Lock Replacement

In practice the two terms are used interchangeably by both customers and the trade. "Lock change" usually implies a fresh set of working keys (typical after moving house or losing keys), while "lock replacement" is more often used when the existing lock is broken, worn or no longer meets insurance standards. Either way the work is essentially the same — remove the old hardware, fit new, test, hand over new keys and a guarantee.

We use whichever word makes sense for your situation. What matters is the standard of part fitted (BS3621 mortice or TS007 3-star euro cylinder for street-facing doors), the quality of the installation, the transparency of the pricing and the strength of the guarantee.

If your existing lock is already BS3621 or TS007 3-star Kitemarked, fits the door correctly, and is no more than 10 years old, a like-for-like replacement is usually the right call. New cylinder, new keys, no upgrade overhead. This is the cheapest route — typically £99–£129 fitted on a euro cylinder, £159–£189 on a 5-lever mortice — and exactly what your insurer expects.

We will check the cylinder marking and the lock body before recommending. There is no point spending money upgrading a lock that is already to standard if the rest of the door is the weak point.

Lock snapping is the single most common method of breaking into a UPVC or composite door in the UK. A standard euro cylinder can be snapped in 30 seconds with a basic mole grip — the technique is on YouTube and so common that police forces publish leaflets warning householders. The fix is a TS007 3-star Kitemarked anti-snap cylinder, engineered to sacrifice a section if snapping is attempted, while the locking mechanism inside remains intact and secure.

Bumping uses a specially cut key tapped with a hammer to align the pins. Picking uses tension and pin manipulation. Drilling attacks the cylinder body directly. A high-security cylinder — Avocet ABS, Brisant Ultion, Mul-T-Lock MT5+ — is engineered to defeat all four attack methods, and carries Sold Secure Diamond and TS007 3-star ratings as proof. Add a £1,000+ break-in compensation guarantee from the manufacturer (Ultion and ABS both offer this when registered) and the upgrade is one of the highest-ROI security spends in any home.

On a UPVC or composite door, the euro cylinder (the key-operated part) and the multipoint mechanism (the bars and hooks running the height of the door) are separate components. If the cylinder is failing — sticky key, broken pin, lost keys — we can replace just the cylinder in under 20 minutes. The handles, mechanism and door otherwise stay as they are.

If the multipoint mechanism itself has failed — handle lifts but the key will not throw the bolts, or the bolts will not retract on key turn — the gearbox or full strip needs replacing. That is a longer job, typically £179–£229 fitted, and we carry the common gearboxes for GU, Fuhr, Maco, Yale, Avocet, ERA, Mila, Lockmaster, Roto and Winkhaus on the van so we can normally complete it on the same visit.

Brisant Ultion: arguably the most attack-resistant euro cylinder on the UK market. Sold Secure Diamond, TS007 3-star, lockdown mode against snapping, and a £1,000 break-in guarantee when registered. Our most-recommended upgrade for street-facing UPVC doors.

Avocet ABS: long-running market leader for anti-snap, with snap, bump, pick and drill protection. £2,000 break-in guarantee on premium models. Particularly good on doors where the cylinder protrudes from the handle plate.

Mul-T-Lock MT5+: high-end, restricted-profile telescopic pin system with extremely high pick resistance. Our default recommendation for high-net-worth properties, premises with cash on site and homes that have already been targeted once.

Yale, ERA, Chubb, Banham, Union, Ingersoll: trusted mainstream brands across BS3621 mortice locks and night latches. Fitted to insurance standard with full BS Kitemarking.

1. Survey: door photographed, cylinder measured internally and externally, mechanism identified, existing BS / Kitemark checked. 2. Recommend: two options given — like-for-like and security upgrade — both itemised and fixed-priced. 3. Quote: total written down before any tool comes out. 4. Replace: old hardware out, new in, single fixing screw for cylinders, more thorough work for mortice and multipoint.

5. Align: hinges adjusted, keeps re-positioned where necessary so the door closes cleanly and the lock engages without forcing. 6. Test: door cycled 20+ times, key tested from inside and outside, deadbolt and latch operation confirmed. 7. Hand-over: new keys (typically 3), old hardware returned to you, written 12-month guarantee, itemised invoice for your insurer.

We cover Slough (SL1, SL2, SL3), Reading (RG1–RG6, RG30, RG31), Oxford (OX1–OX4), Windsor (SL4), Maidenhead (SL6), Bracknell (RG12, RG42), Heathrow (TW6, UB7), Harrow (HA1–HA3), Uxbridge (UB8, UB10) and Staines (TW18, TW19), with the same fixed pricing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Average attendance into our core West London, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire coverage area is 20–40 minutes. Engineers are positioned across Slough, Langley, Iver, Uxbridge, Hayes, Heathrow, Staines, Windsor, Maidenhead, Bracknell, Reading, Earley, Tilehurst, Oxford, Harrow and the M4/M40/M25 corridor so we are almost never further than 20 minutes from your door.

Lock replacement is one of the services we most commonly complete the same day. Call before 4pm and we will normally fit you in before evening. Emergency same-night replacements are available at standard pricing — no surcharge for evenings or weekends.

Every engineer on our team is DBS-checked, fully insured, drives a marked van and carries photo identification. We are a local, independently owned firm — not a national call-centre middleman — so the price you are quoted on the phone is the price you pay on the doorstep.

National call-centre firms typically take a 30–50% cut of the final invoice as a booking fee, which is why the prices on the doorstep so often differ from the prices on the phone. We have no middleman, no per-job commission and no incentive to oversell — the fixed price you are quoted on the phone is the fixed price on the invoice.