Lock Replacement in Newmarket — Choosing and Fitting New Hardware
When the cylinder is past saving or the hardware was never good enough, replacement is the answer. This page covers grades, brands, finishes and what a proper fit involves.
Quick answer
Lock replacement in Newmarket means removing the existing hardware and fitting new locks — usually because a cylinder is worn, seized or damaged, because the door has no deadbolt, or because you want a higher grade. Supplied and installed, a Grade 2 deadbolt runs $140 to $260 and a lever set $110 to $200, with install-only cheaper if you buy the hardware yourself.
Replacing a lock is not the same job as changing the key. If all you want is for the old keys to stop working, rekeying the cylinder does that for a fraction of the price and takes ten minutes. Replacement is what you do when the hardware itself is the problem: worn out, wrong grade, wrong style, or simply not there.
Newmarket housing stock makes this a common call. A lot of the 1980s and 1990s subdivisions around Stonehaven, Glenway and Huron Heights still carry their original builder-grade knobs and thin deadbolts. Thirty winters of freeze-thaw on a Yonge Street exposure will finish a cheap cylinder, and the original brass finish rarely survives that long looking presentable either.
What follows is the practical stuff: how lock grades actually work, which brands are worth the money, how to match finishes so a new lock does not look bolted on, and what separates a good installation from a bad one.
When a lock is genuinely past rekeying
A technician can usually tell within thirty seconds of holding the cylinder. Here is what tells them.
Worn plug and keyway
Years of use round off the internal edges. The tell is a key that turns when only half inserted, or a key from a different door that turns it. Re-pinning a worn plug does not restore the tolerance.
Seized or stiff mechanism
A bolt that needs a shoulder behind it, or a cylinder that grinds. Graphite and lubricant buy a season. If a lock has been sticking for two winters it will fail on the coldest night of the third.
Corrosion
Green or white powder around the cylinder face, common on unsheltered north and west exposures. Corrosion runs down into the pin chambers and springs. Once inside, the lock is finished.
Forced-entry damage
A drilled, punched or twisted cylinder is scrap even if it still turns. So is a deadbolt whose housing has moved inside the door after a kick.
There is a fifth reason that has nothing to do with condition: the lock was never good enough. A Grade 3 knob with no deadbolt on a main entrance is not a security failure waiting to happen, it is one already in progress. That gets replaced regardless of how new it looks.
ANSI grades, in plain terms
North American locks are graded by ANSI/BHMA on a 1 to 3 scale. The grade is stamped or printed on the box, and it is the single most useful number on the packaging — far more useful than the marketing on the front.
| Grade | Roughly what it survives | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | 1,000,000 cycles, 10 strikes of 75 ft-lb, 250 lb of bolt force | Commercial entrances, storefronts, apartment lobbies, high-traffic doors |
| Grade 2 | 800,000 cycles, 5 strikes of 75 ft-lb, 150 lb of bolt force | The right answer for almost every Newmarket house front door |
| Grade 3 | 800,000 cycles, 2 strikes of 75 ft-lb, 100 lb of bolt force | Interior doors, closets, low-risk secondary doors only |
Our standing recommendation for a Newmarket home is Grade 2 deadbolts on every exterior door, Grade 1 on a business entrance, and Grade 3 nowhere that leads outside. The price gap between Grade 3 and Grade 2 at the hardware store is often twenty dollars. It is the best twenty dollars in home security.
Grade alone will not save a badly hung door. A Grade 1 deadbolt into a soft pine jamb with three-quarter-inch screws comes out with one kick. Read the deadbolt page for the strike plate and screw detail — it matters more than the lock body.
Grade figures are the ANSI/BHMA test thresholds, not a guarantee for any individual lock. Grade tells you what the hardware survived in a lab; installation quality decides what it survives on your door.
Brands we fit, and what you are paying for
We are not tied to one manufacturer, and we will fit hardware you have bought yourself. That said, after twenty-five years of servicing the same locks over and over, some clear patterns show up.
- Schlage — the workhorse. B60 and B62 deadbolts are Grade 1 or 2, the C keyway is easy to rekey and duplicate, and parts are available everywhere. Our default residential recommendation.
