Buying a home: lock replacement = SOP? AND Dealing with Antique Locks

[JHZR2]

Hi,

My current plan is to close on my home at the end of this month.

Other than going to college and grad school (and the apartment from then I still live in because its so cheap and decent), my family has never moved. My parents have obtained two additional homes in their time, but they built both new. Our main home used to be lied in by my grandparents long ago... So I and they have no real experience...

When you buy a preexisting home from someone, is it standard procedure to replace all of the outer locks? I totally trust the folks Im buying my home from, but all the same.. is it just the thing to do?

If I want to replace locks, what is the brand to buy? I plan on living here a good while, its a great home that my fiancee and I both love. I dont mind spending a few extra bucks... is Schlage the best brand? I seem to see them used in a lot of high utilization lock systems.

OK question number two... antique door handles and associated lock systems... My parents have one of these that is very similar, but they have an outer entry (with this kind of lock) and then an inner entry (with a deadbolt with key on both sides)... Im talking about a door that has an inside and outside handle, with an outer keyhole, an inner quarter turn thing, and a second 'bar' that comes out from the mechanism to be an extra lock, besides the little thing that the doorknob turns...

Sorry my description is so poor...

The issue is this: there is only one exterior door on the front of the house (i.e. not a mudroom or whatnot with an interior fully locking door). The door is an original, antique, very nice old wood, with beveled (I think thats the right term) glass and lots of it. Looks perfect.

If I want to rekey this one, I need to replace the tumbler without replacing the rest of the mechanism (to keep it original). Is this doable?

Now, the bigger issue... the inside had a quarter turn mecanism to push out the other additional heavier locking 'thing'... they took off the quarter turn handle, so now if you want it really double locked, you have to do it from the outside with the key. I suppose its too easy to break the glass and let yourself right on in, if the hande is there. So, the question is, is there a way to retrofit this to, say, a deadbolt with a keyhole on the outside and inside, without ruining the original look? If not what would you suggest for optimal security while maintaining the old door? Dont use that double lock and install a second deadbolt with a keyhole on the inside and outside to prevent intrusion???

Sorry once again that this is so long and poorly described... Im just trying to learn things that I dont know much about.

Any advice or insight would be most appreciated. Thanks!

JMH

 

[andyd]

The lock cores are interchangable. The holes bored in the door are standard sizes. There are 2 common back sets, the distance from the center of the hole to the edge of the door. 2 3/8, and 2 3/4. Schlage is a big outfit, they carry cheaper lines which are junk and better stuff which isnt. Older mortise type locksets are fairly standard too. Find your self a lock smith and chat him up. Myself, I wouldnt bother with re-keying,

 

[blupupher]

Yes, you need to change the locks. You just never know who has a key to the house. I found out 6 months after I moved into my house that a neighbor 6 houses down from me had a key to the old locks to my house. The previous owner was friends with them and gave them one.

To just re-key the existing mechanism, you would need a locksmith or find the original maker of the locks.

The deadbolt (the "bar") needs to have a key on both sides to be really secure as you already figured out. Not sure if you can retrofit an existing one.

Cheapest is to go to Lowes, Ace Hardware or Home Depot and look at their selection of locks. They have "antiqued" sets that look OK.

 

[JHZR2]

Its really not that hard to replace that stuff yourself, right? I guess replacing cores is more invlved, but if the back and side doors just have regular deadbolts, they can just be unscrewed and replaced, right?

Thanks for such quick help!

JMH

 

[labman]

I have messed with locks a little. Especially if I have a few extra parts, I can fix a lock to work a different existing key. It is a simple matter of rearranging the tumblers and filing them flush with the side of the lock cylinder.

If I was buying locks, I would go to the hardware store and buy Kwickset. When I moved into my house in 1977, it had Harlock key in the knob locks. I found Harlock dead bolts at Wicks. Years passed. Some of the lock and door latch parts wore out. Do you have any idea how often dogs want in or out? Wicks doesn't carry Harlock brand any more. In fact most building supplies don't carry much in the way of replacement parts. You want replacement parts, go to the hardware store. They carry Kwickset and maybe Schlage.
Kwickset may not be the very best locks, but you should be able to find parts for them in 20 years.

