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PrestonLocksmith Co.Open 24/7 (226) 807-5217
Person holding a black door-handle assembly and a latch beside a glazed door with exposed lock openings. — Smart Lock Installation, Cambridge

Change or rekey · Cambridge

Smart Lock Installation

Your mother still lives on her own, and the personal support worker, the pharmacy delivery and two siblings all need to get in on different days. Cutting keys for everyone feels wrong; a code for each person, with a log, feels right.

In plain words

For a landlord, a host or anyone who shares a door with people who come and go, the appeal is control without key cutting. Each tenant, guest, cleaner or contractor gets a code of their own, with a start and end date where the model allows, and removing someone takes seconds instead of a trip across town. The installation includes setting up that structure: an owner account, a small register of who holds what, and a routine for retiring codes at turnover. In a rented home the change is agreed with the tenant or landlord first, since both sides need a working way in.

Sound familiar?Cambridge

The call
There are four copies of the front-door key floating around: one with the cleaner, one with a neighbour, one on a hook at your parents' place, and one you honestly cannot account for. You would rather hand out codes you can switch off.

NextHow the visit goes

Smart Lock Installation · Cambridge

How the visit goes

Technician fitting a steel door knob into a door beside a deadbolt, with an open tool bag of screwdrivers nearby.
  1. Scene 1

    Storm doors, sun and weather on the entrance

    The outside of the lock lives in the weather, so the locksmith looks at what the entrance throws at it. A storm door with full glass can turn the space between the doors into an oven on a July afternoon, and electronics have a temperature ceiling; a vented storm door or a model rated for that exposure solves it. A keypad that faces prevailing wind collects driving snow and freezing rain, which argues for a covered entry or a lock with a shielded touch surface. Salt spray from a nearby driveway attacks finishes over time. None of these rule out a smart lock; they steer the choice of model, finish and mounting.

  2. Scene 2

    Rekeying the override so the old key retires

    Most keypad deadbolts keep a small conventional backup cylinder, and leaving it on the old key would undo half the point of the upgrade. The locksmith removes it, slides the plug out with a follower, repins it to a fresh combination, then cuts and tests new keys. Where the household wants one key for everything and the cylinders share a compatible keyway, the back and side doors are rekeyed to the same combination so a single key runs the override and the mechanical locks alike. Some makers reset the cylinder with a tool and the new key rather than by repinning; the method changes, the outcome is the same. The old key no longer opens any cylinder that was rekeyed.

  3. Scene 3

    A written record without your secrets in it

    The visit closes with a plain note of what was done: the model fitted, the door corrections made, whether the strike was reinforced, which override cylinder was rekeyed and how many keys were cut, and which other doors were brought onto the same key. What the note never contains is a code, a password or a login; those exist only on your account and in your head. For a tenant, that record is the thing to share with a landlord so both sides know what hardware is on the door and that a working way in exists. For an owner, it simply goes in the folder with the house documents.

In the van

  • Manufacturer-specified batteries
  • Dry PTFE lubricant
  • Wi-Fi bridge or home hub
  • Adjustable-backset bolt and faceplate
  • Hinge shims and long hinge screws

What shapes the quotePreston Locksmith Co.

Number of users and codes to program
Setting up two codes for a couple is different from configuring a household of six plus a cleaner's schedule and a landlord's master. The count of codes and schedules is a fair part of the labour.
Removing an old mortise or non-standard lock
Older doors sometimes carry a mortise case or a lock with an unusual footprint. Filling the pocket, plugging holes and re-drilling to the standard preparation is careful joinery, and it is quoted as preparation.
Condition and fit of the door
A door that already closes true with standard holes is the simplest install. One that needs hinges shimmed, a strike pocket deepened or holes enlarged adds preparation time, and that work is quoted as its own line.

FeesSame any hour

Have it ready

Before you call · 0 / 3

(226) 807-5217

Good questions about locks

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.

Can you set up codes for my kids, the cleaner and the dog walker?

Yes, and separate codes for each of them is the whole point. During setup a code is created per person, so you can see who came in and remove one person without affecting the rest. Where the model allows, the cleaner's code can be limited to certain hours and days, and a one-time code can be made for a delivery or a contractor. Children's codes are set short enough to remember and changed if they are overheard.

Do I still get a key?

In most cases, yes. The majority of keypad deadbolts keep a conventional cylinder behind or beside the keypad, and the locksmith rekeys it during the visit so a fresh key works and the old one is retired. A few designs have no keyway at all and rely on the keypad plus an emergency power contact instead. Which you prefer is part of choosing the model, and either way the fallback route is tested before the locksmith leaves.

Cambridgeinformation

WaterlooOntario

Smart Lock Installation · Hespeler, Preston, Blair

Town
Cambridge, Waterloo
In business
26 years
Hours
Open 24/7
Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
Visits
On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.

2021 census: what it means at the door

Every square is one home in a hundred.

  • 48 in 100 homes · mixed ages
  • About 48% of homes in Cambridge were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.Mixed housing stock keeps a locksmith versatile. A morning might be a heritage mortise lock rebuilt and an afternoon a smart lock paired to a phone on a steel door. The same care goes into both, with tools and parts for each.
  • Single-detached houses make up about 57% of homes in Cambridge (2021 Census).Mixed housing brings mixed hardware ages as well as types. A locksmith may rebuild a mortise lock on a semi-detached house and then set up a keypad on a townhouse door across the road, and treats each with the care its owner expects.

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile

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On-site assessment

Request a visit.

Your mother still lives on her own, and the personal support worker, the pharmacy delivery and two siblings all need to get in on different days.

(226) 807-5217, open 24/7.