Locksmith in Orleans, from Queenswood Heights to the newest streets east

Family homes from every decade since the 1950s, most with an attached garage and a back door onto the yard. An Orleans locksmith knows that the front door is rarely the weak point.

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Satin nickel deadbolt and lever on the door from an attached garage into the house, with a drill, strike plate and long screws ready on the step

Orleans at a glance

Built: From 1958 to today
Homes: Detached houses and townhouses, most with garages
Watch for: Garage entry doors and patio doors
Common calls: Rekeying, lockouts, car keys, new deadbolts
History: Split between Gloucester and Cumberland until 2001
Experience: 10 years in the trade, Fully insured

From a parish to Ottawa's east end

Orleans takes its name from a post office opened in 1860, the same year the parish of Saint-Joseph d'Orléans was founded, and it has kept a strong francophone character ever since. For most of the next century it was a small village surrounded by farms.

Suburban Orleans began in 1958 with Queenswood Heights. In 1970 the Grey Nuns sold 500 acres to the developers Costain and Minto, which became Convent Glen, Orléans Wood and Chatelaine Village, and the community grew fastest between 1981 and 1991. Chapel Hill and Fallingbrook filled in through the 1980s and 1990s, and building has continued south and east ever since.

Until 2001, Orleans was divided between the cities of Gloucester and Cumberland. Streets a few hundred metres apart were built by different developers in different decades, under different municipal rules, and they ended up with different doors and hardware. An Orleans locksmith learns not to assume that two houses on neighbouring streets have the same locks.

Orleans neighbourhoods and what is on the doors

Patterns, not rules. Many owners have upgraded their hardware, and the door itself is the only reliable guide.

Queenswood Heights and the old village

The oldest houses in Orleans. Doors have usually been replaced at least once, and side and basement doors are where very old locks tend to survive.

Convent Glen, Orléans Wood and Chatelaine Village

Houses from the 1970s, many now on their third or fourth owner. Deadbolts from that era still work but are worth rekeying when a house changes hands.

Chapel Hill and Fallingbrook

Built through the 1980s and 1990s, with many attached garages. The door from the garage into the house is often fitted with a knob only.

Avalon and the eastern edge

Newer houses and townhouses with builder hardware, keypad deadbolts and community mailboxes at the end of the street.

Townhouse and condo complexes

Unit doors are yours. Shared doors, garages and mailboxes are usually the corporation's, so check with the property manager before changing anything that leads into a common space.

Along the main roads

Shops, clinics and restaurants on St. Joseph Boulevard and Innes Road, with storefront doors and back exits. See commercial locksmith.

The garage is the forgotten front door

Most Orleans houses have an attached garage, and in many of them the door from the garage into the house is the least secure door the house has. It was fitted with a basic knob because it was thought of as an inside door. In practice, anyone who gets into the garage is one weak latch away from the kitchen.

The garage itself is easier to get into than people think. An opener remote clipped to the visor of a car parked in the driveway opens it for anyone who breaks a car window. A side door to the yard with an old lock, or a garage door left open on a summer evening, does the same.

The fix is inexpensive and takes one visit: a proper deadbolt on the garage entry door, keyed to the front door, with a reinforced strike and long screws. Keep the opener remote out of a car that sits outside overnight, or use a keychain remote instead.

A quick check of your garage

Garage entry door: Does it have a deadbolt, or only a knob?
Side door: Does it lock with a deadbolt, and who has a key?
Opener remote: Is it in a car that sits in the driveway?
Keypad on the door: When was the code last changed?

What people in Orleans call a locksmith about

These are the calls that come up most often east of the Greenbelt.

Rekeying after a move

The usual first job in a newly bought house. See residential locksmith for how rekeying works and what it involves.

Lockouts

Locked out on the way to work, or home from a walk with the key on the other side of the door. For an urgent one, see emergency locksmith.

Deadbolts on garage entry and side doors

Added and keyed to the front door so one key opens them all.

Patio doors

Sliding doors with tired latches made secure with a bar, a foot lock or a new latch.

Keys that are hard to turn

Worn keys copied from copies. A new key cut to the original code usually fixes it, and if not, the cylinder needs work.

Car keys and lockouts

A lost fob or a car locked with the keys inside. See car locksmith.

Check your home

How secure is your front door?

Eight questions about the doors you already have. Most of the fixes are small, and none of them need a new door.

Every outside door, including the one from the garage, has a deadbolt
The strike plates are held by long screws that reach the wall stud
The locks were rekeyed after you moved in
You know exactly who holds a key
Sliding patio doors have a bar or a second lock
No glass is within arm’s reach of a thumb turn
The garage opener remote never sits in a car parked outside
Keypad codes and batteries were changed in the last year (or you have no keypad)

0out of 100

Answer the questions to see your score and what to fix first.

Book a door check

Before you hand out keys to a new Orleans home

Moving day is the cheapest time to get the locks right.

