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A roommate moved out on bad terms and says the key was left on the counter. It was not. You have already changed the Wi-Fi password, but the front door still opens for a key that could be anywhere.
Locksmith in London, OntarioAccess controlfor real buildings.
Call now · open 24/7(226) 785-2980What's happening right now?
Locked out
Safely, right now
- Wait somewhere safe and warm: a neighbour's, your car, a coffee shop.
- Don't break a window or pry the door. It adds damage without getting you in sooner.
- Keep ID that shows your address handy if it is with you.
Key broke in the lock
Safely, right now
- Leave the lock alone: pushing the piece further in makes it harder to get out.
- Hold on to the half you have; it helps with a new key.
Lock won't turn
Safely, right now
- Stop turning hard: a key that bends or snaps makes the job bigger.
- Don't spray oil or glue into it, and don't pour hot water on it in the cold.
Lost keys
Safely, right now
- Keys lost together with your address? Assume someone could use them.
- Don't leave a spare key anywhere outside while you wait, under the mat or elsewhere.
Fobs, keypads and card readers are only worthwhile when the doors, closers and wiring behind them are sound. We design small access systems for offices, clinics and multi-unit buildings, install them cleanly, and hand over a system your staff can actually manage.
Request a visit
Same fees day or night · 15 years in business
The fix, explained · London
What is the door doing?
EmergencyHome Lockout ServiceThe moving truck has left, half the boxes are inside, and the single key the previous owner handed over turns the knob but not the deadbolt.
The fix
Where your key is decides most of what happens after the door opens. If it is sitting on the counter inside, the job is simply to open the door and hand the house back to you with the lock untouched.
EmergencyBusiness Lockout ServiceYou signed the lease on the unit last week and the landlord handed over possession, but the previous tenant's locks are still on both doors and no…
The fix
On a commercial door the lock is rarely alone. A door contact feeds the alarm panel, a card reader drives an electric strike or a magnetic lock, and a monitoring company is watching for an opening outside business hours.
EmergencyBroken Key ExtractionThe apartment key snapped mid-turn, leaving the cylinder twisted halfway between locked and open.
The fix
Keys break for a reason, and finding that reason is half the visit. A brass key wears thinnest at its deepest cut, and after years of turning it fatigues there until a cold morning or a stiff bolt finishes it.
EmergencyBreak-In Damage Lock RepairThe shop's aluminum door has a bent meeting stile and the hookbolt is jammed half out.
The fix
A failed break-in is still a repair. When a lock holds against a pry bar or a kick, the force goes somewhere: a strike plate bends, screws loosen, the door edge takes a gouge, the deadbolt binds where the bolt met the strike under load.
Call (226) 785-2980Request a visit Break-In Damage Lock Repair
EmergencySeized & Jammed Lock OpeningIt is the coldest morning of the winter and the key goes halfway into the side door and stops.
The fix
A jammed lock looks like one problem from outside and is usually one of three inside. The cylinder itself may have seized, packed with grit, corrosion or old grease.
Call (226) 785-2980Request a visit Seized & Jammed Lock Opening
EmergencyLost Keys — Same-Visit RekeyThe renovation wrapped up in the spring.
The fix
When a key disappears, cutting yourself another copy solves the wrong half of the problem. You can get in again, but so can whoever finds the original.
Call (226) 785-2980Request a visit Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey
- 15years in business
- 24/7open, every day
- Same feesday, night or weekend
- On siteassessment preferred
What you can expect from us
People who manage rental units have a particular set of problems: a tenant who left without returning keys, a unit that needs to be ready for viewings, a fire door that someone propped open. We keep a record of each building's keying so changes are consistent, rekey on turnover without disturbing the neighbours, and can put common doors on a single key the whole building carries.
Lockwood Park and Lambeth
Told what to expect. Before starting we say how long the work usually takes, what noise or mess is involved and what the door will be like afterwards.
