Sometimes the honest answer is a full lock change: a cylinder that fights every key, a handle set that no longer matches the door, a break-up where rekeying feels like half a measure. For homes across Percy Boom we replace the hardware, match the finish to what is already on the house and hand over new keys. The same crew covers Dartford, English Line, Green Acres, Hoards and Meyersburg.
Northumberland, Ontario
2021 census · what it means at the door
64%Older homes
About 64% of homes in Trent Hills were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
Basement and side entries on older homes were often fitted long after the house was built, with whatever lock was on hand. Bringing those doors up to the standard of the front entry, and onto the same key, is a common and satisfying job.
88%Mostly houses
Single-detached houses make up about 88% of homes in Trent Hills (2021 Census).
In areas of single houses, the door nobody watches is the side or back entry. It often has the weakest lock on the property. Fitting a proper deadbolt and a reinforced strike there is a modest job that closes the obvious gap.
Locksmith services
This is the working list of services for Percy Boom: the jobs a locksmith gets asked to do week in and week out. Lockouts and broken keys. Rekeys and lock changes. Deadbolts, high-security cylinders and smart locks. Commercial hardware and master key systems. Safe opening. And key cutting, house and vehicle alike.
Percy Boom
Home Lockout ServiceAfter a week of humid weather the back door has swollen in its frame.
Business Lockout ServiceAfter last night's power flicker the card reader beside the clinic door shows nothing.
Seized & Jammed Lock OpeningThe key slides all the way in, exactly as it has for years, and then refuses to turn in either direction.
Lock Replacement & UpgradeSomeone tried the back door while you were away.
Commercial RekeyingThe drawer behind the counter holds a tangle of keys with tape labels: front old, side, Dave.
Panic & Exit HardwareTwo doors used to swing as a pair at the community hall entrance, but one leaf has started closing before the other, catching the…
Commercial-Grade Lock ReplacementAn inspection report flagged the rear exit as needing hardware that opens with one motion and no key, and that door currently has…
Transponder Key ProgrammingThe blade snapped off flush with the door lock last winter, and the shop that cut a replacement only matched the metal shape.
Ignition Lock RepairThe car arrived with one worn-looking key and a story about a lost spare.Change or rekey
Home work is mostly about who holds a key. Moving in, a lodger leaving, a lost spare, a lock that sticks every winter.
High security
Most people think of the lock. Burglars think of the frame.
Percy Boom
Home Lockout Service
It is minus fifteen, the wind is coming across the driveway, and the key will only go halfway into the deadbolt. Yesterday's thaw left water in the keyway and overnight it froze solid. Forcing it only makes the metal flex.
Home Lockout Service
Percy Boom
In Percy Boom we think about how a door is actually used before choosing hardware. A back door staff prop open needs a different answer than a front door a family uses twice a day. A side entry for a teenager who forgets keys may want a keypad. We ask those questions first, then match the lock to the habit.
— Auburn Mills Locksmith Co.
Hours
Open 24/7
Rekeying is a change made inside the lock rather than to the lock itself. Many keyed cylinders hold a row of small pins that have to sit at exactly the right heights before the plug will turn, set by the cuts on your key, though some residential cylinders use a side-locking bar instead of pins.
1 of 3
We walk the house with you, note every exterior lock and ask which doors you want on one key. That decides the pin work and the number of keys to cut.
2 of 3
Each cylinder comes out, gets new pins to match a fresh key, and goes back in. Old keys stop working the moment the cylinder is back in place.
3 of 3
We try each new key in each lock, from outside and inside, hand you the set and explain how many copies exist so you know exactly who can get in.
Three habits cover most households. Give a spare key to someone you trust who lives nearby. Fix a small combination lockbox somewhere discreet on the property for the one day a year everyone is out at once. And if you have a keypad lock, add a code for a family member and keep the mechanical override key on your keyring rather than in a drawer inside. The locksmith can set up any of these before leaving.
On a door people leave through while the building is occupied, the door needs to open from inside with one motion and no key, so a key-both-sides bolt is not the right tool there. Security is added instead with a heavy-duty exit device and a reinforced strike, a keyed trim outside, an alarm contact, or a door position sensor on the access system, all of which keep the way out clear.
The tailpiece is the flat bar that sticks out of the back of a deadbolt cylinder and turns the bolt mechanism when the key turns; on a knob or lever set the equivalent part is a cam or spindle. It carries all the twisting effort, so a bent, worn or broken one is the reason a key can turn without anything happening. It is a small part to replace, it comes in several lengths, and the right length matters.
One visit usually covers every door on the job. The locksmith brings a range of cylinders and strikes, measures each door's backset and bore, and works through the list in order, front entrance first if a key change matters most there. Having a rough list ready, which doors, and whether they should end up on one key or several, lets the locksmith plan hardware before arriving rather than working it out door by door on site.
It needs a plug that rotates without catching, pins that return under their springs, and a face free of heavy corrosion or cracks. Most commercial cylinders in daily use pass easily. Ones that are stiff, gritty or green with salt bloom can sometimes be cleaned and repinned, and the locksmith will say when a replacement for that door is the better value; the rest of the doors are rekeyed regardless.
On-site assessment preferred
Ask about a spare key before you need one. Talk to us about access for your staff.
Open 24/7 · same fees any hour
On-site assessment preferred · (249) 494-5980 · open 24/7
