Does a locksmith break your lock to get you in?

What does a locksmith actually do at your door?

Most residential deadbolts and knob locks are pin tumbler locks. Inside the cylinder is a row of small pins on springs. The right key lifts each pin to exactly the right height, the cylinder turns, and the bolt moves. A locksmith reproduces that without the key.

• Picking. One tool applies a light turning force to the cylinder while a pick lifts and sets the pins one at a time. On a standard house lock, an experienced hand usually opens it without leaving a mark.
• Bypass. Some locks don't need the pins touched at all. The latch can sometimes be worked directly, or a gap the door already has gives access to the mechanism. It depends on the lock and how the door is hung.
• Specialist tools. A locksmith's kit includes tools for particular lock types and situations, all aimed at the same result: door open, lock unharmed.

After that, the lock turns and locks as it always did, your key still fits, and nothing needs replacing.

Do older Halifax locks open the same way?

Mostly, yes. Many older wooden homes on the Halifax peninsula and in downtown Dartmouth still have mortise locks set into the edge of the door, and storm doors with a latch of their own. Mortise cylinders are pin tumbler locks too and can usually be picked. The bigger risk with old hardware is wear: a tired mechanism is more likely to have failed inside, which leads to the next section.

When does a lock really need drilling?

There are honest reasons to drill, and a good locksmith tells you which one applies.

1. Something has broken inside. A snapped cam or tailpiece, or a cylinder that has come apart, can't be picked open because turning it no longer moves the bolt.
2. Corrosion or ice has seized it. Salt air near the harbour and the coast, road salt carried on keys, and water that gets in and freezes during freeze-thaw swings can leave a cylinder too stiff to pick. Thawing and lubricating sometimes frees it; sometimes it doesn't.
3. It's a high-security cylinder. Some cylinders are designed to resist picking and bypass. Opening one without the key may mean drilling, and that resistance is what the lock was bought for.
4. A key has snapped deep inside. Normally the broken piece can be extracted. Occasionally the cylinder is damaged enough that replacing it is the sensible choice.

Whatever the reason, the locksmith should stop, explain it, tell you what drilling means (a new cylinder or lock), and wait for your go-ahead.

Why should drilling first make you wary?

Because drilling turns a simple opening into a lock replacement, and the bill grows to match. It's also a pattern that turns up in locksmith complaints across Canada.

CBC News in Calgary reported on a homeowner who was told her locks were too complicated to pick and needed drilling. Another locksmith later told her neither lock had needed it (CBC News). Locksmiths interviewed for the same story said fake operators commonly claim a lock must be drilled when it doesn't have to be.

What it looks like on your doorstep: someone glances at a standard deadbolt, calls it a special lock, and gets the drill out without attempting anything else. You are entitled to say no and ask them to go. Our page on how to spot a fake locksmith lists the other warning signs.

Questions to ask before anyone starts

Asking questions is reasonable, even when you're cold and tired, and a genuine locksmith expects them.

• "How are you going to open it?" The answer you want is picking or bypass, not the drill.
• "Will you check with me before drilling?" Yes is the only acceptable reply.
• "How is the price worked out?" Settle it before work begins, and ask to be told before anything changes.
• "Can I see some ID?" Expect to be asked for yours as well. A careful locksmith confirms who you are before opening a door, and what a real locksmith asks for explains what to have ready.

Our own approach: we pick or bypass before we drill, and if a lock does need drilling we explain why before we touch it. If you need help now, our emergency locksmith page has the call and text buttons.

What about keypad and smart locks?

The answer barely changes. Many keypad and smart deadbolts hide an ordinary key cylinder under a cover, and it opens like any other. If the real problem is a dead battery rather than a lost key, use the lock's own backup first. Our guide to a keypad door lock battery dead covers the 9-volt contacts and backup keys by brand.

Once you're back inside

If your keys are lost rather than sitting on the kitchen counter, think about where they might be. Keys on a ring with your address, or in a stolen bag with your licence, can still open your door. A rekey changes the inside of the lock so the old keys stop working while the hardware stays put. Our post on should I change locks after losing keys walks through that choice.

And if the lock was already stiff, gritty or loose before you got locked out, say so while the locksmith is there. A lock on its way out tends to cause the next lockout, and in this climate it usually picks the first hard frost to do it.

The short version

• Most house locks open with no damage at all.
• Drilling is for broken, seized or high-security locks, and only after you've agreed.
• A locksmith who drills first, without trying anything else, is a red flag.
• Ask how they'll open it and how the price works, and expect to show ID.