Change or rekey · Toronto
Smart Lock Installation
There are four copies of the front-door key floating around: one with the cleaner, one with a neighbour, one on a hook at your parents' place, and one you honestly cannot account for.
In plain words
A smart lock fitted by a locksmith keeps a way in that works when the battery or network fails, a mechanical key on many models or an external battery contact on key-free ones. Most keypad deadbolts keep a conventional keyway, rekeyed during the visit so a fresh key operates it and the old one retires. Some models instead add small outside terminals where a nine-volt battery can wake a dead lock long enough to enter a code. The technician tests whichever route the model provides, shows the low-battery warning, and explains what the lock does if the internet goes quiet.
How the visit goesThere are four copies of the front-door key floating around: one with the cleaner, one with a neighbour, one on a hook at your parents' place, and one you honestly cannot account for. You would rather hand out codes you can switch off.
Smart Lock Installation
How the visit goes
Storm doors, sun and weather on the entrance
The outside of the lock lives in the weather, so the locksmith looks at what the entrance throws at it. A storm door with full glass can turn the space between the doors into an oven on a July afternoon, and electronics have a temperature ceiling; a vented storm door or a model rated for that exposure solves it. A keypad that faces prevailing wind collects driving snow and freezing rain, which argues for a covered entry or a lock with a shielded touch surface. Salt spray from a nearby driveway attacks finishes over time. None of these rule out a smart lock; they steer the choice of model, finish and mounting.
Retrofit locks that keep your outside hardware
Some smart locks mount only on the inside of the door and turn the deadbolt you already own, leaving the exterior face and the keyway as they were. Fitting one begins by checking that the existing deadbolt is on the model's compatibility list and that its tailpiece shape matches an adapter in the box. The interior thumb-turn is removed, the adapter fitted, and the motor unit clamped to the mounting plate so it sits square and turns the bolt through its full travel without slipping. Because the outside is untouched, these suit rented units where the landlord prefers the door unchanged, and older doors whose exterior hardware is worth keeping. The existing key keeps working alongside the phone.
Knowing what works when the internet is out
You leave with a clear picture of what the lock does on its own. On most models the keypad, the key and any fob keep working with no network at all, because they talk to the lock directly; what needs the internet is checking or changing the lock from far away and receiving alerts. Codes and schedules stored in the lock carry on through a router reboot or a power cut. The locksmith will have named which functions on your specific model depend on Wi-Fi or a hub, so a quiet evening with no connection is an inconvenience for the app and nothing more for the door.
Smart Lock Installation
In the van
Hinge shims and long hinge screws
Adjustable-backset bolt and faceplate
Smart deadbolt or smart lever set
Dry PTFE lubricant
Hole saw, spade bit and drilling jig
Smart Lock Installation
What affects the quote
Condition and fit of the door
A door that already closes true with standard holes is the simplest install. One that needs hinges shimmed, a strike pocket deepened or holes enlarged adds preparation time, and that work is quoted as its own line.
Reinforced strike and security hardware
A box strike with long screws is part of a sound installation and is listed as a part. A wrap-around door reinforcer or a hinge upgrade is offered where the door would benefit, as a separate option.
Network setup
Joining the lock to Wi-Fi, adding a bridge because the signal at the door is weak, or pairing with an existing hub is setup time and sometimes an extra device, and appears in the quote as such.
What to have ready
- Which door is the smart lock for, and what is it made of?
- What lock is on the door now: a separate deadbolt, a knob, a lever or a mortise lock?
- Which other doors should share the same key or the same system?
Smart Lock Installation: questions
QuestionsDoes the locksmith keep any of my codes or my account details?
No. The administrator account is created by you, on your phone, with your email, and the codes are entered by you or read out by you and typed while you watch. The service note records the model, the door work and the keys cut, never a code or a password. If a technician programmed a temporary code for testing, it is deleted in front of you before the visit ends.
I am a landlord. Are smart locks a good fit for my rental?
They suit turnover well: a departing tenant's code is deleted and a new one created without cutting keys or wondering about copies. Two things to plan for. The tenant in place must always have a working way in, which usually means their own code plus a key to the override cylinder, and any lock change on an occupied unit is done with the tenant's knowledge. Set the administrator account up under the property, not a departing employee, so control stays with you.
Does the lock still work if the internet goes down?
Yes for the things that matter at the door. Codes, fobs, fingerprints and the key talk to the lock directly, and schedules stored in the lock carry on, so you get in and out normally through a router reboot or an outage. What pauses is remote control from far away and the alerts, which return when the connection does. The locksmith will name exactly which features on your model need the network so there are no surprises.
Related services
- Deadbolt InstallationThe old deadbolt has grown lazy.
- Lock Replacement & UpgradeThe house is fifteen years old and every exterior door still wears the light hardware the builder fitted: a short bolt, a thin strike held by two small screws, and a knob lock that never suited a street entrance.
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceThe interior bedroom doors on the second floor have the original mortise latches, and none of them close any more.