Josh-the-Locksmith
25 Years Experience
Austin, TX
Male, 46
I've been a locksmith since 1998. I did automotive residential & commercial work from 1998 to 2008. From 2008 to 2018, I did some residential, but mostly commercial work. I have been project managing & estimating since 2018. I used to locksmith in the Chicago area, now the Austin area.
99% of the time, no definitely not. The only time I would ever drill a lock before trying to pick it is if it is high security and I know there is no way I'm going to get that thing picked. If you had somebody come out to your house to unlock it, and you have regular residential locks, I am sorry for you. You hired someone very unprofessional.
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Is this a Kwickset lock? If so, that is a fairly common problem. You probably just need to replace it. You shouldn't need to take off the front lever in order to remove it from the door. After you take the inside lever off, the trim plate covering the inside screws should either pop straight off by prying underneath a small cutout under the plate against the door, or twisting it counterclockwise a short turn, then it will pull off. All depend on brand & model. That would have been helpful.
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If you had asked me that a couple years ago I would have told you no. They had a lot of problems initially. I believe they are on their 3rd version now and it seems to be holding up pretty well. So basically sure I would. They're a pretty good lock.
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Its not an easy job! You're better off installing a cylindrical deadbolt ABOVE your surface-mounted deadbolt. Still not easy if you're not used to doing it, and takes a lot of specialty tools- 2-1/8" hole saw, chisels, 1" paddle bit or hole saw, etc. If you care about the cosmetics of your door, you might be better off hiring a locksmith do it a proper job.
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I've never worked on a door that required me to take the door down to take out or work on a cylinder, so no, you probably shouldn't have to do that. Now if the bottom concealed latch/bolt needs work, sometimes you do have to take the door down, sometimes not.
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Can you just drill the hole deeper?
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Take it to a locksmith. Being that old, you might be lucky it even comes out at all!
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