Commercial · Toronto
Commercial-Grade Lock Replacement
A new tenant moved into the unit next door, and the property manager just found three different cylinders on three doors, none of them cut to the same key.
In plain words
A great deal of what happens during this service is choosing the right category of hardware before a single screw comes out. Storefront glass and aluminum doors call for a narrow-stile lock or a hookbolt rather than the mortise body a solid wood or hollow-metal door would take, and a door serving a busy exit route may need listed exit hardware regardless of what was on it before. The locksmith identifies which category the opening belongs to, sources hardware built for it, installs it to the door's existing preparation, and confirms the finished lock operates correctly from both the public and the staff side.
How the visit goesHead office wants every branch keyed alike under one system, and half the locations are still running whatever lockset the original contractor happened to install years ago.
Commercial-Grade Lock Replacement
How the visit goes
Assessing damage from a break-in or forced entry
When the reason for the call is a forced door, the locksmith treats the assessment a little differently: documenting a scarred cylinder, a bent strike or a cracked frame for the business's own records or insurance purposes before removing anything. The door and frame are checked for structural damage beyond the lock itself, since a replacement lock fitted into a damaged strike pocket or a split frame will not hold the way new hardware should. Anything beyond the lock itself is noted as its own repair.
Preserving the door's required behaviour
On a door required to close and latch on its own, the new hardware is installed and the closer adjusted so that behaviour still happens after the work is done: the door swings shut, the latch engages, and nothing about the new lock lets it be secured open in daily use. On an exit route where listed push-type hardware is required, the entire route from that door to the outside is checked so the new hardware fits the same standard as the rest of the path rather than becoming the one mismatched link in it.
Confidence after a break-in or a security scare
Where the visit followed a forced door or a lost key that worried the business, the finished hardware answers that concern directly: the damaged cylinder or strike is gone, any compromised key no longer operates the cylinders that were rekeyed or replaced, and the new lock has been cycled and tested rather than simply swapped in and assumed to work. The business can tell staff, tenants or an insurer exactly what changed and why, with a working lock and a written record standing behind that answer rather than a guess about whether the problem was actually solved.
Commercial-Grade Lock Replacement
In the van
Restricted keyway cylinder
Strike plates and keepers
Key-control log and tags
Narrow-stile storefront lock
Mortise lock body
Commercial-Grade Lock Replacement
What affects the quote
Restricted or patented keyways
A restricted keyway usually costs more as hardware than a standard cylinder, and duplicate keys are controlled through the manufacturer or distributor rather than cut freely; some restricted programs require formal registration, while others control the same blanks without a signed authorization step.
Electrified hardware and access-control integration
An electric strike, maglock or reader tie-in adds parts and testing time beyond a purely mechanical lock, and the quote separates that electrified work from the mechanical hardware so each is clear on its own.
Site access and building type
A ground-floor storefront is the simplest case to reach and work on. A unit inside a larger building with its own access rules, or a site requiring coordination with building management, can add steps the quote takes into account.
What to have ready
- How many keys will need to be cut and issued?
- Roughly how many times a day does this door open?
- Is the door part of a fire separation or a marked exit route?
Commercial-Grade Lock Replacement: questions
QuestionsCan a tenant request commercial lock replacement, or does it have to go through the landlord?
This depends on the lease and on which doors are involved. A tenant can generally arrange work on hardware inside their own leased space, while entry doors, shared corridors and building-wide systems usually involve the property manager or landlord, since a change there can affect other tenants' access as well. Confirming this before the visit avoids hardware being installed that has to be redone.
Do you replace hardware after an attempted break-in even if the door still locks?
Yes, and it is worth having it checked even when the door still appears to function. A cylinder that was drilled at, pried or struck can be weakened internally without showing it externally, and a bent strike or a cracked frame around the lock can let a door appear locked while offering far less resistance than it should.
Does an electric strike need to match a specific lock function?
Yes. An electric strike has to suit the latch or deadlatch type it will receive, the door's handing and swing, and whether the application needs fail-safe or fail-secure operation, meaning whether the door should unlock or stay locked if power is lost. Choosing a strike without checking these against the mechanical lock is a common reason a door releases electronically but still binds mechanically.
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