Change or rekey · Markham
Smart Lock Installation
The deadbolt is a stiff double-cylinder model that needs a key from both sides, and in the dark hallway finding it is a nuisance.
In plain words
Smart lock installation puts an electronic deadbolt or lever on your door that opens with a code, a phone, a fob or a fingerprint, and, on some models, a conventional key too. The locksmith confirms you control the property, measures the door and its holes, and makes sure the bolt travels freely, because a battery motor has less strength than a hand. The hardware is fitted with a solid strike, the maker's specified batteries go in, and the lock is set up under your own account. You leave with codes working and, on a keyed model, the override key tested and the old key retired.
How the visit goesThe rental turns over every few months and each time you drive across town to swap keys, then wonder whether copies were made. A lock with codes you can set and erase from your phone would end that cycle.
Smart Lock Installation
How the visit goes
Will the bolt travel on its own?
The most important test takes moments and uses no tools. With the door closed and nobody touching it, the locksmith turns the existing thumb-turn with two fingers and feels whether the bolt glides into the strike or has to be forced. A motor has less strength than a hand, so any drag here is drag the smart lock will fight every day until its batteries give out. Hinges that have let the door drop, a strike pocket that is shallow or off-centre, and weatherstrip that pushes the door out of square are the usual culprits, and each is something the locksmith can correct before the new hardware goes on.
Fitting the bolt, the body and the strike
With the door ready, the mechanical parts go in first. The new bolt is set to the door's backset and slid into the edge bore with its face plate flush. The outside assembly, keypad or touch surface, is placed with its cable fed through the cross bore, and the inside mounting plate is fixed so the two halves clamp the door without twisting. Screws are driven by hand rather than with an impact driver, because an over-tightened housing binds the motor. The interior unit is seated on the plate and the tailpiece aligned so the thumb-turn and the motor share the same travel. A reinforced strike with long screws replaces the light original.
The override key has a home
With codes doing the daily work, the mechanical key is easy to forget, and forgetting where it lives is how a dead battery turns into a lockout. On a keyed model, the locksmith hands you the new keys for the rekeyed override cylinder before leaving, and talks through where they should stay: one on a keyring that leaves the house, one with a trusted neighbour or in a combination lockbox fixed somewhere discreet. Try that key in the lock every few months so the cylinder stays free and you know it still turns. If other doors were rekeyed to match, the same key now runs the whole house, and the previous keys can go in the recycling.
Smart Lock Installation
In the van
Hole saw, spade bit and drilling jig
Reinforced box strike with long screws
Mechanical override cylinder and repinning kit
Adjustable-backset bolt and faceplate
Wi-Fi bridge or home hub
Smart Lock Installation
What affects the quote
Taking over an existing smart lock
Resetting, re-enrolling and cleaning the permissions on a lock that came with the property is a different job from fitting new hardware: less cutting, more account work, and it is quoted on its own footing.
Door thickness and material
Thick doors need an extension kit, very thin or glass-panelled doors need particular models, and steel or fibreglass skins take longer to cut cleanly than wood. Each of these shapes both the parts list and the time.
Rekeying the override cylinder and other locks
Repinning the smart lock's backup cylinder to a new key, cutting the keys and bringing the remaining mechanical locks onto the same key are each counted per cylinder and per key.
What to have ready
- How strong is the Wi-Fi signal when you stand at that door?
- What lock is on the door now: a separate deadbolt, a knob, a lever or a mortise lock?
- Which door is the smart lock for, and what is it made of?
Smart Lock Installation: questions
QuestionsI am a landlord. Are smart locks a good fit for my rental?
They suit turnover well: a departing tenant's code is deleted and a new one created without cutting keys or wondering about copies. Two things to plan for. The tenant in place must always have a working way in, which usually means their own code plus a key to the override cylinder, and any lock change on an occupied unit is done with the tenant's knowledge. Set the administrator account up under the property, not a departing employee, so control stays with you.
I rent. Can I have a smart lock installed?
Yes, with your landlord's agreement first. Tenancy rules in this province expect a tenant to have the landlord's consent before changing a lock, and expect the landlord to have a working way in, so the sensible route is a short conversation and a note of what will be fitted. A retrofit model that mounts inside and keeps the existing exterior lock and key is often the easiest thing for a landlord to say yes to, since the door is unchanged from outside.
What information should I have ready when I call?
The door's material and rough thickness, what lock is on it now and whether it is a separate deadbolt above a knob or lever, and whether there is a storm door. Say what you want the lock to do: codes only, phone control, alerts, auto-lock. Mention how the Wi-Fi is at the front door if you know, whether you rent or own, and how many people need their own way in. A photo of the inside and outside of the existing lock is a real help.
