The knob flops loose on its spindle and never springs back to level. When you turn it the latch pulls in, but you have to push the knob back yourself, and lately the latch has started staying inside the door instead of catching.
Vintage mortise lock service is the repair of the original lock in an older door rather than its removal. The lock is a rectangular steel case that lives inside a pocket in the door edge, and nearly everything that goes wrong with it, a tired spring, dried grease, a worn hub, a lost key, can be put right on the bench. The locksmith confirms you own or occupy the home, takes the case out through the door edge, rebuilds it, sorts out the keys and puts it back in the same pocket. The door keeps its knobs, escutcheons and history, and it locks as it did when new.
Sound familiar?Beamsville
Vintage Mortise Lock Service · Beamsville
Scene 1
Standing at the open door, the locksmith looks at the narrow brass or steel plate in the door edge. Its height, the spacing of its screws, any maker's stamp, and whether it shows one bolt or two tell a good deal about what is inside: a latch-only case for an interior door, a latch and deadbolt case for an entry, or a privacy function with a turn button. The distance from the door edge to the centre of the knob, the backset, is measured, along with the spindle size. These figures decide which springs, followers and, if it comes to that, which replacement case will fit, so they are written down before the lock is disturbed.
Scene 2
A pin-tumbler cylinder on a mortise lock is serviced the same way as a modern one. The plug is pushed out with a follower, the old bottom pins are replaced to a new combination, and keys are cut to match, so a lost key stops mattering. If the plug is worn past rekeying, a new mortise cylinder is selected with the same thread length, the same cam shape and a finish close to the trim, and threaded into the case to the correct depth so the cam swings the bolt without binding. The set screw is seated into the cylinder's groove, and the key is tested with the case in the door.
Scene 3
Where a set of interior mortise latches was serviced together, you leave with bedroom and bathroom doors that close and stay closed, privacy turns that actually lock, and, if you wanted it, a single bit key that operates every interior lock the way the builder intended. A note of which key fits which door goes into the house file. Interior cases need almost no care beyond a drop of oil every couple of years and a check that a turn button has not been painted over. A child who locks a bathroom and cannot reopen it is released from outside with the bit key, so keep it somewhere the adults can reach.
What shapes the quoteBeamsville Locksmith Pros
FeesSame any hour
Almost certainly not. That pattern means the door has moved in its frame so the latch and bolt no longer meet the strike squarely. Solid wood doors in older houses swell in humid weather and settle on their hinges over the years. The service adjusts or shims the strike and tightens or packs the hinges so the bolt throws without lifting the door, and the lock itself is usually cleaned and lubricated at the same time.
Then a replacement case goes into the existing pocket. Reproduction mortise cases are made in the common vintage sizes and backsets, and a modern mortise case with a cylinder fits many old pockets with minor trimming. The locksmith measures the case height, depth, backset and trim spacing before ordering, aiming for the new case to drop in with the original knobs and plates going back on, though a small pocket trim or fixing change is sometimes needed. Cutting the door for a different kind of lock is the last choice.
A drop of the right lock oil into the latch and bolt once a year is plenty. If the lock has a pin-tumbler cylinder, use whatever lubricant that cylinder's maker specifies, since some take a dry graphite or PTFE product and others a specified liquid one. Try the latch and deadbolt each spring and fall; if the bolt starts to scrape, the strike wants a small adjustment before anything is strained. Keep bit keys out of a pocket where they bend.
NiagaraOntario
Vintage Mortise Lock Service · Lincoln, Vineland, Campden, Wellandport
Every square is one home in a hundred.
On-site assessment
The knob flops loose on its spindle and never springs back to level.
(289) 432-1169, open 24/7.
On-site assessment preferred · (289) 432-1169, open 24/7
