Smart Lock Installation in San Diego, CA

Does a San Diego door suit a smart lock?

Most smart deadbolts are built for a door drilled with a round bore hole at a set backset, the distance from the door's edge to the center of that hole. Measure both and check them against the lock's listed fit before buying. The city's older housing is where that check matters most:

• North Park's Dryden Historic District. Its period of significance runs from 1912 to 1941, and a door of that age may be cut for a mortise lock, which a smart deadbolt made for a round bore may not fit without new holes. Ask whether a smart option can work with the existing lock, or put the smart lock on a secondary door so an original door is spared.
• Uptown's courts. Bungalow and apartment courts were popular from the 1920s through the 1950s, so a court cottage or unit door may carry decades of changed hardware and filled holes.

Approval in a rented home

California Civil Code § 1941.3 makes a landlord responsible for an operable dead bolt on each main swinging entry door. A tenant who wants to swap that dead bolt for a smart one should get written approval first and plan to give the landlord a working key or code. This is general information, not legal advice.

Sun, batteries and the garage

• Heat. Check the operating temperature range the maker lists for a keypad or smart lock before mounting it on a sun-facing door.
• A spare key. Keep any mechanical key that comes with the lock, and leave a copy where you can reach it if the lock fails.
• Garage openers. Since July 1, 2019, Health and Safety Code § 19892 has barred selling or installing a residential automatic garage door opener in California without a battery backup that works in a power outage. A smart lock also runs on batteries, so keep spares.

Details for an installation request

Send photos of the door edge and both faces, the lock now installed, whether the home is rented or in an association, and the phone platform you use. See smart lock installation for the service, or lock replacement if the old lock is worn out.