Locksmith Services in Applewood, Mississauga

Applewood was built through the 1960s and into the 1970s, and the dominant house types are the backsplit and the sidesplit: staggered floor levels, an attached garage, and frequently a separate side or lower entrance.

That layout produces more exterior doors per house than a modern build. A front door, a garage side door, a lower level side entrance, and a rear walkout from the family room onto the yard is a common combination, and several of those doors are below grade or screened from the street.

Practically, this means an Applewood house is rarely a one lock job. Getting all of those doors keyed alike removes the daily nuisance of carrying several keys, and it removes the real security failure that follows from it, which is a door left unlocked because finding the right key is a chore.

The split level layout lends itself well to a self contained lower unit, and a substantial number of Applewood houses have one, whether a formal second unit or a space for family.

That introduces a key control question that a single family house does not have. The tenant or occupant needs their own entrance and, usually, the shared laundry or utility area, and should not need the upstairs. The homeowner needs everything.

That is a small master key system, and it is inexpensive at this scale. A change key for the lower entrance, a change key upstairs, and a master that opens both, so one key in the owner's pocket covers the property while the tenant's key opens only what it should.

If the lower unit is a registered second unit, it is worth being aware that Ontario tenancy rules apply to the locks in the same way they apply in an apartment building: no lock change during a tenancy without giving the tenant a key.

The doors on these houses are a mix. Original solid wood doors on the older streets, and steel replacements fitted at some point in the last thirty years on many others.

The rule of thumb is simple. If the door is solid and the frame is sound, keep both and spend the money on the lock and the strike. If the door has been replaced with a steel unit and the builder grade lock is still in it, that lock is the oldest thing on the door and is the part that has failed.

The specific check worth doing on an Applewood house is the garage to house door. In a split level with an attached garage, that door leads directly into the middle of the house, and it is very often still carrying an interior grade passage set or a lightweight lock. It deserves the same deadbolt as the front door.