Non-destructive entry first, always - and we re-key Schlage, Kwikset, and Baldwin locks on the spot while you watch
You get a price before we start. It does not change when we arrive. No surprises.
Locksmith Before & After in Atlanta, GA
We’ve been in Atlanta homes and businesses since 2002, and we’ve learned that most people don’t think about their locks until something breaks, sticks, or fails at the worst possible moment. These before-and-after cases show what we actually found, what we actually did, and what the customer walked away with. Every job includes a written price before we start, a documented photo record, and our 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Recent Transformations
Failed Master Key System in a Buckhead Office Building
The property manager called us after three different keys had opened the wrong suites in a six-floor office building on Peachtree Road. We found a patchwork system installed by three different vendors over twelve years, with cylinders from four manufacturers and no master key chart that matched reality. Haven Standard Clause 4 requires us to document the existing condition with photos before we touch anything, so the customer saw exactly what we saw: a security system that had become a liability. We replaced all 47 cylinders with Schlage Primus XP high-security cylinders (locks that cannot be picked or bumped by standard tools), built a new three-tier master key hierarchy, and delivered a printed key chart, a written scope, and the photo record at completion. The price was $4,200, quoted in writing before we ordered parts. The building’s master key now opens exactly what it’s supposed to, and nothing else.
Destroyed Deadbolt After a Forced Entry Attempt in Virginia-Highland
A homeowner on North Highland Avenue woke to find her front door frame splintered and the deadbolt bent but still engaged, the only thing that had kept the intruder out. We found a builder-grade single-cylinder deadbolt installed with half-inch screws into soft pine, a combination that fails under moderate force. We installed a Medeco Maxum deadbolt with a reinforced strike plate and 3-inch screws anchored into the framing stud, plus a door frame repair with a steel wrap. The hardware cost more than the original deadbolt, but the door it protects cost considerably more than that. Total: $380, with the written quote delivered before we drove to the job. The photo record shows the bent latch, the stripped screws we removed, and the finished installation.
Obsolete Keypad Entry at a Midtown Retail Plaza
The store owner at a Ponce de Leon Avenue plaza had been managing employee turnover by collecting physical keys and hoping none were copied. The standalone keypad at the back door had corroded buttons, no audit trail, and a default programming code that three former employees still knew. We replaced it with an HID ProxPoint Plus reader tied to a managed access control panel that logs every entry by card and time stamp. Now the owner adds or removes access from a web portal, and the system emails a report of after-hours entries. The scope was quoted at $1,850 in writing, including the panel, two readers, ten prox cards, and training. Haven Standard Clause 1: the price on the phone was the price on the invoice.
Rekey After a Rental Turnover in Old Fourth Ward
A landlord on Edgewood Avenue needed four units rekeyed between tenants with a two-day vacancy window. We found a mix of Kwikset and Schlage hardware, some original to the 1920s building and some replaced after a break-in two years prior. Rather than replacing everything, we rekeyed the existing Kwikset SmartKey cylinders and replaced two worn Schlage deadbolts with new B60N models, then keyed all four units to a single landlord key with individual tenant keys. Lock rekey typically runs $18-$32 per cylinder, quoted in writing before we start; this job totaled $340 for four units, including the two new deadbolts. The photo record shows each cylinder’s condition, the pinning chart for the new keying, and the installed hardware. The tenant got keys that work, and the landlord got documentation that protects both of them.
Emergency Lockout at a Grant Park Home with a Toddler Inside
The call came at 6:47 on a Tuesday evening: a parent had stepped onto the porch to retrieve a package, the door had latched behind them, and their two-year-old was inside with the deadbolt thrown. We arrived in 22 minutes, opened the Kwikset deadbolt by manual manipulation without drilling or damaging the lock or door, and then inspected the mechanism. The bolt was sticking due to Atlanta’s humidity swelling the door frame, a condition we see regularly in Grant Park’s older homes. We adjusted the strike plate alignment, lubricated the cylinder, and tested the operation ten times. The lockout service was $95, quoted when the call was answered. The photo record includes the door condition, the lubrication point, and the final test. The child was never more than six feet from the parent, but those six feet mattered.
High-Security Conversion for a Inman Park Jewelry Designer
A jewelry designer on Euclid Avenue had installed a solid mahogany door and a decorative Baldwin handle set, then realized the deadbolt was still the same grade you’d find on a suburban patio door. We found a Schlage B60N, a perfectly adequate residential deadbolt, protecting a studio with $40,000 in finished inventory and raw materials. The customer wanted pick resistance, drill resistance, and key control (the ability to prove no unauthorized copies exist). We installed a Mul-T-Lock MT5+ deadbolt with an interactive key system, a hardened steel drill plate, and a restricted keyway that requires our authorization for duplication. The lock itself is rated for commercial applications; on this residential door, it’s overbuilt by design. The job was $680, with the written quote delivered before we touched the door. The photo record shows the original hardware, the door prep for the larger mortise, and the finished installation with the new key registered to the owner’s name in our system.
Want Results Like These?
Every job starts with a written price and ends with a photo record, a written scope, and our 365-Day Done Right Promise. Call (470) 944-6813 and speak to a live person. We’ll ask what you’re dealing with, name a price range, and schedule a technician who arrives in uniform with a background check already on file. No voicemail queue. No callback window. No price changed at the door.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security Atlanta, serving Atlanta since 2002.