Included, and what it is not
- ✓ Hang the door and frame as supplied
- ✓ Line up the multi-point lock and keeps
- ✓ Fit hinge bolts where the set includes them
- ✓ Check every hook and the latch
- ✓ Leave the threshold sealed so the door actually shuts on the locks
Ways this job is specified
Composite security doors
The common replacement front door. Security depends on the lock and the frame fixings, not only on the skin.
Timber with a multi-point lock
A solid timber door can take a multi-point lock if the stile is deep enough. A thin old door may not.
Hinge bolts and keeps
Stop the door being levered off the hinge side. They are fitted with the door, not as an afterthought into a rotten frame.
Certified sets
If you want a specific rating, buy a set that already has it. We fit that set. We do not invent a rating for an unrated slab.
On the day
01
Frame first
A multi-point lock cannot be adjusted to suit a twisted frame. The frame is set plumb, then the lock is lined up.
02
Lock and hinges
Hooks, latch and hinge bolts are all checked. One hook that does not throw means the door is not locked, whatever the handle feels like.
03
Close on the seal
The door has to compress the seal and throw the lock without being lifted. If it needs a shoulder, the keep is wrong.
What changes the price
The door set is the main cost. Composite entrance doors supplied and fitted often run from about £900 to over £2,000 depending on size and glass. Timber with a decent multi-point lock sits in a similar fitting visit to any external door, typically a few hundred pounds of labour if you supply the set, more if the frame is rotten. A cylinder swap on your existing door is not this service and is not priced as a new door. The quote lists the set, the frame, and the labour separately.
Symptoms people search
A handle that will not lift usually means the hooks are not meeting the keeps, because the door has dropped or the frame has moved. Adding a second lock to a hollow door does very little. A viewer and a chain are not a security door. If the cill is soft, a new lock is fixed into a frame that can still be kicked.
Before and after the hang
Decide the door set before the day, including handing (which side the hinges are) and whether it opens in or out. After fitting, do not paint over lock keeps, and use the lock as it was set rather than forcing a stiff hook. If the door starts needing a lift to lock, ask for an adjustment before the gearbox is damaged.
What fails later
Locks and keeps wear with grit and with a door that is slightly out. A gearbox that is forced fails early. The slab lasts; the lock is the service part. Hinge bolts only work if the frame they shoot into is solid. On the coast, specify ironmongery that tolerates salt or it will seize.
Doing it yourself
Fitting a cylinder is a reasonable DIY or locksmith job. Hanging a security door is not, because the lock line is only as good as the frame. We install the door. For a lost key on a door that still hangs properly, call a locksmith.
Outside this job
- A lock change or a night lockout on a sound door is locksmith work
- We do not fit shutters, gates, or garage doors
- We do not upgrade a rotten frame by adding a better lock
- We do not supply a security certificate the manufacturer did not give the set
Questions about security door installation
Only if the lock, hinges and frame are up to it. The skin colour does not make it secure. Fit the set as the maker describes, into a sound opening.
If the door and frame are sound and you want the locks altered as part of a refit, ask. A same-night lockout is a locksmith, not a door-hanging visit.
A lock that throws hooks or bolts at several heights, not only a single latch. All of the points have to meet their keeps or the door is only held in one place.
Yes, where the door set uses them or the stile and frame can take them. They are useless in a rotten jamb.
Not usefully. A hollow door and a soft frame need replacing. A better handle on that door does not change how it fails.
No. Entrance doors only. Garage doors and gates are different trades.
Other door jobs
Quote for security door installation
Say how many doors, whether you have already bought them, and the town. We reply with a written quote.