High security · Vaughan
High Security Locks
A colleague showed you a video of a lock being opened with a bump key in a few seconds.
In plain words
Think of the upgrade as four layers working together. The cylinder resists picking, bumping and drilling. The deadbolt resists sawing and kicking with a long, hardened bolt. The strike and screws keep the frame from splitting when the door is struck. And the key control stops copies being made without your say-so. A locksmith assesses your door for each layer and tells you where it is weak, because a strong cylinder screwed into a soft frame gains you little. Most homes end up with a graded deadbolt and a patented cylinder; businesses often step up to laboratory-rated cylinders and heavier lock bodies.
How the visit goesYou 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.
High Security Locks
How the visit goes
The fit of new hardware to old doors
Older houses in this region have doors that predate modern hardware: narrower stiles, a mortise pocket already cut, a thick slab door or a steel-clad door with a specific backset. The locksmith measures the bore, backset, door thickness and edge preparation so the chosen deadbolt or cylinder fits without hacking at the door. Where a mortise lock is present, a high-security mortise cylinder often replaces the old one directly. Where a knob lock is the only lock, the assessment includes where a new deadbolt bore would sit and whether the frame can take a proper strike.
Testing the whole assembly
The finish is a methodical test. Every key is cycled in every lock from both sides, with the door open and then closed and latched. The bolt is watched entering the strike pocket to confirm it throws fully and does not drag. The door is pushed and pulled while locked to feel for play at the strike or hinges. Cylinders receive a dry lubricant approved for their mechanism. Then the locksmith walks you through the operation, the key control documents and the record of hardware fitted, so you know both how to use the door and how to order the next key.
A known number of keys
The most noticeable change is not in the door but in your head. You know exactly how many keys exist, who holds each one and that nobody can add to that number without your authorisation. The system is registered in your name with the locksmith, so a request for an extra key comes back to you rather than being filled at a counter somewhere. Keep the authorisation card or login details somewhere safe and separate from the keys. When a key is lost, tell the locksmith; the record is updated and you can decide together whether that key's loss warrants any further step.
High Security Locks
In the van
Code key cutting machine
Three-inch strike and hinge screws
High-security cylinder
Key control authorisation card
Box strike
High Security Locks
What affects the quote
Number of doors
Each door gets its own cylinder or lock, strike work and testing. Several doors on one keyway share the setup cost of the key system but add hardware and time per opening.
Condition of the door itself
A solid door that hangs true takes hardware straight away. A dropped, swollen or hollow door may need hinge work, shimming or a recommendation to replace the slab before the lock is worth fitting.
Number of keys cut
Every key is cut from code on a machine that handles side bitting or angled cuts, so the count of keys you want at handover is a real line rather than a rounding error.
What to have ready
- Which locks are on the door now: knob only, knob and deadbolt, a mortise lock or a lever?
- How many keys exist today, and are you confident of that number?
- Does the door drag, stick in cold weather or need lifting to lock?
High Security Locks: questions
QuestionsWill my door look different afterwards?
Barely. A high security cylinder sits in the same place as the old one and is usually distinguished only by a different keyway shape and sometimes a hardened collar. A graded deadbolt is a standard-looking deadbolt in your chosen finish. The reinforced strike is longer than the plate it replaces and the wrap-around reinforcer, if used, shows as a neat metal band on the door edge. The difference is felt when you lock up, not seen from the street.
What actually makes a lock high security?
Three things working together. The cylinder has a second locking mechanism, usually a sidebar released by finger pins or rotating pins, plus hardened steel in the path of a drill, so picking, bumping and drilling take far longer than on an ordinary lock. The deadbolt and strike are heavier and fastened into the framing. And the key is cut on a patented or restricted blank that only an authorised person can have copied. Remove any one and the door is weaker than the label suggests.
Can a hardware store or kiosk copy my new key?
No. The blank for a patented keyway is distributed only through the manufacturer's network to locksmiths who hold the system, and the side milling or angled cuts need a machine set up for that line. A kiosk would have neither the blank nor the cut. Extra keys come through your locksmith, cut from code, once an authorised person has approved the order. That routine is a small inconvenience compared with never knowing who has a copy.
