Lock installation and replacement in Putnam County

Fitting the right lock to the building

Putnam County properties rarely have just one kind of door. A single lot might hold a manufactured home, a pole barn, a boat shed and a gate. Each needs a lock suited to it, and the wrong one — a residential deadbolt on a thin mobile home door, a cheap padlock on a riverside shed — won't last.

Manufactured-home hardware

Mobile and manufactured home entry doors are often thinner than site-built doors, and many swing outward. Hardware made for those doors is sized differently from standard residential locks. A locksmith can measure the door and fit a lockset and deadbolt that actually match, rather than forcing in something that leaves gaps.

Older doors in Palatka's historic neighborhoods

Houses in the North and South Historic Districts may have doors that have settled out of square, with old bore holes and soft wood around the strike. Fitting a new deadbolt there often means filling old holes, adjusting the strike and fixing the latch alignment. If your home is a designated historic property, ask the city whether visible exterior changes need review before you begin.

Boat sheds, workshops and gates

Humidity near the river and lakes is hard on padlocks and hasps. Choose padlocks with a shrouded shackle and weather-resistant body, and mount hasps with carriage bolts rather than screws, so the whole assembly can't simply be unscrewed. A locksmith can key several padlocks alike so one key opens the shed, gate and workshop.

Strengthening the frame

A deadbolt is only as strong as the jamb it locks into. A heavier strike plate fastened with long screws into the framing makes any door — site-built or manufactured — much harder to force. On a manufactured home, where the framing around the door is lighter, the locksmith may recommend a reinforcement kit or a wider strike rather than simply longer screws. When a tropical storm is in the forecast, make sure each outside door pulls shut and latches solidly; a latch that only just catches is the one most likely to work loose in high wind.

Need something else in Putnam County?

See everything on the Putnam County locksmith page, or browse Florida locksmiths.

Want the background first? Read our guide: Lock Installation & Replacement.