Josh-the-Locksmith
25 Years Experience
Austin, TX
Male, 46
I've been a locksmith since 1998. I did automotive residential & commercial work from 1998 to 2008. From 2008 to 2018, I did some residential, but mostly commercial work. I have been project managing & estimating since 2018. I used to locksmith in the Chicago area, now the Austin area.
Sounds like you're using a combination lever handle. Maybe get a combo deadbolt instead? Schlage makes the best residential combo deadbolts on the market in my opinion.
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If you had the plug in your hand, you'll see 6 brass wafers. 5 are matched to the cuts of your key, & the one all the way at the end by the tip of your key is called a "retainer". That is what holds the plug inside its housing. The spring or wafer may be wore out. You probably need to replace the whole plug. A locksmith can order those, or you may be able to buy it online. To reinstall it correctly, you'll need to put your key into the plug, & on the back of the plug you'll see it has a rectangular drive. If you look into the housing you'll see a female rectangular shape. The plug seems like it could go in 2 ways, but it actually will only go in 1 way. If after you've pushed the plug in, if it's sticking out an 1/8" or more, you have it in wrong. Flip it 180 degrees & try again. If you have it in correctly, it should only be sticking out about 1/16" of an inch. Hold the plug & pull your key out. You'll need a stiff paper clip or something similar to reach into the far back of the plug & pull that retainer back as you push on the plug. It should fall in once you've pulled that retainer back. Once seated correctly, it will be flush.
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No, I have never come across one of those.
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Unfortunately yes you have to replace the entire desdbolt. There are a few replacement parts needed for the conversion, & manufacturers just don't sell conversion kits. But hey, look on the bright side, if you just bought your house, you need to rekey your locks anyways, so you're killing 2 birds with 1 stone!
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That's a hard question to answer since I don't know what area you live in. I believe Pop-a-lock does subcontacting & they're nationwide. There aren't many though.
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It's difficult to give you any advice the way you're describing it. It's illegal for a locksmith to cut a high security key for someone who isn't listed as an authorized person, so unless it's a very shady locksmith, that's probably not a possibility. Most likely they got in another way. If you don't see some serious pry marks on your door or deadbolt, then they probably didn't get in that way. Your deadbolt may just need to be tightened. It sounds like you need to have a locksmith come out & give you some options. It's awfully difficult for me to give you advice without seeing what you're talking about in this case.
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I think working for another well-rounded locksmith for at least 5-10 years would give you enough training to start a locksmith business. Why not get paid to learn the trade? Otherwise you'll spend all your time learning instead of making money. This is 1 of those jobs where most of what you learn, you'll learn in the field. ALOA puts on a lot of classes, there are online classes, & there's always Youtube!
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