Moving into a home in Forest Hill means somebody else's keys are still out there: a former owner, a tenant, a painter, a cousin who once watered the plants. Rekeying every exterior lock to one fresh key settles the question in a single visit, and the same job suits a rental turning over or a shop changing hands.
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Moving into a home in Forest Hill means somebody else's keys are still out there: a former owner, a tenant, a painter, a cousin who once watered the plants. Rekeying every exterior lock to one fresh key settles the question in a single visit, and the same job suits a rental turning over or a shop changing hands.
The fee for a visit in Forest Hill is the same at any hour, and it is settled at the door after the locksmith has assessed the hardware. That order matters. Assess first, then price, then work, so you always know what is being done and what it costs before a tool comes out. There are no surprises added afterwards.
Businesses in Forest Hill have their own set of lock questions: who holds keys, what happens at staff turnover and whether the back door really closes. We help shops, offices and small warehouses sort these out with rekeying, key logs, keypads and panic hardware that suits the building. Work can be timed around your hours, and we leave you with a system your team can actually manage.
28years in business
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Forest Hill
Choose a service to see how it works in Forest Hill. 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.
Home Lockout ServiceThe key slides in and turns all the way round, but the bolt stays put.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit RekeyThe lawyer's envelope held two keys for the new house.
Lock Replacement & UpgradeSomeone tried the back door while you were away.
Safe Opening & Combination ChangeThe new manager took over the shop last month and only now needs the back-office safe open, but the combination the previous owner was supposed to leave in writing never turned up anywhere in the handover file.
Safe Installation & ServicingThe keypad on the office safe blinks a low-battery warning every morning now, and whoever notices it first quietly hopes someone else deals with it before the batteries finally give out mid-week.
Commercial RekeyingThe renovation is finished and the contractors have gone, along with the loaner keys they used for six weeks.
Access Control InstallationThe team has grown past the point where one shared key still makes sense.
Commercial-Grade Lock ReplacementAt closing time the hookbolt on the storefront door catches the keeper only on the second or third try, and one employee has started giving the door a shoulder to force it home.
Vehicle Lock RepairSince the last heavy rain, the front passenger door has needed two or three tries before the key catches, and moisture seems to sit along the seal right where the lock is mounted.
Lock RekeyingThe whole key ring went missing somewhere between the grocery store and the bus.
Deadbolt InstallationYou bought a keypad deadbolt online and pulled the old one off, only to find the hole in the door is a different size and the bolt latch sits at a backset the new kit does not list.
Lock Replacement & UpgradeSomeone tried the back door while you were away.
Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceThe brass knob on the front door of your century home turns, but nothing happens on the other side.
Smart Lock InstallationHalf the evenings someone asks whether the back door got locked, and nobody is sure.
Gate & Building Entry LocksThe padlock on the side gate has gone stiff every winter for three years running, and this year the key simply will not turn past the first few pins.
Mailbox Lock ReplacementThe little brass key for your curbside mailbox was on the same ring as the one you lost at the gym last week.Toronto, Ontario
2021 Census
About 58% of homes in Toronto were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
Older housing means older frames. Wood that has settled for years leaves strikes slightly out of line, so a bolt drags or needs a lift of the handle. A locksmith expects this and brings the shims, longer screws and strike plates to correct it.
Single-detached houses make up about 23% of homes in Toronto (2021 Census).
Attached housing turns over more often than detached, so rekeying between tenants or owners is a constant. Because suite doors tend to be standard, the job is usually a straightforward pin change and a fresh set of keys cut on site.
High security
Safes are high security for the things inside a room rather than the room itself. We install, bolt down, open and reset them for homes and businesses, and advise on where a safe helps and where a better door helps more.
After the attempted break-in the police officer pointed at your door and said the strike plate was held by two short screws.
Someone tried the back door while you were away.
You bought a keypad deadbolt online and pulled the old one off, only to find the hole in the door is a different size and the bolt latch sits at a backset the new kit does not list.
The back door looks closed until you touch it.
Commercial
Owners sometimes ask whether they need a locksmith or an alarm company. Usually both, for different jobs. Locks and keys decide who can open the door; the alarm reports when someone does. The commercial pages cover our half of that arrangement.
Sensible optionHome Lockout Service
WhyWinter creates its own kind of lockout.
Sensible optionLost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey
WhyHow much a lost key matters depends on what was lost with it.
Sensible optionLock Replacement & Upgrade
WhyMoving into a home is the classic moment for this service, because you inherit whatever hardware and whatever key copies the previous owners left behind.
Sensible optionSafe Opening & Combination Change
WhyA safe that arrives with no history at all, through an estate, an auction or a property changing hands, gets treated as an unknown until the locksmith reads it directly: the data plate, the lock type, the dial or keypad style, and any wear that hints at its age.
Sensible optionSafe Installation & Servicing
WhyFor a household bringing in its first real safe, the service covers everything between the empty spot on the floor and a working, anchored unit with a combination only the family knows.
