Residential · Yakima
Residential locks and service
Deadbolts drilled and installed, worn door hardware brought back to working order, and push-button entry for the door you are tired of carrying keys to.
Chapter 01
Sticky doors, worn latches, and the deadbolt you keep meaning to add
Most home lock calls in Yakima start the same way. A door that used to latch cleanly now needs a shoulder to close, a key turns with a grind, or the back door has never had a deadbolt at all. None of it feels urgent until the day it fails with groceries in your arms.
One customer wrote that James came out to install a garage door lock, returned to put in another deadbolt, and then looked at two other doors that were sticking. Within ten minutes both worked better than they had in ten years. That is the usual story: the hardware was not dead, it was out of adjustment.
If you are not sure whether a lock needs service or replacing, bring the door hardware to the counter or call us. Describe what the door does, and we will tell you what we would check first.
Jordan, one of our locksmiths, drilling a door for a deadbolt with a jig.
How a deadbolt gets drilled and installed
A deadbolt is only as good as the hole it sits in. We drill the door using a jig, so the bore for the lock body and the cross bore for the bolt line up square and centered on the door edge. That is what keeps the bolt from rubbing the strike plate and the key from binding six months later. The photo above is Jordan at the shop doing exactly that.
If you would rather not carry a key at all, we install push-button entry locks and proximity card access with an audit trail. A code or card replaces the key, and the audit trail records which credential opened the door, which suits a rental, a workshop or a house with several people coming and going.
Safes are part of the same counter. We do safe service and combination changes, and the page for that has the details. If you do not see what you need listed here, please call and ask.
Chapter 03
After the install: spares, key control, and when to call us back
Cut a spare before you need one. We cut keys at the counter at 3402 W Washington Ave, and a spare in a neighbor's hands or a drawer you will remember beats a lockout on a cold evening. After hours service is available if you do end up locked out.
Keep track of who holds a working key. After a move, a contractor job or a tenant change, count the keys that exist for each door. If the number does not match what you expected, call and ask what we would do for that lock.
Call us back when a new deadbolt feels stiff, when the bolt does not throw all the way, or when a door starts dragging after a humid week. A small adjustment now is much cheaper than a stuck lock later.
Valley Lock & Key Service has served the Yakima Valley since 1963. Bonded locksmiths, WA L&I licensed contractor VALLELK991OR. Call (509) 575-3631 or stop by the counter, Monday to Thursday 8:00 to 4:30 and Friday 8:00 to 4:00.