The 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. Salt spray off the road and a season of meltwater have left the cylinder pitted and reluctant.
A property that grew its gates one at a time, a shed lock here, a side gate there, tends to end up with a drawer full of keys that only sort of match. This service takes stock of every gate and padlock on the property and works out which ones can reasonably be brought onto a single key, replacing or recombining cylinders as needed. The owner leaves with fewer keys, a clear note of what opens what, and a plan for adding any new gate onto the same system later.
Sound familiar?Woodstock
Gate & Building Entry Locks · Woodstock
Scene 1
Where a buzzer, keypad or electric strike is part of the entry, the check runs through each piece in turn: whether the intercom sends a signal at all, whether the strike receives power when it should, and, where the installed lock actually includes a keyed mechanical override, whether that key still turns smoothly on its own. Treating the electronic and mechanical sides as one system, rather than assuming the fault is wherever it was last blamed, is what keeps a working lock from being replaced when the actual issue was a loose wire or a dead transformer.
Scene 2
Where the gate or door shows signs of prying, cutting or a spun cylinder, the damaged hardware is removed and assessed on its own before anything is rebuilt: a bent strike is straightened or replaced, a compromised cylinder is swapped rather than trusted, and a cut hasp or shackle is replaced with a heavier one if the original was clearly overmatched. The surrounding wood or metal gets checked too, since forced entry often stresses the frame as much as the lock. The finished gate or door is tested to confirm it closes, latches and locks exactly as it should.
Scene 3
Where ground movement had thrown the gate out of line, you leave with a post that has been reset, packed or braced so it stays where it was put, not just a strike that was shimmed to match wherever the post happened to be that day. The gate should now close consistently through the seasons rather than needing a fresh adjustment every time the ground shifts. Check it again after the next hard frost or a wet spring, since soil movement is ongoing rather than a one-time event.
What shapes the quoteBradburn Subdivision Lock & Key Co.
FeesSame any hour
The usual cause is meltwater getting into the keyway during a thaw and refreezing overnight, which stiffens the plug or blocks it outright, along with cold thickening any grease left inside from the factory. Road salt tracked onto ground-level hardware adds corrosion on top of that. A cylinder treated with the lubricant its maker specifies, kept clear of standing water, generally handles a winter far better than one left as it came, and a weather-rated replacement, kept up the same way, holds up better once the current one is pitted.
Both, where the two are connected, which on a gate they usually are. A locksmith working on a gate lock also looks at the hinges, the post and the closer, since a lock rarely fails on its own when the real cause is a sagging gate or a post that has shifted. Work that goes beyond hardware the locksmith carries, such as rebuilding a rotted post or a damaged fence panel, is flagged so it can be handled by whoever normally does that kind of repair.
In most cases, yes. The buzzer, keypad and intercom are generally separate from the mechanical lock or cylinder, so replacing the lock itself does not usually mean replacing the electronic side too. Where the two are connected, such as an electric strike wired to the same frame as a new mechanical lock, the locksmith checks the fit and wiring before starting so the electronic system keeps working once the new hardware is in place. Anything that would need to change is explained beforehand.
OxfordOntario
Gate & Building Entry Locks · East Zorra-Tavistock, Ingersoll, Norwich, South-West Oxford, Zorra, Bradburn Subdivision, Perrys Lane, Burgessville
Every square is one home in a hundred.
On-site assessment
The 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.
(226) 705-0421, open 24/7.
On-site assessment preferred · (226) 705-0421, open 24/7
