Service 03 · per door
A deadbolt swap that gets the strike plate right the first time
This is the job for hardware that's worn out, mismatched, or simply not doing its part anymore — new deadbolt, new knob or lever set, strike plate reset and shimmed so the door closes without a shoulder check.
What this covers
Deadbolts and knob-sets, one door at a time
A lock and hardware swap in Austin usually starts with one of two complaints: the deadbolt is loose in the door and rattles when the wind hits it, or the finish has worn through to brass on every knob in the house and somebody finally noticed. Either way the fix is the same category of work. Pull the old hardware, fit new, and get the strike plate lined up so the bolt seats without having to lean on the door. We do this per door, not per house, because every door settles differently. A swap that looks identical on paper can take fifteen minutes on one frame and forty-five on the next.
We install Grade 2 and Grade 1 residential deadbolts and matching knob or lever sets in the standard finishes — satin nickel, oil-rubbed bronze, matte black, polished chrome — sourced to fit standard backset spacing (2-3/8" or 2-3/4") and standard door prep. If your door has a non-standard bore or a mortise lock body from an older build, we say so before we start rather than forcing a modern cylinder into a hole it wasn't cut for. That conversation happens at the door, free, before any tool comes out.
Strike-plate work is where most swaps actually live or die. A new deadbolt dropped into an old strike plate location will bind, or it'll look fine and then bind in July when the wood swells. We check the door for square, re-seat or relocate the strike plate as needed, and shim the jamb where the gap has opened up over the years. That's the difference between a lock that turns free for a week and one that turns free for a decade.
Handled on this visit
- Deadbolt replacement, single-cylinder or double-cylinder, keyed or thumb-turn
- Knob-set and lever-set replacement, passage, privacy or keyed
- Strike-plate realignment, shimming and re-seating on the existing jamb
- Keying new hardware to match an existing house key set where the cylinder allows it
- Garden gate hardware where the gate takes a residential lock body
Refused on principle
- Commercial-grade storefront hardware or panic bars — different code, different liability, not our bench
- New door framing or structural carpentry — we're locksmiths, not carpenters, and we'll say so rather than improvise
- Fleet or multi-unit contracts across several addresses in one visit
- Swapping hardware that a rekey would fix cheaper — we'll tell you to book that instead
How the visit runs
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Look at the door before the hardware
We check backset, bore size, jamb condition and door swing before quoting a specific product. A swap on a door that's dropped half an inch on its hinges needs a different strike-plate plan than one that's square.
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Confirm hardware and finish
You pick the finish and function — keyed entry, thumb-turn deadbolt, passage set for an interior door. We confirm what's in stock on the truck or what needs an order, and we say which up front.
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Pull the old set, fit the new
Old hardware comes out clean, new deadbolt and knob or lever set go in to the existing bore where possible. If the bore doesn't match, that's flagged before install, not discovered mid-job.
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Align the strike plate and test
The bolt has to throw straight and retract clean with the door at rest, not just with someone holding it shut. We test with the door open, closed, and under a light push, because that third test is the one people skip and regret.
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Key match, if you asked for one
If new hardware needs to share a key with your existing set, we cut and fit that on the spot rather than leaving you with two separate keyrings for one house.
What's actually inside a deadbolt
A residential deadbolt is five parts doing a simple job: cylinder, bolt, strike plate, mounting screws and a spring or two. When one fails, it's almost always the cylinder pins wearing down or the bolt throw binding on a strike plate that's crept out of line — rarely the whole unit at once. Laying the parts out like this on a swap is how we catch a bent bolt or a stripped screw hole before it becomes a callback.
Screws matter more than people expect. A deadbolt held in with the short screws it ships with is only as strong as the wood around those screws. We upgrade to 3-inch screws into the jamb stud on every install unless the door specifically calls for something else — it costs a few minutes and it's the single cheapest security upgrade in this whole trade.
Per door, quoted at the door
Get a hardware swap booked
Tell us the door, the finish you want, and whether new hardware needs to match an existing key. We'll confirm stock and timing before anyone drives out.
Locked out right now instead
Lockout response