Replacement door locks?

[Swerd]

Does anyone know about door locks? My 21-year-old house has locks and double-key deadbolts on 4 entry doors. They were all made by Kwikset and are adequate, but one of them failed recently. Are the others on their way to wearing out too?

Just before leaving for a vacation in October, the door knob on the back door, the one we use most often, fell apart from use. No one had tampered with it. At a lock smith shop, I found a quick & cheap replacement that could accept a Kwikset key, so I could continue to use a single key on any door. The locksmith said he stopped selling Kwikset years ago when they got too flimsy and cheap. He carried a bunch of brands I hadn't heard of before, other than Schlage and Baldwin.

So what to do? Replace locks and double-key deadbolts on all 4 entry doors with something different, or keep what I have. The lock shop suggested Schlage (but not their cheap line) or Baldwin (has 3 lines from moderate to very expensive). He, of course, wants to keep me from buying something at Home Depot or Lowe's. He said the lines those stores sell are cheap, flimsy, and made in China. He also warned against the Schlage website. Although they do make some acceptable locks, their website won't make clear which products are cheap & flimsy and which are sturdier.

Adam – surely you have reviewed door locks for Amazon.

 

[Alex2507]

Go to Home Depot and have them give you a lock that fits your key so to speak ... or find someone who can. If you want another review on locks and a quick way to spend a bunch of money and have a bunch of work to do right around this most wretched of seasons go back to your lock guy. Can we get a x-mas themed House of 10,000 Corpses?

 

[Rickster71]

What about something like this for the entryway door that's used the most?
http://www.schlage.com/en/home/electronics/keypads.html

 

[Swerd]

Go to Home Depot and have them give you a lock that fits your key so to speak ... or find someone who can. If you want another review on locks and a quick way to spend a bunch of money and have a bunch of work to do right around this most wretched of seasons go back to your lock guy. Can we get a x-mas themed House of 10,000 Corpses?

I already did get the lock from the lock guy (http://www.hhlock.com/ ) and put it in. It works, but I was wondering if I should do whole job, or just wait.

I guess I always thought my door locks were just barely adequate, the handles are ugly and tarnished now, and I've wondered about getting something else. Kind of like you and receivers & amps .

I can easily put in the locks. I want to know what to get. I'll get the lock guy to key them all the same.

 

[Swerd]

What about something like this for the entryway door that's used the most?
http://www.schlage.com/en/home/electronics/keypads.html

I thought briefly about those, but decided not after wondering where the power comes from. I don't need another household item that requires batteries.

 

[Alex2507]

I was wondering if I should do whole job

I wouldn't. That green speaker wire though ... now that's gotta go.

 

[Adam]

Adam – surely you have reviewed door locks for Amazon.

Indeed. One, actually, and it's a version of:

What about something like this for the entryway door that's used the most?
http://www.schlage.com/en/home/electronics/keypads.html

I quite like it, but I have a dead bolt on that door, too.

I thought briefly about those, but decided not after wondering where the power comes from. I don't need another household item that requires batteries.

It does require batteries, but the set that came with my lock lasted nearly two years.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Whatever you do, Do NOT buy Quickset !! They are really bottom of the barrel and lack many security features and built using cheapest materials.

Schlage made locks are the bare minimum to consider. There are even better locks, but at this stage you need to ask yourself if your door frame is secure enough before spending $400-500 on the lock

 

[Swerd]

Whatever you do, Do NOT buy Quickset !! They are really bottom of the barrel and lack many security features and built using cheapest materials.

I think I had already decided that before I talked to the locksmith. If one of the Kwikset locks that were put into my house 21 years ago already wore out, what does that say about their products made now? At Lowe's and Home Depot, Kwikset is the cheapest of all the locksets they sell.

Schlage made locks are the bare minimum to consider. There are even better locks, but at this stage you need to ask yourself if your door frame is secure enough before spending $400-500 on the lock

My door frames were strengthened back when I had 1" deadbolts installed just after I moved in. There is probably more ways available now to improve that, but I think I'm OK there.

 

[ImcLoud]

I am not sure if you can find one that works for you BUT EMtek makes the strongest lock systems I have ever seen, they are commercial grade so they are made to be used A LOT. I have them throughout my house and no issues {granted the house is only a few years old}. I always put their brochure in my home builders packets when we were building, and I always put them in my model homes, they can be expensive-ish but they are well worth the extra cost...

For example-http://emtek.com/Tubular-Entrysets/creston that door set the metal plate is solid stock, it has to weight 10 lbs, lol..

 

[Swerd]

I am not sure if you can find one that works for you BUT EMtek makes the strongest lock systems I have ever seen, they are commercial grade so they are made to be used A LOT. I have them throughout my house and no issues {granted the house is only a few years old}. I always put their brochure in my home builders packets when we were building, and I always put them in my model homes, they can be expensive-ish but they are well worth the extra cost...

For example-http://emtek.com/Tubular-Entrysets/creston that door set the metal plate is solid stock, it has to weight 10 lbs, lol..

Thanks for the info about Emtek. I was hoping you had something to say on this, and I knew nothing about them. That is one of the makes carried by the locksmith I went to. I'll look into the prices.

http://www.hhlock.com/products-locks-security-gaithersburg-md.php

 

[ImcLoud]

Thanks for the info about Emtek. I was hoping you had something to say on this, and I knew nothing about them. That is one of the makes carried by the locksmith I went to. I'll look into the prices.

http://www.hhlock.com/products-locks-security-gaithersburg-md.php

No problem, Ill tell you what, when you compare them to the offerings of say "home depot or lowes' you will be impressed, they use scheldge {spelling error I am sure} type cylinders so getting keys is not an issue, as it is with some of the other "high grade" lock sets, they make their own key blanks so when you want doubles you need to call them and pay for them to ship you blanks...

