Plan ahead High security · Facer
High Security Locks in Facer
A colleague showed you a video of a lock being opened with a bump key in a few seconds. Then you went home and noticed your own deadbolt is the same style, bought at a hardware store a decade ago.
Call now · open 24/7(289) 432-1115In plain words
High security locks are cylinders and deadbolts designed to defeat the methods used against ordinary doors. Inside the cylinder a second locking mechanism, usually a sidebar released by finger pins or rotating pins, has to be satisfied at the same time as the normal pin stack, which is what stops picking and bumping. Hardened steel inserts stop drill bits. The bolt is thicker and carries a hardened pin against sawing, and a reinforced strike ties the lock into the wall framing. Just as important, the key is cut on a patented blank that only an authorised person can have copied, so your key count stays known.
How the visit goesA colleague showed you a video of a lock being opened with a bump key in a few seconds. Then you went home and noticed your own deadbolt is the same style, bought at a hardware store a decade ago.
High Security Locks · Facer
How the visit goes
- 1
The bolt, the pocket and the strike
A deadbolt is only as good as how far it reaches and what it reaches into. The locksmith measures the throw of the bolt with the door closed, checks that it fully extends without the door being lifted or pushed, and looks at the pocket it enters in the jamb. A shallow pocket, a stamped strike plate and screws barely longer than a thumbnail are the usual finding on a builder-grade door. Then the frame is examined for splits, soft wood and gaps behind the jamb, since a kick lands on the strike, not on the cylinder.
- 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.
- 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
- Commercial mortise lock body
- Patented key blanks
- Graded deadbolt with hardened bolt
- Box strike
- Reinforced strike plate
What affects the quote
- 1
Documentation and registration
Setting up the key register, recording signatories and providing a written schedule of cylinders and keys is real work on a business system and is listed rather than hidden.
- 2
Commercial lock bodies
Heavy-duty deadbolts, mortise locks, narrow-stile deadlocks and cylinder guards for storefront and warehouse doors are heavier hardware than residential deadbolts and priced as such.
- 3
Condition of the door itself
A solid door that hangs true takes hardware straight away. A dropped, swollen or hollow door may need hinge work, shimming or a recommendation to replace the slab before the lock is worth fitting.
Same fees day, night or weekend.
High Security Locks: questions
Will the new cylinder fit my existing locks?
Usually. High security cylinders are made in the common formats: key-in-knob and lever, rim, mortise and interchangeable core, and many are designed to drop into popular residential and commercial locks. The locksmith identifies your format and confirms fit before ordering. Where a lock is an odd size or in poor shape, a matching lock body is fitted instead, and the door preparation is reused wherever it is standard.
Will my door look different afterwards?
Barely. A high security cylinder sits in the same place as the old one and is usually distinguished only by a different keyway shape and sometimes a hardened collar. A graded deadbolt is a standard-looking deadbolt in your chosen finish. The reinforced strike is longer than the plate it replaces and the wrap-around reinforcer, if used, shows as a neat metal band on the door edge. The difference is felt when you lock up, not seen from the street.
What are the hardware grades I see on the packaging?
Locks and deadbolts are tested against industry standards for security, durability and finish. Commercial hardware is graded 1, 2 or 3 with grade 1 the highest. Residential hardware carries a letter label for each of the three categories, from C for good through B to A for the top level. Security tests include hammer blows and pulling on the lock; durability covers cycle life and seasonal misalignment; finish covers salt, humidity and scratching. Your locksmith translates the label for your door.
High Security Locks
Niagara, Ontario
Facer information
- Town
- Facer, Niagara, Ontario
- In business
- 12 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 432-1115
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
What the census means at the door
71%
Older homes. About 71% of homes in St. Catharines were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
Older homes tend to have had many hands on their doors: owners, tenants, tradespeople, family. A locksmith visiting such a house pays attention to who holds keys now, and rekeying or a keyed-alike set often matters more than any new hardware.
56%
A mix of homes. Single-detached houses make up about 56% of homes in St. Catharines (2021 Census).
Where housing types are mixed, the same lost-key call means different things. In a house, rekey every door on the property. In an apartment, rekey the suite door and check with management about the common entrance. The locksmith asks which it is first.
Nearby
Open 24/7
Request a visit
A colleague showed you a video of a lock being opened with a bump key in a few seconds.
Call now · open 24/7(289) 432-1115- On-site assessment preferred
- Same fees day, night or weekend
- 12 years in business