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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.
Locksmith in Whitby, OntarioGood hardware.Honest advice.
Call now · open 24/7(289) 278-0778What's happening right now?
Locked out
Safely, right now
- Wait somewhere safe and warm: a neighbour's, your car, a coffee shop.
- Don't force a window or the door; it only adds a repair.
- Keep ID that shows your address handy if it is with you.
Key broke in the lock
Safely, right now
- Don't push the broken piece back in or try the lock again.
- Hold on to the half you have; it helps with a new key.
Lock won't turn
Safely, right now
- Don't force the key. A bent or broken key makes it harder.
- Skip the oil, the glue and the hot water. They make it worse.
Lost keys
Safely, right now
- If your address was with the keys, treat the lock as known to whoever finds them.
- Don't leave a spare key anywhere outside while you wait, under the mat or elsewhere.
There is a lot of lock on the market that looks solid and is not. We fit residential and commercial grades we have taken apart ourselves, tell you plainly where the budget option is fine, and where a heavier grade is worth having.
Request a visit
Same fees day or night · 13 years in business
The fix, explained · Whitby
What is the door doing?
EmergencyHome Lockout ServiceSomeone pushed the privacy button on the bathroom door and pulled it shut behind them, leaving the room locked and empty.
The fix
A home lockout service is a visit whose whole purpose is to get you back inside your own home when the door is locked against you. The locksmith first confirms you have the right to be there, usually by matching photo identification to the address or seeing a lease, deed or property-management record.
EmergencyBusiness Lockout ServiceMinus eighteen with a wind, and the exterior cylinder on the shop door has frozen solid overnight after yesterday's slush.
The fix
Heavy commercial doors move, and a good share of business lockouts are really door problems. A glass storefront door hangs on pivots or a continuous hinge that wear with thousands of openings a week, and once the door drops a few millimetres the hookbolt or latch binds against its strike.
EmergencyBroken Key ExtractionThe apartment key snapped mid-turn, leaving the cylinder twisted halfway between locked and open.
The fix
A car key that breaks in the door or the ignition is handled with the same extraction tools, with one difference. On most vehicles the plastic head of the key carries the transponder chip and the remote buttons, and that half is usually intact in your hand.
EmergencyBreak-In Damage Lock RepairThe shop's aluminum door has a bent meeting stile and the hookbolt is jammed half out.
The fix
Most forced doors fail at the frame, not the lock. A standard strike plate is held by two short screws in a softwood jamb, and a kick transfers the whole force of a body to those screws.
Call (289) 278-0778Request a visit Break-In Damage Lock Repair
EmergencySeized & Jammed Lock OpeningThe shop's lever handle goes down as usual, but the latch inside the mortise case never pulls back.
The fix
When the cylinder is the part that has seized, the work is about cleaning rather than force. Keyways collect dust, salt spray, metal filings and residue from sprays never meant for locks, and over time the pins stop lifting cleanly.
Call (289) 278-0778Request a visit Seized & Jammed Lock Opening
EmergencyLost Keys — Same-Visit RekeyA roommate moved out on bad terms and says the key was left on the counter.
The fix
Rekeying and replacing a lock arrive at the same place by different roads. Replacement puts new hardware on the door: a new deadbolt or handle, and a finish that may not match its neighbours.
Call (289) 278-0778Request a visit Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey
- 13years in business
- 24/7open, every day
- Same feesday, night or weekend
- On siteassessment preferred
The workbench behind the website
When someone asks us about high security locks, we start at the door and not at the catalogue. How far does the bolt travel, what is it entering, how long are the strike screws, is there glass within reach of the turn, and how many keys are out there? The answers decide whether the right step is a rated cylinder, a heavier deadbolt, a reinforced frame or all three.
Brooklin, Ashburn, Coronation Gardens and Myrtle Station
A look before a verdict. We inspect the door, frame and lock before suggesting anything. Diagnosing from the driveway is how people end up with parts they did not need.
