Change or rekey · Aurora
Gate & Building Entry Locks
The gate to the side yard used to close with a satisfying click. After a winter of frost heaving the fence post, the latch now sits a full inch below where the strike is waiting for it, and the gate swings free no matter how hard it is pulled shut.
Call now · open 24/7(289) 802-6293In plain words
Some building entries add a buzzer, a keypad or an electric strike to the mechanical lock, and any one of those pieces can be the reason a door stops releasing on cue. This service checks the wiring, the power supply and the mechanical override together with the lock itself, rather than assuming the fault sits wherever the last person guessed. Whatever combination of electronic and mechanical hardware the entry uses, it leaves working as one system: a mechanical key still able to open it wherever the installed lock provides one, and a fail-safe strike or maglock still releasing on its own if the power ever goes out.
How the visit goesThe padlock on the side gate has gone stiff every winter for three years running, and this year the key simply will not turn past the first few pins. Salt spray off the road and a season of meltwater have left the cylinder pitted and reluctant.
Gate & Building Entry Locks · Aurora
How the visit goes
- 1
Weather exposure and corrosion
A gate lock lives outside in every season, so the assessment looks specifically for what weather has already done to it: pitting on the cylinder face, a stiff plug that hints at rust inside, green corrosion around a padlock shackle, or a closer that has started to weep hydraulic fluid. Ground-level hardware near a driveway or walkway gets checked especially closely, since de-icing salt collects there over winter. What this turns up decides whether the existing hardware can be cleaned and lubricated or whether weather has already gone past what maintenance alone can address.
- 2
Freeing a seized or salted padlock
A padlock or gate cylinder stiffened by rust, dried grease or old grit is worked open with patience: a penetrating product suited to locks, gentle heat where appropriate, and a pick or the original key worked in small movements rather than forced. Where the internals have corroded past saving, the padlock or cylinder is replaced with a weather-rated unit built for that kind of exposure. Afterward the mechanism is dried and treated with the lubricant the manufacturer specifies for that cylinder, since the right product for one model can gum up another.
- 3
Everyone currently there has a matching key
If the visit involved a rekey, every current resident, tenant or key holder leaves with a key cut to the new combination, and a short written note of who received one. Anyone who moved out before the change is now holding a key that no longer fits whichever gate or door was rekeyed, though it may still turn any other cylinder on the property that kept its old combination. Where several gates or doors were brought onto the same key, each one is tested in your hand before the locksmith leaves, so you are not left guessing which key opens which gate the next time you need one after dark.
In the van
- Cylinder decoder and pick set
- Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
- Corrosion-resistant fasteners
- Gate locks and latches
- Key blanks and code cutter
What affects the quote
- 1
Time of year and weather on the day
A cylinder frozen solid or a closer stiffened by cold takes patient work before adjustment or replacement can even begin, so a call made during a cold snap is quoted with that extra time in mind.
- 2
Weather-rated versus standard hardware
Hardware built and sealed for outdoor exposure differs from standard indoor-grade hardware, and choosing the weather-rated option for anything mounted outside is reflected in the parts portion of the quote.
- 3
Any damage from a prior forced entry
Where pry marks, a bent strike or a cut hasp are found, repairing or replacing that damaged hardware is additional to a routine lock adjustment, and the locksmith points out what was already there before quoting it.
Same fees day, night or weekend.
Gate & Building Entry Locks: questions
What is the difference between a gate lock and a regular door lock?
A gate lock is built to work outdoors, so it usually pairs a latch or bolt with a closer that swings the gate shut on its own using its own spring, rather than relying on a person to push it home. The cylinder tends to be weather-rated, and the whole assembly fits a gate frame or post rather than a conventional door jamb. A building entry door, by contrast, often combines this outdoor hardware with an interior-style latch or an electric strike.
Should every gate on my property share one key, or is it better to keep them separate?
Either can make sense, and the choice usually comes down to who uses which gate and how often. A household that walks through the front and side gates daily generally prefers one key for both, while a gate that only a landscaper or utility worker uses is sometimes kept on its own key deliberately, so lending it out does not hand over access to everything else. The locksmith can lay out both options once every gate on the property has been looked at.
Does this service cover the gate itself, or only the lock?
Both, where the two are connected, which on a gate they usually are. A locksmith working on a gate lock also looks at the hinges, the post and the closer, since a lock rarely fails on its own when the real cause is a sagging gate or a post that has shifted. Work that goes beyond hardware the locksmith carries, such as rebuilding a rotted post or a damaged fence panel, is flagged so it can be handled by whoever normally does that kind of repair.
York, Ontario
Aurora information
- Town
- Aurora, York, Ontario
- In business
- 13 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 802-6293
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
What the census means at the door
22%
Newer homes. About 22% of homes in Aurora were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
Households in newer homes are often keen on keypads, fobs and phone-controlled locks. Standard doors make installation straightforward, and the locksmith spends more of the visit setting codes and pairing devices than on carpentry.
60%
Mostly houses. Single-detached houses make up about 60% of homes in Aurora (2021 Census).
Garage entry doors on detached houses are often the household's real front door, used more than the formal entry. They deserve the same quality of lock, and keying them alike with the house means one key does the whole daily routine.
Open 24/7
Request a visit
The gate to the side yard used to close with a satisfying click.
Call now · open 24/7(289) 802-6293- On-site assessment preferred
- Same fees day, night or weekend
- 13 years in business