You shouldn't have to wonder who has a key to your home
It's an uncomfortable thought, but it comes up more than people expect. A house move, a tenant who's moved on, a lost set of keys, a break-in that's shaken your confidence in your front door. In every one of those situations, the question is the same: who else could walk in right now? The answer should always be nobody except you.
Rekeying sounds appealing in theory, but it doesn't exist as a practical option for the locks on most UK doors. What actually works is a straightforward cylinder replacement, and it's not the expensive job some people assume it is. We bring the new cylinder with us, fit it while you're there, hand you the new keys, and deal with the old hardware on the spot. You watch it happen. There's no wondering later.
What we fit and why it matters
Not all cylinders are equal, and this is where the detail matters. Standard cylinders fitted by builders and housing developers are often easy to snap, a technique that takes seconds and bypasses the lock entirely without leaving much obvious damage. Anti-snap cylinders are designed so that if someone tries to snap the barrel, the outer section breaks away before reaching the locking mechanism. The door stays locked.
We stock and fit cylinders from Yale, ERA, Avocet ABS, Ultion, and Mul-T-Lock. For customers in SR1, SR2, and SR3 who've had a burglary or whose insurer has flagged their security, we'd usually recommend a TS007 3-star or an SS312 Diamond Secured by Design cylinder. These are the ratings that satisfy most insurance requirements and give you a genuine step up in protection, not just a marketing claim.
For uPVC doors with multipoint locking, it's sometimes the gearbox mechanism rather than the cylinder causing problems. We assess both when we arrive, so you're not paying for a cylinder when what you actually needed was a gearbox, or missing the fact that you needed both.
What to expect when you call us
We've been doing this in Sunderland since 2014, so we know the door furniture you'll find in Fulwell and Silksworth just as well as the older properties in Roker or the terraces around Southwick. We'll ask you a few short questions on the phone, give you a clear quote covering labour, parts, and VAT before we commit to anything, and tell you when we can be there.
There's no call-out fee quoted separately to catch you out later. The price you agree on the call is the price. Most standard cylinder swaps on a single door take between twenty minutes and an hour depending on the lock type and how accessible the door is. We carry a range of cylinder sizes in the van, so most jobs don't involve a wait for parts.
If you're in Houghton-le-Spring, Seaham, or out towards Peterlee and you're not sure whether you're in our area, just call 0191 349 6413 and we'll tell you straight. We cover a wide patch and we'd rather have that conversation than have you assume we can't help.
What we cover
- British Standard anti-snap cylinders fitted
- Renders old keys useless immediately
- TS007 3-star and SS312 Diamond options
- Avocet ABS, Ultion, Mul-T-Lock
How a typical job goes
You ring us
Tell us what's happening, what door, what brand of lock if you know. We'll give you our labour rates, estimated parts pricing and VAT on the call.
We turn up
We aim for under 30 minutes inside Sunderland where possible. The engineer confirms what's needed and what it'll cost before any work starts.
Job done
Receipted with a breakdown of pricing and parts, and a 12-month guarantee on any parts we supplied and fitted.