Technician in a cap and hooded sweatshirt using a small screwdriver on the lever handle and lock case of a glass door. — Corktown

High security · Corktown

High Security Locks

Open 24/7

You run a home office with client files and equipment, and your insurer has asked what kind of lock is on the door. The honest answer is the builder's knob lock and a light deadbolt from when the house was new.

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In plain words

A high security cylinder is rated by independent laboratory testing that times how long it holds out against picking, impressioning, drilling, prying and wrenching. The lock body and deadbolt carry a separate hardware grade for strength, cycle life and finish. A locksmith reads those ratings for you and matches them to your door, because a rating on the box means nothing if the door frame is thin or the bolt barely enters the jamb. The visit usually ends with a heavier deadbolt, a reinforced strike fastened into the framing and a cylinder whose keys cannot be copied at a kiosk.

Sound familiar?Corktown

The call: You jiggle the key a little and the old deadbolt opens even when the cut does not look quite right. If your worn key can do that, you wonder what a stranger with the right tools could do.

NextHow the visit goes

High Security Locks · Corktown

How the visit goes

Hands lining up a steel deadbolt with the round bore in a white door above a knob, an open tool bag below. — Corktown

Scene 1
Reading the cylinder you have now
The existing cylinder tells the locksmith a great deal. A standard pin tumbler with an open keyway can be picked, bumped and duplicated by anyone with the blank. Worn pins let a key that is not quite right jiggle it open. A cylinder that spins loosely in its housing or shows a scratched face has been attacked or simply worn out. The locksmith identifies the format, whether key-in-knob, rim, mortise or interchangeable core, because that determines which high-security cylinders will drop into your present hardware and which will need a new lock body altogether.
Scene 2
Retiring the old keys and closing gaps
Part of the visit is making the old keys meaningless. Once the new cylinders are in, every previous key is tried to confirm it no longer operates anything, and any remaining door on the old keyway is either upgraded or at least rekeyed so an unknown copy has nowhere to go. The locksmith also closes small gaps found during the assessment: replacing hinge screws with long ones, adjusting a closer, adding a cylinder guard, or moving a thumb-turn away from glass. The door leaves the visit as one coherent assembly rather than one strong part among weak ones.
Scene 3
Watching the patent calendar
Patented keyways protect you for as long as the patent lasts. When it expires, blanks may be sold openly and the copy-control layer weakens, though the mechanical resistance of the cylinder stays. The locksmith notes the patent term of your system at handover so the date is not a surprise. Many years before it arrives, the same hardware can usually be moved to a newer patented keyway by changing cylinders and keys while the lock bodies stay. Treat it like a roof: nothing needs doing for a long while, but the date is written down.

In the van

Reinforced strike plate
Graded deadbolt with hardened bolt
Key control authorisation card
Hardened cylinder guard ring
Box strike

What shapes the quoteBuchanan Lock Services

Master keying: Arranging staff keys, area keys and a manager key on one system takes bench time to plan and pin, and the more levels you want, the more careful that planning is.
Hinge and door edge work: Long hinge screws, a hinge-side security stud or repair to a chewed door edge are small items that add up on a door that has been forced before.
Exit devices and closers on the same door: Where a commercial door carries a push bar or closer, the new lock must work with them, and adjusting or replacing that hardware is part of the same visit.

FeesSame any hour

Have it ready

Before you call · 0 / 3

Is there a window or sidelight within reach of the lock?
Does the door have a closer, push bar, alarm contact or keypad on it already?
Has the door ever been forced, or has a key been lost or not returned?

(289) 203-1527

What to expect, answered

What proof do I need to show before locks are changed?

The locksmith confirms that the person ordering the work is entitled to change the locks: the owner, a tenant with the landlord's agreement, or a property or facilities manager for a business. Photo identification and something linking you to the address usually settle it, and for a company a letter or a call to the named contact does the same. It protects you as much as anyone, since the same check stops someone else from changing your locks.

What happens when the patent on my keys runs out?

The mechanical resistance of the cylinder does not change, but blanks may become openly available, so copy control weakens. Manufacturers issue new patented keyways as older ones expire, and the usual answer is to move to the next generation by changing cylinders and keys while keeping the lock bodies. Your locksmith notes the patent term at handover so the date is on the calendar rather than a surprise years later.

How do I order extra keys later?

An authorised person contacts the locksmith who holds your system, quotes the system reference, and the key is cut from code and numbered into the register. Some systems use a physical authorisation card, others an online validation, and business systems often require a signature that matches one on file. The key is collected or delivered, and the record shows the new total. It is deliberately not something a stranger with your key can do.