgradeThe lever on the side door droops toward the floor and rattles in your hand.
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceThe key turns freely in the round cylinder on the door, all the way around and back, without the…
- Smart Lock InstallationHalf the evenings someone asks whether the back door got locked, and nobody is sure.
Deadbolt Installation near you
Choose a service to see how it works in Wellesley. Each page explains the situation it suits, what the locksmith looks at first, how the job is done, and how to look after the hardware afterwards. If your problem sits between two services, either page will get you to the right conversation.