Service
Sliding Door Lock & Handle Repair
A sliding door that will not lock is not an inconvenience, it is an unsecured ground-floor opening. It is also one of the cheapest and fastest things on a slider to put right.
Why sliding door locks stop catching
The most common cause is not the lock at all — it is the door dropping. As rollers wear, the panel settles a few millimetres and the mortise hook no longer lines up with the keeper in the jamb. The lock is fine; the geometry moved. Fixing the rollers fixes the lock.
The second cause is genuine wear inside the mortise body. These are compact spring-loaded mechanisms in a damp coastal environment, and eventually the spring fatigues or the hook seizes. The third is the keeper itself, which is a soft metal plate that deforms over years of being hooked.
What we repair and replace
Mortise lock bodies, keepers, interior and exterior handle sets, thumb latches, and the through-bolts that hold the handle assembly together. We stock the common Andersen, Milgard, Pella and Arcadia patterns, plus a range of universal mortise bodies that fit most older aluminium sliders.
Where an original hardware pattern is genuinely obsolete, we fit a modern equivalent and adapt the mortise pocket rather than telling you the door needs replacing.
Adding real security to a slider
The factory latch on most residential sliders is a single hook, and it is not a serious deterrent. If security is your reason for calling, there are three worthwhile additions.
A secondary foot bolt at the base of the panel, which resists lifting as well as sliding. An auxiliary lock at the top rail, which defeats the common technique of levering the panel out of its channel. And anti-lift blocks fitted in the upper channel, which physically prevent the panel being raised at all. All three are inexpensive and fit in the same visit.
Cost
A mortise lock replacement typically runs $145 to $290 including the part. A full handle set with new lock body sits higher. Secondary security hardware is generally $60 to $140 per item fitted.
If the underlying cause turns out to be worn rollers, we will tell you that before fitting a lock you do not need.
From the van
Locks & handles — from real jobs
Photographs from work we have carried out across San Diego County.
Questions
Locks & handles — common questions
My sliding door lock will not catch. Is the lock broken?
Often not. The usual cause is worn rollers letting the panel drop, so the hook no longer aligns with the keeper in the jamb. That is why we check roller height before quoting a lock replacement — replacing the lock on a dropped door does not solve it.
Can you rekey a sliding door lock to match my house key?
On keyed patio door locks, usually yes. Many residential sliders use a non-keyed interior thumb latch, in which case we can fit a keyed unit if you want the door to be lockable from outside.
What is the best extra lock for a sliding glass door?
A foot bolt at the base of the panel combined with anti-lift blocks in the top channel. Between them they address the two ways a slider is actually forced: sliding it and lifting it out. A bar in the track alone stops neither reliably.
Do you fit child safety locks on sliding doors?
Yes. High-mounted latches out of a child's reach are the usual solution, and they are frequently requested for doors leading to a pool. We can fit them on the same visit as any other work.
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Roller replacement
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Emergency service
Broken glass or a door that will not lock is a security problem, not a scheduling problem. We secure the opening tonight and glaze it proper…
Emergency service →Available in San Diego · Chula Vista · El Cajon · Oceanside · Carlsbad · Escondido · La Mesa · Poway and everywhere else we cover.
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Book locks & handles
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