Lock Installation in
Uptown, Houston, TX

Most installations are scheduled with you, your contractor or your building.

A Suite Build-Out, Five People and a Fire-Rated Door

Office installs come with a crowd. This is a typical example of a lock installation in an Uptown tower, and of what the technician noticed that saved everyone a headache.

A small consulting firm was finishing a suite build-out on a high floor of an office tower off Post Oak. Move-in was the following week. The general contractor's superintendent had the doors hung. The building engineer was checking the work against the building's standards. An IT contractor was running cable for card readers. And the firm's office manager had a clipboard with a simple request: a deadbolt and a lever on the main entry, privacy locks on two offices, a lock on the supply room, and everything on one key except the supply room.

The office manager had called us the day before. The dispatcher asked what the doors were made of, whether the main entry was a fire-rated door, and whether the building required specific hardware. She didn't know the first two. The dispatcher asked her to check the label on the hinge edge of the entry door and to ask the building engineer about standards.

The technician arrived in uniform, signed in at the security desk with his ID, and was escorted up. The office manager's authorization letter from the firm was waiting. He went straight to the hinge edge of the entry door and read the label. Fire-rated, with a factory prep for a single cylindrical lock. No deadbolt prep.

He explained it to the room. Drilling a rated door outside its listed prep can void the rating. And in a commercial suite, the exit has to open with one motion, so a separate deadbolt would need a second motion to get out. The building engineer nodded; that was his concern too. The answer was a heavy-duty lever lock with a storeroom-style function that stays locked outside and always opens from inside, fitted to the existing prep. The office manager agreed.

He installed it with the manufacturer's template, mounted the strike to the hollow metal frame with the correct machine screws, and checked that the door closer pulled it fully latched. Then he fitted the office and supply room locks on the interior doors, which weren't rated. He used his drill and a boring jig there, keyed the entry and offices alike, and kept the supply room separate. The IT contractor asked him to leave room for a card reader beside the entry, and he did.

Everyone tested the doors. The building engineer signed off. The technician's advice: before you buy hardware for a new suite, read the door labels and ask the building for its standards.

Fitting Locks to Doors That Have None

Read the Door Before You Drill

Look for a label on the hinge edge, a factory prep for a specific lock, and the backset of any holes already bored. Rated doors, steel doors and pre-bored doors all limit what hardware fits.

Fire-Rated Doors in Offices and Condos

Many suite entries and condo unit doors in towers are fire-rated. They must use hardware that fits the factory prep, and in commercial spaces the exit must open with one motion. We choose locks that meet both.

Install Deadbolt and Knob on a Home Door

For houses and townhomes, a lever or knob plus a separate deadbolt is standard. For a deadbolt on its own, see deadbolt installation. We bore the door, chisel the faceplate pockets, fit heavy strikes with 3-inch screws into the framing, and test both with the door closed.

New Door Lock Installation for Condos

Condo doors often have association rules for finish and style. We match the hallway look while installing the lock you need.

Keyed Alike Locks and Office Key Plans

Homes usually want one key for every door. Offices often want some doors on one key and others separate, or a small master system. We key it the way you plan it and give you a chart.

Door Hardware Installation for Remodels

Pocket doors, closets, wine rooms, pantries, gates and home offices all need hardware. We fit privacy, passage, storeroom or keyed functions to suit each use.

Working With Contractors and Buildings

We coordinate with superintendents, building engineers and security desks, follow building hours and freight elevator rules, and work around other trades.

Your Hardware or Ours

You can supply locks. We'll check the grade, function and fit before installing, and tell you if something isn't suitable for the door.

Keypads and Card Readers

New doors are the best time to plan access control. A keypad deadbolt for a home, or a lock that works with a building's card readers for an office, is easier to fit before the trim and paint are finished. Tell us early, and we'll coordinate with your IT or security contractor so the lock, the reader and the door closer all work together. For homes, see smart lock installation.

Who Can Authorize

Owners, or tenants and contractors with the owner's written authorization. For office suites, a letter from the tenant company works.

Getting to Your Building

Our technicians work from vans across Uptown, so the tools come with them. Uptown towers add steps: security sign-in, freight elevator schedules, parking for a service vehicle. Post Oak at lunch and the West Loop at rush hour are the slow stretches. Planned work is scheduled around your contractor and your building's rules.

Precise Work Around Other Trades

Our technicians wear uniforms and carry ID, sign in where buildings require it, and work cleanly around other trades. They read labels and templates, explain code issues in plain terms, protect finishes, and test each door with its closer and strike. If a door or frame has a problem that will make a lock fail, they say so before installing.

Fast Locksmith 24/7 is licensed and insured, and customers rate us 5 stars on Google.

Lock Installation Around Uptown

Lock installation in Uptown splits between offices and homes. Office suites along Post Oak and San Felipe are built out and reconfigured constantly, each with its own building standards and fire-rated doors. Residential towers have unit doors with association rules. Houses and townhomes in Larchmont, Westhaven Estates and the streets off Woodway get new entry doors, garage entries and gates during remodels. Whatever the setting, lock installation in Uptown starts with reading the door, because the door decides which locks are allowed on it.

Installing a new lock starts with the door. Tell us what it's made of, how thick it is and whether a lock has ever been fitted. Solid wood, hollow-core and steel doors each take different tools and parts.

Placement matters. The height, the 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.

Test the lock with us when we're done. Lock it, unlock it and push on the door. If anything binds or rattles, we can fix it while we're there.

If the door is new, check it before we arrive. Make sure it closes properly and that the paint is dry around the area where the lock goes, because a lock on a door that sticks never feels right.

We also install locks in the Galleria, Memorial and River Oaks. For business key systems, see our commercial locksmith service.