Profile Security Door Locks and European Security Door Locks
By Scott Stoddart
 Surprise locksmiths see alot of security door deadbolt work. Yesterday consisted of 3 security door lock problems. All three of the doors were First Impressions security doors. I have found them as a locksmith to be a good company to deal with.
In the Southwest it's important to keep your locks lubricated. If you are choosing to use a wet lubricant such as WD-40, I recommend a silicone spray or tri-flow. If you are going to use a powder, dollar for dollar the old fashioned graphite is my choice. One thing you shouldn't do is mix the two. This doesn't make for a happy lock. If the door is heavily dust exposed I'd suggest regular maintenance.
The purpose of this post is to alert homeowners who have the European profile style locks as to how to proceed when experiencing lock failure. When the profile cylinder is becoming hard to turn often it isn't the profile cylinder itself. Often it's the lock body in the security door malfunctioning and binding up the profile cylinder. One thing many homeowners do is to lubricate the lock well once this happens. On the profile locks specifically I suggest against this. The reason being is if you can get the actuator of the profile cylinder to pass the obstruction of the lock body that is breaking apart often it will move the obstruction to where you will not be able to easily remove the cylinder and the lock body. This is the case for the First Impressions security door lock body, but not necessarily the case for all profile cylinder or European style security door lock bodies.
We commonly stock the parts for these as we do a lot of work in the Surprise, Sun City West, Sun City Grand and Goodyear areas that have alot of these security doors and alot of the European profile locks. Profile cylinders themselves that usually operate the deadbolt in security doors in Surprise, Sun City Grand and Sun City West usually run about $45 for the profile cylinder plus the locksmith service to install it. Locksmiths usually stock at least some of the profile cylinders and some of the deadbolts. There are double sided profile cylinders and single sided profile cylinders, the double sided are the most common because someone can't break through the door and reach through. I have seen Surprise residents as well as Sun City West and Sun City Grand change out a double sided for a single sided with a large thumb turn so it's easy to turn for people with arthritis. Once again sometimes these are referred to as European cylinders.
The second most popular security door locks we see especially in Sun City West and even more so in Phase 1 and 2 of Sun City is the Marks Mortise lock. These are great and have less problems than the profile locks, which some people also refer to as storm door locks. The storm door locks are about $80 for the lock body. The Marks Mortise body is about $140; however, the cylinders are about half the price for Marks Mortise cylinders as the profile cylinders or storm door cylinders. And the Marks Mortise locks unlike the profile security door locks can actually be worked on. In Surprise, Stoddart's Lock and Safe can work on these as well as Rick's and Residential. Many other locksmiths choose to replace the locks and sometimes replacing the lock is the best option.
The most standard security door lock that we see in Surprise, Sun City West and a few retrofits in Sun City are the good old 2 1/8 crossbore deadbolt and cylindrical leverset or knob--usually Kwikset, Weiser or Schlage. The good part about seeing a Kwikset Weiser or Schlage on a security door is that you are going to save money as well as time, and the locksmith will usually have better availability which makes the locksmiths happy and when the locksmiths happy your happy. I prefer Schlage and Kwikset on security doors over Weiser personally, but if you talk to three locksmiths about Schlage Weiser and Kwikset there's a chance you'll get three different answers.
Most locksmiths are open about security door locks and what their choice is. If the locksmiths don't want to talk to you about security door locks, I'd say call a locksmith who will as you'll have much less headaches. A locksmith's knowledge of these locks especially the Marks Mortise security door locks as well as the European security door locks is important and if you are somewhat knowledgeable you'll find a locksmith who is not an amateur. Let them get their experience somewhere else.
Lastly I don't want to blast Marks or First Impressions security door locks. If I didn't like them and they weren't the number one choice of security door locks, we wouldn't have nearly as much locksmith support or parts for these locks.
About the Author
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| Scott Stoddart, Stoddart's Lock and Safe
15990 West Christy Dr.
Surprise, AZ 85379
623-363-1996
Contact Author: request info
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