Two or three real choices. Where there are sensible alternatives we explain them side by side, including the option of doing less than you expected.
The job finished properly. Tested, aligned, cleaned up and demonstrated. We do not consider a lock done until you have turned the key yourself.
Drop us a line: (289) 278-0778
Locksmith services
Where to start
The list below is long because doors are varied, not because we want to sell you more than you need. Most calls end with one service. Read the one that fits, note what the page asks you to have ready, and get in touch when it suits you.
LockoutsLockout ServicesEmergency work follows a simple order.Services
Emergency work follows a simple order. Confirm the caller belongs there. Open or free the door using the least forceful approach that succeeds.
EmergencyHome Lockout ServiceSomeone pushed the privacy button on the bathroom door and pulled it shut behind them, leaving the room locked and empty.
EmergencyBusiness Lockout ServiceMinus eighteen with a wind, and the exterior cylinder on the shop door has frozen solid overnight after yesterday's slush.
EmergencyBroken Key ExtractionThe apartment key snapped mid-turn, leaving the cylinder twisted halfway between locked and open.
EmergencyBreak-In Damage Lock RepairThe shop's aluminum door has a bent meeting stile and the hookbolt is jammed half out.
EmergencySeized & Jammed Lock OpeningThe shop's lever handle goes down as usual, but the latch inside the mortise case never pulls back.
EmergencyLost Keys — Same-Visit RekeyA roommate moved out on bad terms and says the key was left on the counter.
Change or rekeyChange or Rekey LocksWhen you buy a house you inherit its keys, and there is no way to know how many were cut.Services
When you buy a house you inherit its keys, and there is no way to know how many were cut. Rekeying every exterior door in one visit resets that history. The residential pages start there and go on to the other improvements worth considering.
High securityHigh Security LocksFollowing a break-in, the instinct is to buy the biggest lock.Services
Following a break-in, the instinct is to buy the biggest lock. The better response is to look at how entry was made and strengthen that path first, then consider a cylinder and key system that stops it happening by key rather than by force.
CommercialCommercial LocksSmall businesses often run on one key that everyone has a copy of.Services
Small businesses often run on one key that everyone has a copy of. It works until it does not. The commercial pages explain the steps up from that: rekeying to a known set, a master system, then keypads or cards when keys become more trouble than they are worth.
Car keysCar KeysA car key used to be a strip of metal.Services
A car key used to be a strip of metal. Now it may carry a chip that must answer the car before the engine will turn, or a fob that only needs to be in your pocket. Automotive work covers cutting, programming and pairing all of them, at the vehicle.
Bigger photo, sooner job: Emergency Book soon Plan ahead
EmergencyCar Lockout ServiceThe trunk is full of groceries, the cart is back in its corral, and the keys are sitting in the cup holder in plain view.
EmergencyCar Key ReplacementThe only key to the car went into the lake with the kayak.
Spare Car Key Duplication
Key Fob Programming
Transponder Key Programming
Ignition Lock Repair
Vehicle Lock Repair
Motorcycle & Scooter Keys
Sound familiar?
Small things. Big difference.
2 / 3
After last night's power flicker the card reader beside the clinic door shows nothing. Fobs do nothing, the electric strike stays locked, and the small brass override key that came with the system is in a desk drawer on the far side of the door.
3 / 3
The back door has a deadbolt in name only: a short bolt, a thin brass strike held by two little screws, and a jamb you can flex with your palm. It was fine for a builder's showing. It is not fine for a laneway.
Which fix fits?
IfYou just got the keys to a house you bought.
ThenRekey every exterior door to one new key.
The seller, their agent and any tradesperson who held a copy are now locked out, and you carry a single key.
IfYou are renting, and the landlord says the locks were never changed.
ThenAsk the landlord to have the locks rekeyed.
Tenants generally need the owner's agreement, and most landlords are glad to do it when asked plainly.
