Job sheet1 of 4
Broken Key Extraction
- The call
- That key had been bending a little for years, and you kept straightening it. Today it finally cracked at the deepest cut.
- First step
- How the piece is sitting
ServiceBroken Key Extraction
Locksmith in NorwichLock trouble in Norwich?
Talk to a person.
You ring, a locksmith answers, and you describe what the door is doing. From there the visit is planned around your day, whether that is a shop that opens at seven or a house in Norwich where everyone is home after dinner. No call centre, no script, one company from first ring to finished door. This page also covers Hink's Corners, Milldale and Newark.
Request a visit
Same fees day or night · Norwich
Norwichinformation
OxfordOntario
- Town
- Norwich, Oxford
- In business
- 18 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7
- Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (226) 705-0421
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
2021 census: what it means at the door
Every square is one home in a hundred.
- 64 in 100 homes · older homes
- 92 in 100 homes · mostly houses
- About 64% of homes in Norwich 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 92% of homes in Norwich (2021 Census).A detached house gives a locksmith room to work: full access to both sides of every door, hinges and frames included. Repairs and upgrades can be thorough, from the front deadbolt to the gate latch, with nothing off limits.
Nearby
Norwich
Locksmith services · Norwich
Below, each lock and key service we offer in Norwich gets its own page, with a description that assumes no prior knowledge. Start anywhere. Many customers arrive for a lockout and leave knowing exactly why the strike plate on the back door has bothered them for years.
Norwich
Vintage Mortise Lock Service, Seized & Jammed Lock Opening, Commercial Rekeying, Ignition Lock Repair, Broken…
- Broken Key ExtractionThe apartment key snapped mid-turn, leaving the cylinder twisted halfway between locked and open.
- Seized & Jammed Lock OpeningThe lock works, but only if you lean on the door with your hip while turning the key.
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceAfter a wet summer the entry door sits lower in its frame.
- Commercial RekeyingThe manager's key ring went missing somewhere between the bank and the car, and the master on it opened every door in the…
- Panic & Exit HardwareAfter the fit-out, the gym floor now holds more people than the old office space ever did, and the exit door at the back still…
- 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…
- Spare Car Key DuplicationTwo coworkers share one delivery van and one key between them, trading it at the start and end of every shift in a parking lot.
- Ignition Lock RepairHalf the key is still in your hand.
- Vehicle Lock RepairAfter a cold night the driver's door key barely goes in, and when it finally seats it stops halfway and will not turn any further.
Norwich
Below, each lock and key service we offer in Norwich gets its own page, with a description that assumes no prior knowledge. Start anywhere. Many customers arrive for a lockout and leave knowing exactly why the strike plate on the back door has bothered them for years.
Job sheet2 of 4
Seized & Jammed Lock Opening
- The call
- The key slides all the way in, exactly as it has for years, and then refuses to turn in either direction. Yesterday it needed a small wiggle.
- First step
- What is inside the keyway
ServiceSeized & Jammed Lock Opening
Job sheet3 of 4
Vintage Mortise Lock Service
- The call
- The key turns freely in the round cylinder on the door, all the way around and back, without the bolt shifting at all. The cylinder itself wobbles slightly when you press it, as if it has come loose inside the door.
- First step
- How the knob and key actually behave
ServiceVintage Mortise Lock Service
Job sheet4 of 4
Commercial Rekeying
- The call
- You 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.
- First step
- A walk of every door and lock
ServiceCommercial Rekeying
Fig.1
Locksmith
High Security Locks
Drawn forNorwich
ScaleNot to scale
A high security cylinder uses extra locking elements, sidebars, finger pins or rotating discs, that a pick or a bump key cannot line up. Hardened inserts stop drills. The result is a lock that takes real time and skill to defeat rather than a moment.
Layer 1The key
High Security Locks
You have lost count of how many people have had a key to your house over the years: cleaners, a contractor, a former partner, the previous owner's family. The lock still works, but you no longer know who else it works for.
Layer 2The cylinder
Lock Replacement & Upgrade
The house is fifteen years old and every exterior door still wears the light hardware the builder fitted: a short bolt, a thin strike held by two small screws, and a knob lock that never suited a street entrance.
Layer 3The bolt and strike
Deadbolt Installation
The front door has a handsome lever and a keyed knob, and that is all. Nothing above it.
Layer 4The door and frame
Break-In Damage Lock Repair
The back door looks closed until you touch it. The edge is crushed where a bar went in, the latch is bent sideways, and the door swings free with a gentle push no matter how you turn the key.
High Security Locks. You have lost count of how many people have had a key to your house over the years: cleaners, a contractor, a former partner, the previous owner's family.
Request a visitYou asked, we answered
The key broke while the door was locked. Can you still get me in?
Yes. The fragment comes out first, because nothing else can happen while it blocks the keyway. With the cylinder clear and the plug at rest, the door is opened by the same non-destructive methods used for any lockout, then a working key is cut and tested. If the door is a rental, the visit is noted for the building manager on request.
How do I stop this from happening again?
Three habits cover most of it. Lubricate the cylinder with a dry lock product twice a year and keep oils out of it. Check that the door locks with no pressure on it each spring and fall, snugging hinge and strike screws when it starts to drag. Keep a lock de-icer handy and fit a keyhole cover on exposed doors. And act on the first stiff turn, because a lock that still turns is a smaller job than one that has stopped.
Can the lock be made more secure while keeping it original?
Yes, within reason. A later mortise case can take a modern high-security cylinder of the right thread and cam, chosen for its pick resistance; stopping casual key copying is a separate question, answered by fitting a restricted or patented key system alongside it. Longer screws into the strike and a properly seated deadbolt add more than most people expect. For a bit-key lock, the practical gains are a full-throw deadbolt and a good strike; if more is wanted, a separate modern deadbolt above it leaves the original lock untouched.
We lost a master key. Does the whole building need doing?
Only the cylinders that master opened, which the keying chart identifies. If the lost key was the top master, that is every lock in the system; if it was a departmental master, it is that department's doors. Where no chart exists, the locksmith reads the cylinders first to establish what the key reached. The remaining doors, and any keys that never opened them, are left exactly as they are.