Locksmith East Vancouver
A mobile locksmith for the east side: suite rekeys, lockouts, and back door and lane door security. We come to the door. Call 604-227-9083, and arrival is confirmed on the call.
Fig. 01 — Vancouver, BCBC Security Business Licence #B6227.→
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604.227.9083
What are East Vancouver doors like?
East Van is many neighbourhoods. Most of the work comes from three kinds of building.
East of Main Street, the city is mostly houses with suites, older walk-ups and shops along the main roads. The doors follow the buildings.
Vancouver Specials and other suited houses
Boxy two-storey houses with a main entry up the front stairs and a ground-floor suite door at the side or back. One address, often three or four keyed doors.
Older houses and walk-ups
Strathcona, Grandview and the older blocks of Cedar Cottage have pre-war houses and low walk-up blocks. Expect mortise lock bodies, surface rim locks and doors that have been re-hung.
Laneway houses and garages
Most east side blocks have a lane. Back doors, garage doors and laneway houses add more keys to a single lot.
Shops on the main roads
Kingsway, Victoria Drive, Fraser and the industrial blocks near Clark have small shops where the rear door matters most. See commercial locksmith.
The goal is a suite key that opens the suite and nothing else, and an owner key that still opens every door the owner should reach.
✓What a good setup looks like
- Each suite on its own key
- An owner key for shared doors such as a garage, gate or utility room
- Only the door that changed hands is rekeyed
✕What to avoid
- A drawer of unlabelled copies
- Old tenant keys still working
- Rekeying the whole house for one suite
Tell us how many doors there are and who needs which, and we set the keying before we start.
Owners with several suites
A master key system keeps every suite on its own key with one key above them all.
Tenants and landlords
Your landlord decides who changes the locks on a rental. We rekey when the landlord or manager asks. If you are locked out, we open the door once you show you live there.
Most east side calls are suite rekeys, lockouts and back doors. Tell us the door and the lock, and your total is confirmed on the call before a technician is sent.
What moves the total is on our locksmith prices page.
See locksmith prices →What makes a lane door safer?
The lane door is the one most often forgotten, and it is usually the oldest hardware on the property. Rear doors are normally forced at the frame, not the cylinder.
A solid deadbolt
Enough bolt throw to bite into the frame. Older back doors may have only a rim latch. See door repair if the door itself has settled.
A reinforced strike
Screws long enough to reach the framing, not just the jamb trim.
A restricted key
For shops, a restricted keyway means an old staff key cannot be copied at a hardware counter.
A keypad on a suite or laneway house
A code can beat handing over a key. See smart lock installation.
East Vancouver suite rekey and lane door work
Two everyday jobs on east side doors.
Suite door rekeyed after a tenant leaves
The suite door at the side of the house gets a new key, and the old tenant keys stop working. The main entry and the owner keys are left alone.
We do it at the door, so the suite is secure before we leave.
Lane door with a spongy frame
On an older back door, a new lock alone does not help if the frame gives way. We check the edge, the frame and the strike first.
A box strike with long screws and a solid deadbolt usually makes the difference.
01Which neighbourhoods count as East Vancouver?
Everything east of Main Street, from the inlet down to the Fraser and out to Boundary Road. Commercial Drive, Hastings-Sunrise and Mount Pleasant have their own pages with more local detail.
02My Vancouver Special has a suite downstairs. Can the suite have its own key?
Yes. The suite door gets a key that opens nothing else, and you keep a key for the doors you should reach. A garage or lane door can go into the same plan.
03Can the old rim lock on my back door become a proper deadbolt?
Usually. The door and frame decide how much work it is, so we look at them first. If the jamb needs reinforcing, we say so before we start.
04I have a laneway house behind the main house. How do we handle keys?
Each dwelling on its own key, with an owner key for shared doors like a gate or garage. That can be a small master key system or simply separate keys with a written note of who holds what.
05How much is a lockout in East Vancouver?
It depends on the lock, the door and the hour. The total for your address is confirmed on the call, before a technician is sent. See locksmith prices.
06Do you cut keys at the door?
Yes. Spare house and suite keys are cut where you are. See key cutting.
Vancouver neighbourhoods we serve
Mobile locksmith service across the city of Vancouver and the UBC area.
Each area page covers the doors, buildings and locks we see in that part of the city.
View Service Areas ↗Call an East Vancouver locksmith: 604-227-9083
↗Tell us what the door is and which part of East Van you are in. Arrival is confirmed on the call.