IfA tenant moved out and did not return every key.
ThenRekey before the next tenant arrives.
It keeps the same hardware and closes the gap before viewings start.
IfEvery time you pull the key out of the side door it comes away gritty.
ThenSeized & Jammed Lock Opening.
When the cylinder is the part that has seized, the work is about cleaning rather than force.
IfThe spare under the planter by the side door is gone.
ThenLost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey.
Rekeying and replacing a lock arrive at the same place by different roads.
IfYou pressed the fob at the office door and nothing happened.
Vehicles have changed, and so have the ways of opening them.
Answering 24/7 in Whitby
How a visit goes
Ashburn Lock & Key Co.
Job ticket · open 24/7
1 Call
Drop us a line.
Describe the property, the hardware and what has changed, and the visit starts from what you have seen.
(289) 278-0778 · open 24/7
2 Questions
Deciding what to replace
We look at the existing lock, the door thickness and the holes already drilled. Sometimes a new cylinder is enough; sometimes the whole lockset has earned its retirement.
3 On the way
In the van
Whitby to Brooklin, Ashburn, Coronation Gardens and Myrtle Station.
- Latch and bypass tools
- Strike plate and long hinge screws
- Plug follower and repinning kit
- Broken key extractors
- Replacement cylinder or deadbolt
4 Fixed
Checking fit and finish
Fitting the new hardware. The new lock goes in with the strike adjusted so the bolt throws fully. If the old holes need filling or enlarging, that is done neatly.
Checking fit and finish. We test the lock with the door open and closed, from both sides, check the key turns without effort and clean up the doorstep before leaving.
Same fees day, night or weekend · on-site assessment preferred
Durham, Ontario
Whitby information
- Town
- Whitby, Durham, Ontario
- In business
- 13 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 278-0778
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
What the census means at the door
25%
Newer homes. About 25% of homes in Whitby were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
Recent builds often have steel or fibreglass entry doors rather than solid wood. They resist warping and take hardware well, and a locksmith fitting a deadbolt or reinforced strike works with the door's construction so screws bite into something solid.
70%
Mostly houses. Single-detached houses make up about 70% of homes in Whitby (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.
You asked, we answered
Does a deadbolt work with a storm door or screen door?
It does, with one check: the thumb-turn and the outside cylinder have to clear the storm door when it closes. Most storm doors leave enough depth, but a low-profile deadbolt trim is chosen where the gap is tight. The storm door's own latch is separate and does not replace a bolt on the main door, since a screen frame gives little resistance on its own.
Will drilling a new deadbolt damage my steel or fibreglass door?
Not when it is done for that door. Steel-clad doors are cut with a fine-toothed hole saw run slowly through the skin, guided by a jig so the saw cannot skate on the smooth face, and finished from both sides so each skin stays clean. Fibreglass is scored first so the surface does not chip. Shavings are vacuumed from the foam core, and the edge is finished with a collar or plate suited to the stile inside.
What do backset and bore mean, and why does the locksmith ask?
Two measurements decide whether a deadbolt fits your door. Bore is the diameter of the big hole through the face, 54 mm on most current hardware. Backset is how far the centre of that hole sits from the door's edge, 60 mm or 70 mm on nearly all residential doors. A replacement must match both to use the existing holes, and a fresh installation is cut to match the knob below, so knowing them ahead puts the right hardware on the van.
Why does the locksmith care so much about the strike plate?
Because that is where a kicked door fails. The bolt is strong, but it sits in a pocket in the jamb held by a thin plate and short screws, and a boot splits the wood around it. A reinforced strike or box strike fastened with three-inch screws into the wall framing spreads the blow along the frame. It is the least visible part of the upgrade and often the one that does the most.
Open 24/7
Request a visit
Get in touch when you're ready.
Call now · open 24/7(289) 278-0778- On-site assessment preferred
- Same fees day, night or weekend
- 13 years in business