Room to decline. If a suggestion does not suit you, decline it. We will do what you asked for, do it well and leave the rest as advice.
A tidy handover. Keys counted into your hand, the area cleaned, the old parts dealt with and a plain summary of the work. Then we are gone.
Get in touch when you're ready: (226) 785-2980
Locksmith services
Locks, keys and doors
Below are the jobs we handle most often. For each one you will find what it fixes, how a visit usually goes and what information helps us arrive with the right parts. If two services sound alike, call and we will explain the difference in a sentence.
LockoutsLockout ServicesGetting in is only half of an emergency visit.Services
Getting in is only half of an emergency visit. Once the door is open we look at why it locked you out: a worn key, a failing cylinder, a latch that catches. Fixing that on the spot is what stops the same call happening next month.
EmergencyHome Lockout ServiceThe moving truck has left, half the boxes are inside, and the single key the previous owner handed over turns the knob but not…
EmergencyBusiness Lockout ServiceYou signed the lease on the unit last week and the landlord handed over possession, but the previous tenant's locks are still on…
EmergencyBroken Key ExtractionThe apartment key snapped mid-turn, leaving the cylinder twisted halfway between locked and open.
EmergencyBreak-In Damage Lock RepairThe shop's aluminum door has a bent meeting stile and the hookbolt is jammed half out.
EmergencySeized & Jammed Lock OpeningIt is the coldest morning of the winter and the key goes halfway into the side door and stops.
EmergencyLost Keys — Same-Visit RekeyThe renovation wrapped up in the spring.
Change or rekeyChange or Rekey LocksIf the previous owner left a drawer full of unlabelled keys, you are not alone.Services
If the previous owner left a drawer full of unlabelled keys, you are not alone. Rekeying, matching cylinders across doors and cutting a small number of fresh keys turns that drawer into two rings that make sense.
High securityHigh Security LocksNot every door needs the same level.Services
Not every door needs the same level. The front door may already be sound while the side entrance carries the builder's knob lock. Our high security work starts by walking the perimeter with you, then upgrading the openings where entry is most likely.
CommercialCommercial LocksA commercial key plan should survive the person who set it up.Services
A commercial key plan should survive the person who set it up. We leave a written schedule of which key opens which door and who holds what, so a new manager inherits a system rather than a mystery.
Car keysCar KeysLocked out with the engine running, keys visible on the seat, dog in the back.Services
Locked out with the engine running, keys visible on the seat, dog in the back. Vehicle lockouts happen in the least convenient places, and we open them where they sit after checking the car is yours, using the method least likely to mark the door.
Bigger photo, sooner job: Emergency Book soon Plan ahead
EmergencyCar Lockout ServiceThe trunk is full of groceries, the cart is back in its corral, and the keys are sitting in the cup holder in plain view.
EmergencyCar Key ReplacementAfter fifteen years the blade has worn to a smooth sliver.
Spare Car Key Duplication
Key Fob Programming
Transponder Key Programming
Ignition Lock Repair
Vehicle Lock Repair
Motorcycle & Scooter Keys
Sound familiar?
Small things. Big difference.
2 / 3
The house is fifteen years old and every exterior door still wears the light hardware the builder fitted: a short bolt, a thin strike held by two small screws, and a knob lock that never suited a street entrance.
3 / 3
Someone tried the door last winter. The frame took it, but the strike plate is bent, one screw hole is stripped, and the bolt sits in the pocket at a slight angle. It still locks, and it still bothers you every night.
Which fix fits?
IfYou inherited a safe and nobody wrote down the combination.
ThenManipulation or a precise drill-and-repair opening.
Once open, the lock is reset to a combination of your choosing and the safe goes back into service.
IfThe electronic keypad on your safe beeps but will not open.
ThenDiagnose the lock before anything drastic.
A flat battery, a loose cable or a lockout timer are common; a failed lock body is replaced with a matching unit.
IfYou are bringing a safe home and want it anchored.
ThenBolt it to the floor and set the combination.
