Residential Locksmith in Fort Myers and Lee County

Call and tell us the address, whether you have ID showing you live there, and what kind of door it is. A front door, a slider and a garage entry door are three different jobs.

We open the vast majority of residential locks without damaging anything. Drilling is a last resort, not an opener. If someone tells you on arrival that your lock has to be drilled before they have tried anything, that is a warning sign rather than a diagnosis.

Once you are inside, we will tell you honestly whether the lock is worth keeping. Sometimes a lockout is a symptom of hardware that is about to fail anyway.

Rekeying changes which key operates a lock without replacing the hardware. The lock stays on the door. Old keys stop working. It is almost always cheaper than replacing, and on decent hardware it is the right answer.

The times it makes sense:

• You just bought the house and have no idea who holds a key
• A tenant moved out
• You lost a key and do not know where
• A relationship ended, or a contractor, cleaner or sitter had a copy
• You have four different keys for one house and want one

That last one is worth calling out. Multiple locks can usually be rekeyed to a single key, as long as the hardware is compatible. Most people do not know that is an option and go on carrying four keys.

Rekeying is not always right. If the hardware is worn, the finish is failing, or it is builder grade from twenty years ago, you are rekeying something that is about to give up. We will say so.

Deciding between the two is the whole question, and we wrote it up properly here: Should you rekey, replace or upgrade your locks

A lock that has to be lifted, jiggled or shouldered is not a quirk. It is a warning. The usual causes here are humidity, salt air, and doors that have swelled or shifted enough to throw the latch out of alignment with the strike.

Common repairs:

• Latch not catching the strike plate
• Key turns but the bolt does not move
• Handle loose or drooping
• Deadbolt binding partway
• Lock stiff, gritty or seized from salt air
• Broken key snapped off in the cylinder

Do not force a stuck lock and do not spray WD-40 into a cylinder. It washes out the graphite and collects grit, and it turns a small repair into a replacement.

This is the most common door in Southwest Florida and the one most often ignored until it fails.

The factory latch on a slider is usually a small hook or clip that was cheap when the house was built. It wears, the door drops on its rollers, and eventually the latch stops meeting the keeper. It is also, on many homes, the least secure entry point on the property.

What we do:

• Replace worn or broken slider latches and keepers
• Fit keyed patio door locks so the slider locks from both sides
• Add secondary locks and foot bolts
• Realign doors where the latch no longer meets the keeper
• Lanai and pool enclosure door hardware

If your slider needs a shove to lock, the latch is not the only thing that has moved. Worth looking at before it stops locking entirely.

A deadbolt is only as strong as the strike and the screws holding it. A quality deadbolt fixed to a soft jamb with three quarter inch screws is a deadbolt in name.

When we install one we fit a reinforced strike and screws long enough to reach the framing behind the jamb, not just the trim. That single detail is the difference between a lock that resists a kick and one that does not.

We also fit high security cylinders with keys that cannot be copied at a hardware kiosk, which matters if you have had keys out with people you no longer want holding them.

Smart locks solve a specific problem, which is people needing access when you are not there. Cleaners, dog walkers, guests, family, a rental turnover. They do not make a weak door strong.

We install keypad and app controlled locks, and we will tell you honestly whether one fits your door before you buy it. Common issues we see:

• The door is out of alignment, so the motor cannot throw the bolt. Fix the door first
• The backset or door thickness is wrong for the model
• A metal or glass door limits which models work
• The old strike is not compatible with the new bolt

If you already bought one and it did not fit, we can usually still make it work.

Standard house keys cut on site. If your key is stamped “do not duplicate” or it is a restricted or high security key, tell us on the phone, because those need authorisation and cannot be cut over the counter.

If you are down to one key for the house, get a spare now. Duplicating a key you have is always cheaper than originating one you have lost.

It saves a trip charge and a wasted visit.

• Your address and whether you can prove you live there
• What kind of door and lock, roughly. A photo by text is faster than a description
• Whether you still have a working key
• Whether you are locked out right now or booking ahead
• If a slider is involved, whether the door itself has dropped

Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, Estero, Bonita Springs, North Fort Myers, Sanibel and the rest of Lee County.

We are a mobile service. There is no shop for you to drive to and no waiting for a slot. Call (239) 691-2426.