Sensible optionCommercial Rekeying
WhyChanging the locks answers today's question; key control keeps it answered.
Sensible optionAccess Control Installation
WhyThe installation is not finished when the last door is wired; it is finished once the business can run the system without the locksmith standing there.
Sensible optionCommercial-Grade Lock Replacement
WhyA great deal of what happens during this service is choosing the right category of hardware before a single screw comes out.
Sensible optionVehicle Lock Repair
WhyWeather leaves its mark on vehicle locks over the years.
The key slides in and turns all the way round, but the bolt stays put. There is no click, no resistance, just a key spinning in a lock that has stopped listening to it after years of daily use.
Home Lockout ServiceThe lawyer's envelope held two keys for the new house. The previous owners mention a cleaner, a dog walker and a brother who checked on the place, and the builder's paperwork shows six were cut originally. Four are unaccounted for.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit RekeySomeone tried the back door while you were away. The jamb is splintered around the strike, the bolt is bent, and the knob turns with a grinding feel. Everything held, barely, and you want hardware that would do better next time.
Lock Replacement & UpgradeDecades of daily use have left the law firm's old dial safe drifting: the numbers line up close to where they should, never quite enough to drop the bolt.
Safe Opening & Combination ChangeThe till drawer has been holding two days of cash because the new shop never got a proper safe, and a locked drawer under the counter is the only thing standing between that cash and anyone who works late.
Safe Installation & ServicingYou have just signed the lease on a unit the previous tenant ran for a decade. The landlord handed over three keys, the back door wears a padlock nobody can open, and nobody can say how many front-door keys are still out there.
Commercial RekeyingThe keypad on the side door has started sticking on cold mornings, codes get shared instead of reset, and half the staff still remember a code you meant to retire two hires ago.
Access Control InstallationThe key to the office entrance turns with almost no resistance now, and some mornings the deadbolt does not fully retract until someone jiggles the handle and tries the key again.
Commercial-Grade Lock ReplacementPressing the remote locks three doors with a solid clunk and leaves the rear passenger door untouched, every single time. A twist of the key still opens that door by hand, so the fault is sitting somewhere between the remote and that one lock.
Vehicle Lock RepairThat is the most common version of a lockout, and there is a routine for it. Tell the locksmith on the phone so the plan is agreed before arrival. Often a neighbour can confirm you live there, a digital copy of a lease or bill is on your phone, or a property manager can vouch for you. Where none of that is available, the locksmith opens the door and completes the identification check with the documents inside before leaving.
Walk the property and note every door the missing key opened, including the garage, shed and gate. Gather any keys you still have, since a working key helps in reading each cylinder. Have identification and, for tenants, something showing the tenancy. Decide roughly how many keys you want and whether you would like all doors on one key. If a garage remote or building fob was lost too, mention it when you book.
Yes, provided the cylinders share a compatible keyway, which the locksmith checks when choosing hardware. New cylinders are pinned on site to a single new key and any existing locks worth keeping are repinned to match. Front, back, side and garage doors commonly end up on one key, and a shed or gate padlock can join them. You then decide how many copies exist and who holds each.
Often, yes, particularly for a mechanical lock, where a worn wheel pack, drive cam or spindle can be replaced individually within the existing lock body. An electronic lock's circuit board and keypad are less often repairable in place and are more commonly swapped for a comparable or higher-rated replacement unit that fits the same cutout.
It comes down to how much the amount being stored is likely to grow over the next few years. A safe sized with some room to spare avoids an early repeat visit, while a unit sized exactly for today's needs can be outgrown within a year or two for a growing business. Anchoring and lock work do not change much with size, so the main trade-off is simply the footprint the larger unit takes up in the room.
Rekey when a key has not come back or when the departure was unfriendly; when a key is returned and the register confirms it, the cylinders it opened are as secure as before. Businesses that want a response to every departure without a visit each time fit interchangeable cores and swap them in-house. Whatever the trigger, dealing with only the cylinders that key opened keeps the response proportionate.
Yes. In a multi-tenant building, a shared entrance can run on the landlord's controller while each tenant's suite runs its own credentials, so a tenant's staff can reach their own space without gaining access to another business's door. The property manager and each tenant work out together which doors belong on which list before the system is programmed.
It helps to know roughly what is on the door now, knob, deadbolt, exit device or something else, whether other doors on the property share a key with it, and who in the business can authorize the work and sign off on keys. Photos of the current hardware and any fire label on the door are useful if you can get them ahead of time.
The interior trim panel is removed using tools shaped to release its retaining clips without marking the panel. On many doors that exposes the cylinder, the linkage rod and the power actuator for individual testing and repair, though some doors keep a carrier plate, water shield or window guide in the way, or use an integrated latch and actuator assembly, and are worked on accordingly.
The fee for a visit in Forest Hill is the same at any hour, and it is settled at the door after the locksmith has assessed the hardware. That order matters. Assess first, then price, then work, so you always know what is being done and what it costs before a tool comes out. There are no surprises added afterwards.