Keeping ninety-year-old locks working, without taking the door back to the 1930s
Elwood's Art Deco blocks and Edwardian cottages carry mortice locks that have done 90 years of daily work, and most of them have no retail replacement that fits the same pocket or the same furniture. True Locksmith services the mechanism inside the original case, replacing the spring, follower or bolt that has worn, so the door keeps its face and its lock keeps working.
Ground-floor flats near the canal add corrosion to age, and the 1960s walk-ups add self-closers that slam a door against a worn latch all day. Each is assessed on the door across Elwood, Victoria. Read the lock repair service for the method, or the Elwood locksmith page for everything else.
The lock comes out of its pocket, is stripped on the bench, and the worn part replaced from period-compatible stock. The case goes back into the same mortice with the same furniture, so an Art Deco door shows no sign of the work.
Damp, still air near the canal pits cylinders and seizes bolts on ground-floor flats. We free the mechanism, replace pitted parts with stainless, and apply a dry lubricant that does not hold moisture, so the lock survives the next winter.
A block's entry door takes hundreds of slams a week, and the latch wears before the lock does. We adjust the closer so the door latches without slamming, replace the worn latch or strike, and make sure the door locks itself every time.
A key that turns stiffly in a 1930s door is the usual first call, often from a tenant who has been told not to force it. Landlords with several flats book a service across the block before winter. Owners corporations call when the common entry door stops latching and residents start wedging it open. Each repair is quoted from a photo and the address, and the common period parts are carried on the van.
Yes, for most. Springs, followers and bolts for the common Australian mortice patterns are still made or can be adapted, and True Locksmith carries them for Elwood, Victoria, Art Deco doors. Only a case that has cracked needs a like-for-like replacement.
Usually because the closer has lost pressure or the latch has worn, so the door stops short of the strike. Adjusting the closer and replacing the latch or strike restores it. A door that must be pulled shut is a security fault.
Yes. Servicing a mortice case or freeing a cylinder does not change its pinning, so the resident's key and the building master both keep working. Only a cylinder corroded beyond saving is replaced, and that one is pinned to match the block.
The same service is described for Fix Locks in Black Rock and Fix Locks in Parkdale .
Photograph the lock and the door edge and send that with the address and unit number through the contact page. Neale will confirm whether the original can be serviced, what it costs, and whether the building's keying needs checking first. Landlords can list several flats for one visit.
