Locksmith

Locksmith

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.

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330 Questions

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Last Answer on June 11, 2024

Best Rated

I live in a multi tenant house. My key lets me into the side door (a common entry point for all tenants) and my door. I asked my landlord: doesn't that mean the other tenants can get into my apartment with their side door keys? He says no. Is he lying

Asked by anonymous tenant almost 8 years ago

Haha no he is not lying. It’s called “masterkeying a lock”. Entire office buildings are masterkeyed so a Bldg Mgr can carry 1 key & get in every door, but every door can also have its own individual key that doesn’t work anything but that 1 door.

Would you recommend those Smartkey locks that allow you to re-key yourself or not?

Asked by E. Sky. almost 9 years ago

If you had asked me that a couple years ago I would have told you no. They had a lot of problems initially. I believe they are on their 3rd version now and it seems to be holding up pretty well. So basically sure I would. They're a pretty good lock.

Keyed lever lock. The inside turn knob stuck in horizontal position. I can not lock the door. I can temove the inside lever with 3/32 but outside lever screw must be stripped as no result. If I can not fix how do I remove entire lock without being ab

Asked by Wally about 8 years ago

Is this a Kwickset lock? If so, that is a fairly common problem. You probably just need to replace it. You shouldn't need to take off the front lever in order to remove it from the door. After you take the inside lever off, the trim plate covering the inside screws should either pop straight off by prying underneath a small cutout under the plate against the door, or twisting it counterclockwise a short turn, then it will pull off. All depend on brand & model. That would have been helpful.

I want to install a new deadbolt. The one I have now is one of those "jimmy-proof" models that latches externally to the frame of the door. The door is metal, there is no cutout now. Is this a hard job to convert to a new deadbolt thru-the-frame?

Asked by Mark over 8 years ago

Its not an easy job! You're better off installing a cylindrical deadbolt ABOVE your surface-mounted deadbolt. Still not easy if you're not used to doing it, and takes a lot of specialty tools- 2-1/8" hole saw, chisels, 1" paddle bit or hole saw, etc. If you care about the cosmetics of your door, you might be better off hiring a locksmith do it a proper job.

I have a hidden vertical rod storefront door with a loose key cylinder so I need to remove the exit device to tighten the key cylinder. Can I do this without removing the door or does the door need to be laying flat?

Asked by Skwgee@gmail.com over 8 years ago

I've never worked on a door that required me to take the door down to take out or work on a cylinder, so no, you probably shouldn't have to do that. Now if the bottom concealed latch/bolt needs work, sometimes you do have to take the door down, sometimes not.

I have a double front door for my home entry. The deadbolt throw from the left door goes into a metal channel in the right door. The channel is not deep enough for the 1" throw. What can I do about this?

Asked by M12345 almost 8 years ago

Can you just drill the hole deeper?

How can I remove the core from a 1933 spare tire lock?

Asked by Jloe over 7 years ago

Take it to a locksmith. Being that old, you might be lucky it even comes out at all!