Sometimes the honest answer is a full lock change: a cylinder that fights every key, a handle set that no longer matches the door, a break-up where rekeying feels like half a measure. For homes across Toronto we replace the hardware, match the finish to what is already on the house and hand over new keys.
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Sometimes the honest answer is a full lock change: a cylinder that fights every key, a handle set that no longer matches the door, a break-up where rekeying feels like half a measure. For homes across Toronto we replace the hardware, match the finish to what is already on the house and hand over new keys.
Before a locksmith opens any door in Toronto, he asks to see that it is yours: a piece of identification, a lease, an ownership paper, or a neighbour who can vouch. Most people are relieved by the question. The rest of the visit follows the same habit of care: explain each step, leave the frame and finish as we found them, and make sure the keys in your hand are the only ones that work.
For landlords and property managers with units in Toronto, we offer organised turnover service: rekeying between tenants, labelled keys, master-key planning and a written record of what was changed. We work through doors in order, keep the paperwork straight and make sure the next tenant walks into a place where only their key works. One call covers a single unit or a whole building.
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The lock services offered in Toronto are grouped the way a door is used. Getting back in when you are locked out. Deciding who holds a working key. Upgrading the hardware so the door resists more than a casual try. Keeping commercial entrances working. Opening and maintaining safes. Each is described below.
Broken Key ExtractionOvernight the deadbolt froze, and this morning the key would only turn partway.
Lock RekeyingThe whole key ring went missing somewhere between the grocery store and the bus.
Lock Replacement & UpgradeSomeone tried the back door while you were away.
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.
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.
Spare Car Key DuplicationThe paperwork for the used car changed hands last week, and the previous owner mentioned, almost as an afterthought, that a second key never turned up.
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.
Motorcycle & Scooter KeysThe bike came home from its previous owner with a single worn key that starts the engine but does nothing for the seat latch or the fuel cap, both of which answer to keys nobody handed over.
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.Ontario
2021 Census
About 58% of homes in Toronto were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
Basement and side entries on older homes were often fitted long after the house was built, with whatever lock was on hand. Bringing those doors up to the standard of the front entry, and onto the same key, is a common and satisfying job.
Single-detached houses make up about 23% of homes in Toronto (2021 Census).
Landlords and property managers dominate in attached housing, and they want keys organised. A locksmith sets up master systems so a manager carries one key while each tenant's key opens only their own door.
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.
High security
The 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.
The 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.
Sensible optionBroken Key Extraction
WhyKeys break for a reason, and finding that reason is half the visit.
Sensible optionLock Rekeying
WhyRekeying is a change made inside the lock rather than to the lock itself.
Sensible optionLock Replacement & Upgrade
WhyLock replacement and upgrade is the service that takes tired or under-built door hardware off and puts hardware suited to the door in its place.
Sensible optionGate & Building Entry Locks
WhyHardware bolted to a gate or an exterior building door lives outside every day of the year, which is a different job from a lock tucked behind a storm door.
Sensible optionMailbox Lock Replacement
WhyWhen the real concern is who else might hold a key, replacement settles it at the root.
Sensible optionCommercial-Grade Lock Replacement
WhyA business door rarely fails the same way a house door does, because it opens far more often and often has to satisfy a fire or egress rule a home door never faces.
Sensible optionSpare Car Key Duplication
WhyDriving on a single key means a lost pocket, a dropped bag or a worn blade can turn into a day without a car.
Sensible optionVehicle Lock Repair
WhyWhich lock is affected shapes the whole visit.
Sensible optionMotorcycle & Scooter Keys
WhyMotorcycle and scooter key service is the work of producing a key that a two-wheeled machine will actually accept, whether that means cutting a plain blade, decoding an ignition lock with no key at all, or programming a transponder that talks to the engine control unit.
Describe the property, the hardware and what has changed, and the visit starts from what you have seen.
01
Has it been forced, does it drag, who has had keys? Those answers tell us whether the frame, the cylinder or the key list needs attention first.