Rekey all exterior locks
Including the garage entry, the side door and any patio door with a key cylinder.
Add a deadbolt where there is none
The door from the garage into the house is the usual candidate.
Reset the garage opener and keypads
Clear the old remotes from the opener and change any keypad codes.
Strengthen the strike plates
Long screws into the stud on every exterior door.
Decide who gets a key
Cut only as many as you need, and keep a record of who has them.

Winter in the east end

Orleans sits on open ground by the river, and cold weather shows up in the locks.

Frozen locks

A de-icer made for locks is the right fix. Hot water refreezes deeper in the cylinder, and oil thickens in the cold.

Doors that stop latching

Frost moves door frames, and a deadbolt that slid easily in September can bind in January. The strike usually needs adjusting, not the lock.

Keypad batteries

Cold drains batteries quickly. Replace them in the fall so the keypad does not die on the coldest morning.

Community mailbox locks

If a Canada Post community mailbox lock is frozen, do not use heat or de-icer. Report it to Canada Post, which owns the lock.

Busy family homes and who holds a key

Many Orleans houses are family homes with a lot of people coming and going: children old enough to let themselves in after school, grandparents who help with pickups, a babysitter, a dog walker, a cleaner and a contractor finishing the basement. Each of them may need to get in, and each key handed out is one more key that can be copied or lost.

Two things help. The first is rekeying whenever you lose track, so that only the keys you know about still work. The second is a keypad deadbolt on the door that most people use, so that each person gets a code that can be removed when they no longer need it, without collecting keys or changing the lock.

An Orleans locksmith can set both up in one visit: a keypad deadbolt on the main entry, keyed with a backup that matches the other doors, and the rest of the house rekeyed to that same key.

Shops and offices along St. Joseph Boulevard and Innes Road

Orleans has a busy commercial side, and its businesses have their own lock and key needs.

Storefront cylinders

Narrow aluminum doors use special lock bodies, and a worn cylinder is a common reason a shop cannot open in the morning.

Staff keys

When an employee leaves with a key, rekey the doors it opened, or move to restricted keys that cannot be copied.

Back exits

Panic bars and closers adjusted so the door opens freely from inside and latches every time it closes.

Clinics and offices

Separate keys for treatment rooms, records and supply cupboards, with a master for the owner. See commercial locksmith.

Patio doors and back yards

Many Orleans houses back onto parks, schoolyards or the green corridors along Bilberry Creek and Taylor Creek. Back doors are out of sight from the street, which is exactly why they deserve attention.

Sliding patio doors

The factory latch on an older sliding door is often weak. A bar in the track, a foot lock at the bottom of the frame or a keyed patio lock make it far harder to open from outside.

Back doors with glass

A deadbolt with a thumb turn near a glass panel can be reached by breaking the glass. Moving the lock, adding security film or choosing a different deadbolt are the options an Orleans locksmith will talk through.

Gates to the yard

A gate latch with a padlock keeps the back yard, and the doors in it, out of easy reach.

Sheds

Bikes and tools in a shed with a cheap padlock are an easy target. A closed-shackle padlock and a solid hasp cost little.

Lighting

Not a lock, but a motion light over the back door does as much as any hardware to keep people away from it.

What locksmith work costs in Orleans

Prices are given on the phone once the job is described, and confirmed before anything is done. If something unexpected turns up, such as a damaged frame behind a lock, you hear about it before it is added.

The things that move the price are the number of locks, whether they are rekeyed or replaced, and the type of hardware. Adding a new deadbolt where there was none means drilling the door for it, which takes longer than rekeying an existing lock.

An urgent call at night or on a weekend costs more than a booked visit. If a problem can safely wait until the next day, you will be told so.

Questions people ask

Do you cover all of Orleans?

Yes, from Queenswood Heights and Convent Glen to Chapel Hill, Fallingbrook, Avalon and the newer streets to the south and east.

Can you add a deadbolt to the door from my garage?

Yes. It is one of the most useful upgrades in an Orleans house. The door is drilled for the deadbolt, a reinforced strike is fitted, and the lock is keyed to match the front door.

Can a locksmith change my condo's front door lock?

Your unit door, yes, and it can usually be keyed to your other locks. Doors to shared corridors, the garage and the mailroom belong to the condominium corporation, so ask the property manager first.

Can you replace a lost car key at my house?

For most vehicles, yes. The key is cut and programmed where the car is parked. See the car key replacement page for what to have ready.

Should I get a keypad lock for a busy family home?

It often helps. Each person gets their own code, which can be removed later, and nobody needs to carry a key. Choose a model with a keyed backup, matched to your other locks.

Do you work on businesses in Orleans?

Yes. Storefront locks, rear exits, staff rekeys and master key systems for shops, clinics and offices along St. Joseph Boulevard, Innes Road and the rest of Orleans.

Locksmith services and other areas

The Ottawa Locksmith works across the city. Start with the main page for a locksmith in Ottawa, or go straight to a service.

Tell us what is locked

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If you are locked out right now, call, day or night. For anything that can wait, send the form and you will get a call back with a price.