Brooklyn Lock Installation
This one came in as a straightforward request: a Brooklyn apartment with a single knob lock on the entry door and nothing above it. The tenant wanted a deadbolt, and wanted to stop carrying a key. We fitted a keypad deadbolt above the existing hardware, and the photographs below are the actual job rather than a stock sequence.
If you are weighing the same upgrade on your own door, the useful part is not that it can be done. It is what has to line up for it to be done properly.
One brass knob set, with the cylinder in the escutcheon plate under the knob, and clean paint above it where no second lock had ever been. That is a very common Brooklyn apartment door: the original hardware, maintained, doing exactly what it was installed to do decades ago.
A knob lock holds a door shut with a spring latch - an angled bolt that retracts when it meets the strike. That is what makes a door close behind you without thinking about it. It is not what keeps the door shut against someone leaning on it, because a spring latch can be pushed, and because the whole assembly is anchored by the small screws in the knob plate.
So the old lock was not failing. It was never the security line in the first place. The job here was to add the line that was missing, which is also the argument we make in our wider guide on improving apartment door security.
A deadbolt needs two holes. A large bore straight through the face of the door for the lock body, and a smaller bore into the edge of the door for the bolt to travel through. They have to meet, squarely, in the middle.
Three things decide whether that goes well.
Height. Far enough above the knob that both locks can be operated comfortably and the escutcheons do not fight each other, and clear of any panel joint or glass. On this door that put the bore in clean, solid material.
Backset. The distance from the edge of the door to the centre of the bore. Residential hardware is made for two of them, and the lock has to be set to the one you drilled. Get this wrong and the bolt will not reach the strike, or will foul the edge.
Square. A hole saw wants to wander, especially through old paint and into a door that may not be perfectly uniform inside. Drilling from both faces rather than straight through is what keeps the exit side from blowing out, and keeps the lock sitting flat afterwards.
The edge of the door is where the work shows. The bolt bore has to be on the centreline, and the faceplate has to be mortised in so it sits flush with the edge rather than proud of it. A faceplate standing above the surface stops the door closing cleanly and puts every closing impact onto the lock instead of the frame.
Half of what a deadbolt is worth is decided on the frame, not the door. The bolt has to enter the strike cleanly with the door closed, not merely line up when the door is swinging, and it has to go deep enough into the jamb to be doing something.
That is also the moment to deal with the frame itself. The screws that come in the box are short. Replacing them with long screws that reach past the jamb and into the framing behind it is the cheapest meaningful upgrade available on any door, and it is the difference between a bolt anchored in a thin piece of trim and a bolt anchored in the building. We go into that properly in our note on strike plates and frame reinforcement.
A Schlage touchscreen keypad deadbolt, in matte black, with a key override cylinder below the keypad and a thumbturn on the inside face.
What that changes day to day is mostly about keys, not about technology. Codes can be given out and taken back without anyone cutting metal, which matters if a cleaner, a dog walker or a family member needs occasional access. Nobody is carrying a copy of your key that you cannot account for. And the door locks behind you deliberately rather than by habit.
What you take on is a lock that runs on batteries. The key override is the answer to that, which is exactly why we fit keypad locks that have one. Change the batteries when the lock first warns you, and keep an override key somewhere you can get to it - not inside the apartment it opens. Our note on a smart lock dead battery lockout covers what to do if that gets away from you, and smart locks versus traditional locks sets out the trade in full.
On an apartment entry door, the inside has to open without a key. Anyone inside has to be able to get out in an emergency, in the dark, without hunting for anything. That is why this lock has a thumbturn on the inside, and why a double-cylinder deadbolt - keyed on both faces - is the wrong choice for an occupied apartment, whatever its security argument looks like on paper. Our guide to whether you need a locksmith to install a deadbolt goes through the rest of the decision for a door anywhere in the city.
It is also worth saying plainly that in a multiple dwelling the apartment entry door is normally self-closing. Fitting a deadbolt to one is routine work, but the door has to still close and latch on its own afterwards. Mention it to whoever does the work, because it changes how the job is handled rather than whether it can be done.
Most leases require permission before hardware on the entry door changes, and some set out access arrangements that have to continue to work. None of that is a reason not to improve a door you live behind - it is a reason to get agreement in writing first.
Practically: ask, keep the original lock and its screws in a labelled bag, and fit the new lock so the door can be put back the way it was when you move out. A bore in the right place is not damage in any meaningful sense, but a conversation beforehand is much cheaper than one afterwards.
Before quoting anything we want to know five things, and you can check most of them yourself in a minute.
Send photographs of the door face, the door edge and the frame and that is usually enough to say what will fit. We cover lock installation, rekeying and lockouts across the borough from our Brooklyn locksmith page, and we are licensed and insured, NYC DCA #1362785-DCA, with 24/7 emergency cover if the reason you are reading this is that you are standing outside the door right now.
If the door already has a deadbolt bore in the right place and the frame is sound, swapping in a keypad deadbolt is within reach of a careful DIYer. Cutting a new bore is a different job. The two holes have to be square to the door and correctly spaced, the edge mortise has to sit flush, and the strike has to line up with the bolt once the door is closed rather than while it is open. A bore that wanders by a few millimetres gives you a bolt that binds, and that is not something you can sand out afterwards.
Usually, but ask first. Most leases require the landlord's permission before changing the hardware on an entry door, and many also require that the building keeps access on the terms set out in the lease. The practical approach is to agree it in writing beforehand, keep the original lock and screws in a bag, and fit the new lock in a way that can be reversed when you leave. We are not giving legal advice here - read your lease.
The lock we fitted has a key override cylinder underneath the keypad, so a mechanical key still opens it. That is the backstop and it is the reason we fit keypad locks with a cylinder rather than without one. Change the batteries when the lock starts warning you rather than when it stops, keep an override key somewhere you can actually reach, and do not leave the only copy inside the apartment.
No, and on an apartment entry door it should not have one. The inside of an apartment door has to open without a key so that anyone inside can get out in an emergency. The lock on this job has a thumbturn on the inside, which is the correct arrangement. A double-cylinder deadbolt keyed on both sides is the wrong choice for an occupied apartment door.
It is something to be aware of rather than a reason not to fit a deadbolt, which is routine work. In a multiple dwelling the apartment entry door is usually self-closing, and it has to stay that way: the closer must still shut and latch the door on its own after the work is done. Tell whoever does the installation that it is a self-closing door in a multiple dwelling so it is handled accordingly.