- Weiser — very common on Ontario new builds. Perfectly decent at Grade 2, shares the KW1 keyway with Kwikset so mixed sets can be keyed alike. SmartKey models rekey differently and have their own quirks.
- Kwikset — wide range, from disposable to genuinely good. Check the grade on the box; the same-looking deadbolt exists in Grade 3 and Grade 2 versions.
- Yale and Emtek — better finishes and design range, common on renovated Main Street South homes where the hardware is part of the look.
- Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy — high security, restricted keys, serious drill and pick resistance. See high security locks.
- Commercial: Sargent, Corbin Russwin, LCN, Von Duprin — what goes on storefront and office doors along Davis Drive, usually alongside door closers and panic hardware.
Avoid unbranded hardware sold online with no ANSI grade printed anywhere. We see those come apart within two winters, and the cylinders often cannot be rekeyed because no pinning kit exists for the keyway.
Finishes: making new hardware look like it belongs
This is the part people forget until the technician is on the doorstep. A new satin nickel deadbolt above an antique brass handleset looks wrong from the street, and once you have seen it you cannot unsee it.
Finish codes are standardised, so you can match precisely. Satin nickel is 619 or 15, polished brass is 605 or 3, antique brass 609 or 5, oil-rubbed bronze 613 or 10B, matte black 622 or 19, and satin chrome 626 or 26D. The code is on the box and often stamped on the lock itself.
- Match the deadbolt to the handleset on the same door before matching anything else
- Matte black is the current default on new Newmarket builds; older subdivisions are mostly brass or satin nickel
- Oil-rubbed bronze is a living finish — it changes with handling, so a new piece will not match an old one for a year or two
- Storm and screen door hardware rarely matches exactly; nobody notices, so do not overspend chasing it
- If you are replacing several doors, do them all at once so the whole house matches rather than drifting over time
Upgrading a knob-only door to a proper deadbolt
A surprising number of side doors, garage entry doors and back doors in this area have a keyed knob and nothing else. A knob latch is a spring bolt with maybe half an inch of throw into a thin strike. It is a door-holder, not a lock. It can be shimmed with a card, and the whole assembly can be snapped off with a pipe wrench in a few seconds.
Adding a deadbolt where none exists is a boring but genuinely worthwhile job. It means boring a 2⅛ inch cross bore through the door face and a 1 inch edge bore for the bolt, using a jig so the two meet cleanly, then chiselling mortises for the faceplate and the strike.
Check the door will take it
Solid wood, solid core and steel-skinned doors are fine. A hollow-core door will hold the hardware but will not resist anything — on those we recommend replacing the door slab, and we will say so rather than take your money.
Mark and bore accurately
Standard backset is 2⅜ or 2¾ inches from the door edge, and standard height is about 44 inches from the floor, six inches above the knob. A jig keeps the cross bore and edge bore concentric. Freehand drilling here is how doors get ruined.
Mortise the faceplate and strike
Both should sit flush. A proud faceplate stops the door closing properly; a proud strike wears the weather seal and lets cold air through, which matters in a Newmarket January.
Reinforce the strike
A box strike with three-inch screws driven through the jamb into the framing stud behind it. This is the difference between a deadbolt and a decoration.
Boring a new deadbolt into an existing door is typically 45 to 60 minutes per door including the strike work. Doing it properly the first time is much cheaper than repairing a door someone else drilled crooked.
Supply-and-install versus install-only
Both are fine and we do plenty of each. Supply-and-install means we bring the hardware, and you get whatever we would put on our own house — right grade, right finish, right backset, and it is under our warranty as a complete job. Install-only means you buy the lock and we fit it, which suits people who have already picked a specific designer handleset or found a sale.