02
A box strike and three-inch screws into the studs, long hinge screws, and filled holes where the wood has split, before any cylinder is changed.
03
Doors open, doors closed, both sides, then a push on the locked door to feel for play. We finish by writing down what was fitted.
A roommate tried to help with tweezers, then by gluing the other half to it. The fragment is now further in than it started, there is dried glue around the keyway, and the front door still does not open.
Broken Key ExtractionYour roommate moved out last weekend. Rent is settled, the room is empty, and the key is still on their ring. You trust them, but the lock on your front door should answer to the people who actually live here.
Lock RekeyingThe century home's original mortise lock takes a key the size of a spoon, sticks in humid weather and has worn its strike to a groove. You want a lock that works every day without giving up the old door.
Lock Replacement & UpgradeA neighbour mentions, in passing, that the key from three tenants ago still lets him into the building's front door. Nobody changed it after he moved out, and now the property manager wants to know exactly how many keys are still floating around out there.
Gate & Building Entry LocksThe property manager mentioned that half the compartments in the lobby's mailbox panel are original to the building and are starting to fail one by one, key by key, as tenants turn over year after year.
Mailbox Lock ReplacementThe kitchen delivery door gets shouldered open more than a hundred times a shift, and lately the latch slips past the strike plate instead of catching it on the first push.
Commercial-Grade Lock ReplacementThe proximity fob has ridden in a pocket for years, the range feels shorter than it used to, and a dashboard warning mentioned a battery a while back. Nobody has sorted out what happens on the day it finally goes dark.
Spare Car Key DuplicationPressing 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 RepairAfter a winter under a cover, the steering lock will not budge. The key seats fully in the barrel, but turning it meets a wall of resistance that no amount of wiggling moves past.
Motorcycle & Scooter KeysIf a good length shows and the plug is at its normal rest position, a firm straight pull sometimes works. The risk is pushing instead of pulling, or twisting, which drives the piece deeper and can bend a pin. If it does not come on the first gentle try, stop there and leave it for extractor tools, which grip the cuts without loading the cylinder.
Yes, with your landlord's agreement, which is what the tenancy rules here expect before a tenant changes a lock. Most landlords are glad to consent when a key has gone missing or a former roommate has moved out, and the locksmith will want to hear that the landlord knows and will be holding one of the new keys. The rekey itself runs the same as for an owner, and a short note listing the doors done is handy to pass to the landlord.
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.
You can certainly call about a problem you are experiencing, such as a side gate that will not latch or a buzzer that stopped working, and the locksmith will look into it. Where the fix touches the shared entry everyone in the building relies on, rather than something specific to your own unit, the work is usually coordinated with whoever manages the property, since a rekey or replacement there affects every current resident, not just the person who noticed the problem first.
Drilling is kept as a last resort, used only when the lock is seized, the key is gone, or an earlier attempt has already damaged the mechanism, and it is explained before it starts. The drill is aimed precisely at the lock itself, so the compartment door around it is left alone, and a new lock is fitted during the same visit so the compartment is never left standing open.
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.
Every door lock, the trunk or hatch, the ignition or start button, and any remote functions are checked with the new key on its own, apart from the original, so neither key is quietly helped along by the other's signal. The vehicle is started more than once to rule out an intermittent issue, and only once both keys pass independently is the visit considered finished.
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 make, model and year if known, the VIN if it is accessible, which locks are involved, and whether the engine cranks but does not start, which can point toward an immobiliser issue among other ordinary starting-system causes. Mentioning whether any key at all still exists, even a broken or poorly cutting one, changes what equipment comes along, since working from a key is a different job than decoding a lock with nothing to reference.
Before a locksmith opens any door in Toronto, he asks to see that it is yours: a piece of identification, a lease, an ownership paper, or a neighbour who can vouch. Most people are relieved by the question. The rest of the visit follows the same habit of care: explain each step, leave the frame and finish as we found them, and make sure the keys in your hand are the only ones that work.