Anchoring plus a fresh code makes it properly yours.
IfMinus eighteen with a wind, and the exterior cylinder on the shop door has frozen solid overnight after yesterday's slush.
On a commercial door the lock is rarely alone.
IfThe key went in like any other morning, you turned it, and something gave with a small metallic click.
Keys break for a reason, and finding that reason is half the visit.
IfSomeone smashed the little window beside the door, reached in and turned the thumb-turn.
ThenBreak-In Damage Lock Repair.
A failed break-in is still a repair.
Answering 24/7 in London
How a visit goes
Lambeth Lock & Key Co.
Job ticket · open 24/7
1 Call
Get in touch when you're ready.
Describe the property, the hardware and what has changed, and the visit starts from what you have seen.
(226) 785-2980 · open 24/7
2 Questions
Walking the door with you
We look at the cylinder, the bolt, the strike, the hinges and any glass nearby, and say plainly which parts are sound and which are thin.
3 On the way
In the van
London to Lockwood Park and Lambeth.
- Latch and bypass tools
- Cylinder decoder
- Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
- Nine-volt battery for smart locks
- Broken key extractors
4 Fixed
Fitting, keying and registering
Choosing the level together. A graded deadbolt with a patented cylinder for most homes, rated cylinders and heavier lock bodies for businesses. You pick the doors and the depth.
Fitting, keying and registering. Cylinders go in, strikes are screwed into the framing, keys are cut from code, and the system is registered so only you can order more.
Same fees day, night or weekend · on-site assessment preferred
Middlesex, Ontario
London information
- Town
- London, Middlesex, Ontario
- In business
- 15 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (226) 785-2980
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
What the census means at the door
52%
Older homes. About 52% of homes in London were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
Layers of paint build up on older doors and frames, and a lock that seemed to fail is sometimes a latch glued shut by the last coat. Part of the visit in an older area is freeing hardware, cleaning the edges and checking the door swings true.
49%
A mix of homes. Single-detached houses make up about 49% of homes in London (2021 Census).
In mixed neighbourhoods, a family may move from an apartment to a house or the other way around. A locksmith who knows both kinds of door can rekey the old place for the next occupant and set up the new one on the same visit.
Nearby
You asked, we answered
How many new keys will I get, and can I get more later?
As many as you ask for, cut on site from the fresh pinning and tested in each door they should open; two or three is typical for a household. More can be cut later. When you do, bring one of the locksmith's originals to be copied rather than a copy of a copy, since every generation strays slightly from the intended depths. If any key is a restricted type, additional copies come from the record kept for that system rather than from a hardware store.
What exactly does rekeying a lock change?
What changes depends on the cylinder. Many locks turn when a row of small bottom pins lines up at a precise level, set by the cuts on your key, and during a rekey the locksmith tips those pins out and loads a set that lines up with a different key, cut new for you; some residential cylinders instead reset a side-locking bar without removing any pins. From then on the new key operates the lock and older keys do not, and the hardware on the door stays as it was.
My locks are different brands. Is that a problem?
Not a problem, just a detail to plan around. What matters is the keyway, meaning the profile of the slot the key fits, rather than the name on the lock. Different makers sometimes share a profile and sometimes do not. Where two cylinders cannot accept the same key, one is exchanged for a compatible cylinder in the same finish and pinned to match. From the outside the door looks the same and from your pocket it is one key.
What is bumping, and does this stop it?
Bumping uses a specially cut key that is struck while under light turning pressure, bouncing the pins to the shear line for an instant so an ordinary cylinder opens. It works on many standard pin tumblers. A high security cylinder needs its sidebar released by separately positioned finger or rotating pins at the same moment, and a bump key cannot set those, so the plug stays locked. It is one of the clearest advantages of the upgrade.
Open 24/7
Request a visit
Drop us a line.
Call now · open 24/7(226) 785-2980- On-site assessment preferred
- Same fees day, night or weekend
- 15 years in business