The only complaint I ever got about them besides the cost {which is you know me, I want to get what I pay for and with them I feel its worth it, I have seen people pay $500 for a closet knob because they liked the looks and never asked about the quality}, is the looks, they tend to be "boxy" but thats just their design, my entire house has their lock sets, every closet, bath, bedroom, ect {except the sliders that came with their own sets but are keyed the same}, and because my wife picked a few fancy shmancy ones we spent around $10K in door knobs, but people actually comment on how our door knobs feel, lol... You can tell its a well made product.. I haven't built houses in a few years but I am sure they are still good quality, I can still get pricing on them if you need it, shipping probably would make it counter productive but if you let me know what your guy says, I can make sure he's not taking advantage of you...


Anyway, I am glad to help, building high end homes has taught me a lot, there are some very well made materials out there for good prices, like Kingston brass faucets, they are affordable and made like tanks, I used to keep a few on hand so the customers could feel the weight of them, they were all brass, in and out, you buy a moen or delta from HD or lowes and you get cast aluminum chassis, plastic cartridges, with cheap disc assemblies, you want a brass chassis, ceramic disc, ss r brass cartridge, ect.. Who {Adam excluded} wants to change a faucet after a year or two, I want them to last 35 like they used to, they should be out of style before they break.... Good luck...

 

[Swerd]

I haven't built houses in a few years but I am sure they are still good quality, I can still get pricing on them if you need it, shipping probably would make it counter productive but if you let me know what your guy says, I can make sure he's not taking advantage of you...

Thanks for the offer.

I may wait until after Thanksgiving, but once I figure out which lock sets to buy, and what the prices are locally, I'll get back to you.

I've learned that build.com (http://www.build.com/door-hardware/c108415) is a useful and well organized web site for door hardware shopping, but I don't know if their prices are standard retail or not. Amazon is a disorganized mess for door locks.

 

[Swerd]

Here's a follow up on my door locks. I decided to get organized, figure out exactly what I wanted, and shop around.

I needed one handle-set with deadbolt (included) for the front door, three lever-type entry locks, and three deadbolts for the other three doors. That's 7 locks in all.

I decided to narrow my choices to 4 different product lines: Schlage (lowest prices), Baldwin Reserve (mid price), Emtek (high price), and Baldwin Estate (highest price). For all those items, the prices at Build.com were:

• $500 Schlage
• $643 Baldwin Reserve
• $864 Emtek
• $993 Baldwin Estate

I didn't know anything about Emtek, but ImcLoud suggested it after his experience with them, so I looked into them. Emtek looks very good compared to the others and it wasn't the highest price. Baldwin Reserve was attractive at first, until I realized that line did not offer a polished brass finish warranted for a lifetime, as the others did. Schlage's home door lock line (much cheaper than their commercial lock line) looked and felt flimsy. And Baldwin Estate was nearly $1k just for the hardware.

Earlier today, for grins, I went to Build.com and found that standard shipping (5-7 days ground) is free for all orders above $49. I also found that there is a sale on Emtek products, said to end today. So I entered the items on the cart, entered the discount code (EMTEK), and I was nicely surprised to see the original price of $864 drop by $276.48 or 32% ! The price was now $587.52. I don't know if the other makers have similar discount offers, but with a 32% discount, ending today, I decided not to risk waiting. So I ordered it.

I phoned Build.com to ask about keys – I want everything keyed the same. They told me 2 keys came with each lock, so I get 14 with the order, and they would include in the shipment the manufacturers Key Code for my order. That way I can order replacement keys without having to make a copy from a worn key.

So ImcLoud, thanks for all the good advice about Emtek and asking for the Key Code.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Good luck with Emtek, but one point I would like to dispute I bought Schlage Camelot touchscreen deadbolt and a matching door handle and nothing about ether of them felt flimsy to me. Know I do know that there are better locks , like Medeco for example, but again - my deadbolt and door handle look and feel extremely well machined and built.

 

[Swerd]

Good luck with Emtek, but one point I would like to dispute I bought Schlage Camelot touchscreen deadbolt and a matching door handle and nothing about ether of them felt flimsy to me. Know I do know that there are better locks , like Medeco for example, but again - my deadbolt and door handle look and feel extremely well machined and built.

The Schlage locks I handled were those displayed in my local Lowes store. It is possible that they were a special "cheaper" product line sold only by that store. I don't know whether they are the same as is available from other stores. (It is known that both Lowe's and Home Depot do that for a number of different products.)

It is also possible that the standard Schlage products are actually good enough. I primarily decided to buy "up" because my previous cheap Kwikset door locks were showing major signs of wear and early failure after only 21 years. I want to replace them with something that will last much longer than that. I want them to last longer than I will .

 

[Alex2507]

Good score with that price break. Gotta hand it to Irv for homer owner info.

 

[Swerd]

Good score with that price break. Gotta hand it to Irv for homer owner info.

I should have changed my door locks much sooner. Like immediately after you visited.

 

[olive.r levenson]

I just had my double Garage Door replaced with a company in Las Vegas. Pricewise it was the lowest i could find, for what seemed to be a decent quality. Got an insulated double door, installation and some decorative hinges plus flashing the sides with aluminum to match toe door colour, for $1300.00, taxes in. Just had them installed about 10 days ago. Neat installation, professional guys to deal with.