I would take your antique lock apart and run around the hardware stores and building supplies and look for double cylinder locks that would work with it. If you have to throw the outside part away and use the inside part fine. Might try the net if it has a brand name on it. Seems like a real shame not to make it work. If you can't find the parts you need, you could call a locksmith.

Changing the key partly depends on how you feel about the former owners and anybody they trusted, the meter reader, Culligan, etc. Any lock smith can do it. Likely you can too. I won't be around all next week to help.

 

[JHZR2]

thanks for the insight!

 

[Gary Allan]

I've used Kwiksets for around 25 years. We changed all locks when tenants changed. They aren't the best ..but I've found that even expensive stuff fatigues when people (even your own family) abuses stuff. Everyone appears to like to slam their hip against the door before fully retracting the bolt.

 

[Bret Chase]

What brand to buy depends greatly on how much you want to spend. Best and Sargeant are real commercial grade brands.. figure $150-$400 a set. Schlage is decent stuff if you don't buy the line they sell at Wal-Mart.., IMHO Kwikset is just junk. At work I've probably put in 500 locksets of varying quality.. I definately like best and sargeant the best. as for your mortise lock, call a locksmith, re-keying those old sets isn't really that hard. you can also buy new mortise locks, big $$ though.

and I'd change the locks.

 

[moribundman]

I like ABUS locks. Anyway, whatever lock you choose, make sure the door itself is at least as good and safe as the lock you put in.

 

[Amkeer]

If its residential and you want good entry locksets go with Baldwin. If its utility access door such as garage entry use Schlage.

 

[Bob Woods]

With todays construction standards its easy to have a lock that's better than the door. I owned rentals for years and changed the locks and deadbolts between tenents everytime. Like an earlier poster yonever know who has keys to it.

 

[1sttruck]

Cheaper door locks with large, thick strike plates installed with large, long screws into the framing, and maybe a sliding bolt at shoulder height, will do much better than fancy locks using strike plates installed with the typical hardware. From what I've seen if you kick a door the first thing to usually give is the strike plate, then the door around the lock on wooden doors. A small sledge will take off pretty much any door handle, which is why a deadbolt makes sense.

The life you save with good locks may not only be that of your own or your family, but of others too. Someone pounding on the door late one night, yelling to open the door, ended up with a weapon being trained on them. The door held, so I asked where they thought they were; thru the peep hole I saw a drunk stumble back, look at the address, curse, and stumble off into the night.

 

[Matt_S]

I lean toward Schlage myself and would not install a Kwikset lock on an exterior door (too cheap). All my exterior locks, with the exception of the patio sliding door (which uses the old-fashioned 1x2 in the door track mechanism), are Schlage. I got a matching set so both of the handles and both of the deadbolts use the same key (1 key for all four). That's very handy, but maybe not the best for security.

As far as security is concerned, though, I have yet to see a deadbolt that can stop a prybar and a determined thief. Just get a quality set, but definitely change them out.

 

[JHZR2]

wow, so many options to consider... Thanks!

JMH

 

[Hirev]

I installed Kwikset locks on my current house when I 1st moved in. Had one fail via very thin c clip broke and it popped its guts out when I was not home. I replaced them all with Schlage after that. While comparing the Schlage with Kwikset locks I realized how poorly made on the inside the Kwikset locks were, lessen learned.

 

[eljefino]

check your building codes regarding locks with inside key cylinders.

Good for glass doors, bad for emergency egress.

At least have an escape key hanging nearby, and not in sight of any windows or arms' reach through a smashed door pane.

 

[JackAlan]

Use electric lock system which have more security then other lock systems. Biometric lock system need finger print as well as hidden code for unlocking.
As you said that home remain empty, so this lock system consider better for more prefer security.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Certainly resurrected this thread from the graveyard.

 

[hattaresguy]

On every piece of property I buy the locks get changed the day of the closing. I have been in real estate to long, I don't trust anyone.

If I don't have time to do a proper job I screw latch's and pad lock them to each exterior door.

You would be amazed at the stories I have heard. I bought what was left of a house a few months ago where a crazy ex renter had the keys and got in, and torched it.

 

[JHZR2]

Yeah an old one. Took care of this long ago.