Replace tired or compromised locks — properly, today.

Why locks get changed

People rarely think about their locks until they suddenly need to. The trigger is almost always specific: a set of keys went missing, the new place came with a thick ring of unknown copies, a contractor took the spare home, a tenant moved out, the cylinder started sticking, or a break-in attempt left the hardware bent and unreliable. Each of those triggers points to the same answer — a properly fitted, modern lock that you control.

The main lock change scenarios we see

• New homeowners replacing every external cylinder shortly after moving in.
• Landlords resetting the property between tenants.
• Body corporates and estates standardising on a single, restricted keyway.
• Offices changing access after staff turnover, particularly key-holders.
• Homes upgrading from old non-rated cylinders to anti-snap, anti-bump hardware.
• Properties recovering from a break-in or attempted forced entry — usually paired with our emergency lock change service.

The locks we fit across Cape Town

Mobile workshops carry the cylinders, mortices, dead-locks, night-latches and multipoint hardware that fit the bulk of Cape Town homes — wooden front doors in Gardens, aluminium sliders facing the sea in Bantry Bay, steel security gates across the Northern Suburbs, glass shop doors in the CBD. If your door type needs a specialist part we don't carry on the day, we order it in and book a return at no extra call-out.

Hardware we use day-to-day includes high-grade euro profile cylinders with hardened cores, anti-snap sacrificial sections, restricted keyways for offices and estates, and full mortice replacements for older wooden doors. For specifics by door type and use case, see our pages on lock installation, security lock upgrades and high security locks.

How a lock change actually runs

The visit is straightforward and almost always finished on the day. The locksmith inspects the door, measures the existing hardware, and shows you the replacement options that physically fit your door — different price points, different security ratings, same-key options. Once you've chosen, the new cylinder or mortice is fitted, the strike plate adjusted if needed, and every new key tested in front of you before the locksmith packs up. Old cylinders are disposed of, not handed back, and you're left with a clean invoice and a known number of keys.

Common pairings

A good lock change is often two jobs in one. If a sticking handle is the real reason the lock keeps misbehaving, we'll fix that too — see lock repair. If the door has shifted in the frame, we'll adjust the strike plate. And if the door itself is on its last legs, we'll say so honestly rather than push you toward a replacement that won't help.

Residential, commercial and estate work

On the residential side most of our lock changes happen across Sea Point, Green Point, Gardens, Rondebosch, Claremont, Constantia, Bellville and Table View — but every suburb we cover gets the same response. Body corporates and estates often book lock changes as a coordinated job: matching cylinders across multiple unit entrances, scheduled outside business hours, with a clean key register handed over at the end. Office and retail lock changes are usually planned for outside trading hours so there's no disruption to customers or staff.

For business work in particular, a lock change is often the right moment to look at a master key system rather than handing out new sets of keys to every door. One key per person, opening the right doors for that person — and clear audit when keys change hands.

Pricing, parts and the day itself

We quote on price and on time before any work begins. Most residential lock changes during business hours fall into a predictable band; estate and commercial jobs are quoted per door and per cylinder grade. There are no charges for parts that aren't fitted and no labour added at the end for something that wasn't discussed at the door.