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.
If you’re in an apartment, shouldn’t the management company be responsible for fixing your locks if someone is vandalizing it? Usually apartment buildings have strict rules for what they will let you do with your locks. If they will let you, you can get an electronic keypad deadbolt without a key hole. They’re made by Schlage, model # BE375.
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We don’t offer that service at our company.
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Yes, companies make special extended latch kits. You can usually get any knob you want as long as that company makes a compatible latch. Take a measuring tape and hook it to the edge of your door (where the latch comes out of the edge of the door). Measure over to the center of your door knob. That is what size latch you need.
You might be able to reuse the current latch and just replace the knob itself. If you read the latch face, there should be a brand written on it.
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Well I would stay away from EZ Set, they're garbage. Apparently they have gotten to be harder to find as well. Assuming you're talking about a long pull handle with a thumb button, every model of every brand is a different length. I would go with Schlage or Kwikset. Much better quality. I I believe it's Schlage that makes them with an adjustable bottom post. That way you're not stuck having to find one that matches up perfectly, it will actually slide up and down to accommodate 1-2 inch differences. It should tell you the range it covers on the box. So measure your door from the center of the 2-1/8" hole to the center of the bottom hole. However, if you're replacing the deadbolt as well, EZ Set uses a Kwikset keyway, and Schlage uses a Schlage keyway. So you wouldn't be able to rekey it to your existing key, you would just have a separate key for your front door. Otherwise, you will have to find a Kwikset handle that matches close enough.
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I’m not a lawyer, and locksmiths don’t request tax forms when they unlock doors. They usually have you sign a waiver of some kind stating that you have the legal right to have them perform that service, and they collect a drivers license. At that point it’s between you and whoever else may legally have the right to be there. However, I know there are laws pertaining to when a property OWNER can and can not enter a rental unit, and the law is usually on the renters side, not the owners side due to privacy concerns.
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It sounds like an older mortise lock. Most modern mortise locks are 8” x 1-1/4”. You’re not going to find something that easily retrofits into the door prep you have. You could have a locksmith fresh install a deadbolt above your mortise lock if your condo will allow it. Otherwise, there just aren’t very many options for the residential mortise lock platform. Look up Yale Nextouch. They make a smart locks with a mortise prep, but it won’t fit in your door as is. You’ll have to have it modified. Also check with your bldg Mgmt before you do anything, I have seen some of them have strict rules what they will let tenants do to maintain uniformity.
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As a tech, I would have said the easiest thing to do is residential rekey jobs, the hardest and thing I hated the most was automotive work. Having your arm buried in a door panel in 100 degrees sitting in the sun trying to dig a door lock out; or laying on a customers dirty floorboard working on their ignition. It was the worst.
Love the most, probably all the amazing different places I have been and people I’ve had the opportunity to meet.
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