The one thing to check before buying your own is the backset. Doors in this area are almost always 2⅜ or 2¾ inches, and most retail locks are adjustable for both, but a fixed-backset lock bought at the wrong size cannot be made to fit. Measure from the edge of the door to the centre of the existing hole.
| Job | What is included | Typical 2026 price |
|---|---|---|
| Service call | Travel to a Newmarket address and assessment | $49 – $89 |
| Deadbolt supplied and installed | Grade 2 deadbolt, box strike, 3″ screws, keys | $140 – $260 |
| Knob or lever supplied and installed | Grade 2 keyed lever set, strike, keys | $110 – $200 |
| Install-only, you supply the lock | Fitting, strike adjustment, testing | $60 – $110 per lock |
| New deadbolt bored into a door with none | Cross bore, edge bore, mortising, reinforced strike | $180 – $320 |
| Whole house, 4–6 locks replaced | All exterior doors, matched finish, keyed alike | $700 – $1,400 |
| Commercial Grade 1 lockset | Heavy-duty lever or cylindrical lock, fitted | $280 – $650 |
| High security cylinder into existing hardware | Restricted keyway, drill and pick resistant | $150 – $350 each |
These are typical Newmarket ranges and vary with hardware choice and door condition. Overnight, weekend and statutory holiday call-outs carry a premium. We confirm a firm price on the phone before dispatch and it does not change on arrival.
How we approach a replacement
Lock replacement across the area
Most of our replacement work is inside Newmarket — the ageing builder hardware in Glenway Estates, Woodland Hill and Summerhill Estates, and the older doors on Main Street South that need something sympathetic rather than modern.
We drive out from the Newmarket base to the surrounding towns, carrying common deadbolts and lever sets in the van so a straightforward replacement can usually be done on the first visit.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to replace a lock in Newmarket?
A deadbolt supplied and installed runs $140 to $260, a keyed lever set $110 to $200, plus a $49 to $89 service call. If you supply the hardware yourself, fitting is $60 to $110 per lock. A whole house of four to six exterior locks replaced and keyed alike typically lands between $700 and $1,400 depending on the hardware chosen.
Should I replace my locks or just rekey them?
Rekey when the hardware is sound and you only need the old keys to stop working — it costs $25 to $45 per cylinder. Replace when the cylinder is worn, seized, corroded or damaged, when the door has no deadbolt, or when the existing lock is Grade 3. A technician can tell you which within a minute of looking at the door.
What ANSI grade should my front door lock be?
Grade 2 as a minimum on any door that leads outside, Grade 1 on a commercial entrance. Grade 3 belongs on interior doors only. The grade is printed on the box and the price difference between Grade 3 and Grade 2 residential deadbolts is often under thirty dollars.
Can you fit a lock I bought myself?
Yes, install-only is a normal request. Check the backset before you buy — measure from the door edge to the centre of the existing hole, which will be 2⅜ or 2¾ inches. Most retail locks are adjustable for both, but some fixed-backset and designer sets are not. Keep the packaging until the fit is confirmed.
How long does replacing a lock take?
Swapping like-for-like hardware into existing holes is about 15 to 20 minutes per door including strike adjustment and testing. Boring a new deadbolt into a door that has none takes 45 to 60 minutes. A full house of exterior doors is usually a two to three hour visit.
Will a new lock match my other door hardware?
If you tell us the finish, yes. Finish codes are standardised — 619 satin nickel, 605 polished brass, 613 oil-rubbed bronze, 622 matte black. We check the existing hardware and match it. Oil-rubbed bronze is the one exception, since it darkens with handling and a new piece takes a year or two to blend in.
My door has only a knob. Is that a problem?
On an exterior door, yes. A knob latch throws about half an inch into a thin strike and can be shimmed or snapped off quickly. Adding a Grade 2 deadbolt with a box strike and three-inch screws is one of the highest-value upgrades available and costs $180 to $320 including boring the door.
Do you replace commercial locks too?
Yes. Storefronts, offices, plazas along Davis Drive and Mulock Drive, and industrial units all get Grade 1 hardware, usually alongside closer and panic bar work. See commercial lock change for how those jobs are scoped and priced.
Related locksmith services in Newmarket
New hardware fitted properly, usually the same day
Tell us the doors, the finish and whether you want us to supply the locks. We will quote it on the phone. Call 866-820-1331 — open 24 hours, 365 days a year.
