Most installs are planned.
A Handle Set Bought Online and a Measurement Caught on the Phone
The most useful part of an installation sometimes happens before anyone picks up a drill. Here's a typical example from a house north of the freeway.
A homeowner a few streets north of Memorial City had just had a new fiberglass front door hung by a door company. It came pre-bored for a handle set and a deadbolt. She'd ordered a nice oil-rubbed bronze handle set online, and it had arrived the same week. She called us to install it.
The dispatcher asked what any experienced installer would: the door thickness, whether it was pre-bored, the backset, and the brand and model of the handle set. She didn't know half of it, so he asked her to text two photos: the door's edge and face with the holes, and the template printed inside the handle set box. While she sent them, he stayed on the line.
He looked at the photos and found the problem. The door had been pre-bored with the two holes about five and a half inches apart, center to center. The handle set's template called for a different spacing. The thumb-latch handle wouldn't line up with the deadbolt hole, and making it fit would mean new holes in a brand-new door and a visible patch under the escutcheon.
He explained it in plain terms. She could return the handle set and choose one that matched the door's spacing, or he could send the technician with a compatible set in a similar finish. She asked what he'd do. He said return it for the technician to bring a matching handle set and a deadbolt keyed alike. He booked the install for the next afternoon and told her the technician would call when he was on the way.
The technician arrived in uniform and showed his ID and checked her license against the address. He measured the door again, just to be sure. The pre-bored holes were clean, so he checked the latch and deadbolt edge preps, deepened the strike mortises in the new frame, and set heavy strikes with 3-inch screws into the stud. He installed the handle set and deadbolt, keyed them alike with his pinning kit, and tested both with the door closed and the weatherstrip compressed.
The bolt threw without a push. The thumb latch clicked cleanly.
How a Lock Installation Is Done
New Door Lock Installation on a Blank Door
A blank door needs boring. We use a jig to drill the face bore and edge bore at the right backset, chisel the latch faceplate and strike mortises, and set everything square. A crooked bore is the most common cause of a sticky latch. Freehand drilling with a hole saw is how it usually happens, and once a bore is off, it's hard to correct without a patch.
Pre-Bored Doors
Many new doors arrive pre-bored. Check the spacing between holes and the backset before buying hardware. A photo of the door edge and face, sent to us before you order, avoids returns.
Pairing a Deadbolt With a Knob or Lever
When we install deadbolt and knob sets together, a deadbolt and a knob or lever on the same door should be keyed alike and installed at the right spacing. We bore both at once on a blank door, so they line up.
Every Door on One Key
When we install several locks, we can key them alike to one key. If you're adding a lock to an existing set, we key it to match. Fewer keys means fewer copies to track.
Strikes and Frames
New doors often come with light strikes and short screws. We replace them with heavy strikes fixed by long screws into the framing. It's the part that actually holds the door shut against force.
Fiberglass and Steel Doors
Fiberglass and steel doors need different bits and more care around their foam cores and skins. We use the right tools to avoid cracking or crushing the face. Many replacement front doors around Memorial City are fiberglass now, because they stand up to humidity better than wood.
Interior Doors and Offices
Privacy locks for bedrooms and bathrooms, keyed locks for a home office or storage room, and passage sets for closets are all part of door hardware installation.
Hardware You Picked Out
We're happy to install hardware you've bought. Send us the model and a photo of the door first. If it won't fit, we'll tell you before the visit. Most returns we see come from three things: the wrong backset, the wrong hole spacing on a handle set, or a door that's thicker than the hardware allows. All three are visible in a photo.
Adding an Auxiliary Lock
A keyed auxiliary deadbolt on a back door, a side door or a sliding door adds security without changing the main hardware. We position it to clear the existing lock and the frame.
Approval for Work
Owners, or tenants with written landlord approval. We check ID against the address.
Doors Hung by Someone Else
If a contractor or door company hung your door, ask them for the backset and bore spacing in writing, or check their order. Ask too whether the frame has solid wood behind the strike area, because some prehung units use thin jambs with a gap behind them. It saves guesswork and makes the hardware decision easy.
On-Site Visits in Memorial City
Our technicians work from vans across Memorial City, so the tools come with them. Installs are booked at a time that suits you. Around Memorial City, rush hour fills the feeders at Gessner and Bunker Hill. North of I-10 into Spring Branch, the side streets are quick once we're off the main roads.
Technicians With the Right Tools
Our technicians arrive in the company uniform and carry company ID. They bring jigs, sharp bits, chisels and long screws, check every measurement twice, and clean up their shavings. Every lock is tested from both sides with the door closed before they leave.
Fast Locksmith 24/7 is licensed and insured, and Houston homeowners have rated us 5 stars on Google.
Lock Installation Around Memorial City
Around Memorial City, lock installation calls come from homeowners replacing front doors on older brick houses north of I-10, new townhomes with builder-grade hardware, home offices that need a keyed door, and landlords setting up keyed-alike sets on rentals. If you need a locksmith to install locks, lock installation in Memorial City starts with a measurement and a photo, not a drill. That habit saves time for everyone, and it keeps a brand-new door free of extra holes.
A new lock starts with the door. Tell us what it is made of and how thick it is. Solid wood, hollow-core and steel doors all take different tools.
Placement matters. Height, spacing from the edge and the position of the strike all affect how the lock feels in daily use. We follow standard measurements and adjust for your door.
When we are done, test the lock together. Lock it, unlock it and push on the door.
If you're installing locks on a new gate, shed or workshop door, tell us what it holds. A tool shed and a storage room for family keepsakes call for different hardware.
Ask for a spare strike plate, a set of longer screws and the keys cut in a pair. They are small items and handy later.
We also install locks in Memorial, Spring Branch and Spring Valley Village. For deadbolts specifically, see deadbolt installation, and to swap worn hardware see lock replacement.
Measure Twice, Then Call Us
Call Fast Locksmith 24/7. Tell us about the door, whether it's bored, and the hardware you want. Send a photo if you can.
Estimated Technician Arrival Time
Arrival times vary depending on your location and technician availability.
Actual arrival time may vary depending on your exact location, traffic conditions, time of day, current demand, and technician availability.
Providing your exact vehicle location when calling allows us to give you a more accurate estimated arrival time.