Lock Restoration
Old houses carry locks worth saving, and salt air is their enemy. Restoration keeps the character working.
What this service actually involves
Older South Florida homes, and the vintage hardware their owners love, deserve better than a big-box swap that leaves paint scars around a modern faceplate. Restoration disassembles, cleans, re-springs and re-pins original mortise locks and vintage hardware, keeps the brass and the character, and returns a lock that works like it did decades ago.
Where original parts are gone, period-appropriate replacements and skeleton-to-modern conversions bridge the gap: the visible hardware stays true to the house while the cylinder behind it meets today's security. Coastal corrosion gets addressed with materials that slow its return.
Questions, answered straight
The house has original 1950s mortise locks.
Usually restorable, and usually worth it: mortise cases of that era were built serviceable. Cleaning, new springs and fresh pinning bring most of them back.
Can an antique lock take a modern key?
Often yes, via cylinder conversion that hides entirely behind the original trim. The street sees the vintage plate; the key in your pocket is modern.
Is restored hardware secure enough?
The restored mortise plus a discreet modern deadbolt is the honest pattern: character on display, security where it counts.
Related services