Locksmith Services in Denver, CO

Homes and locks in Denver

Baker, about a mile south of Civic Center between Broadway and the South Platte River, was more than 80 percent developed by 1900 and holds hundreds of 19th-century brick houses. A historic district of roughly 30 blocks in its northeast corner joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Capitol Hill, bounded by Broadway, Downing Street, Colfax Avenue and Seventh Avenue, is Denver's most densely populated neighborhood. Its average building dates to 1920, and many of its apartments have been converted into condominiums. In a converted building, find out who controls the lobby and mailbox locks before changing a unit lock.

Harvey Park, which straddles South Sheridan Boulevard south of Jewell Avenue, is mostly mid-century modern homes, the majority built between 1954 and 1965; Cliff May alone built 170. A house that has changed hands over 60 years may still have keys out from earlier owners, which is where lock rekeying comes in.

Central Park, east of downtown, has been built since 2001 on the site of Stapleton International Airport. The vast majority of its single-family homes have alley-loaded garages, so the alley-side door may be the one used most. A small southeastern portion lies in Aurora.

Businesses and buildings

Capitol Hill's commercial uses sit mostly on arterials such as Colfax Avenue, East 13th and 14th avenues, Lincoln Street and Broadway. Baker's Broadway frontage is mostly retail and offices. Central Park's shopping districts include The Shops at Northfield. For storefronts and mixed-use buildings, see commercial locksmith.

Car trouble in Denver

Capitol Hill's older housing stock lacks off-street parking. Denver Revised Municipal Code Sec. 54-465 makes it unlawful to leave a vehicle parked in the same place on a public street continuously for more than 72 hours, and the city lists a vehicle left in the right-of-way for 72 hours or longer among its reasons for impoundment. If a lost key strands your car at the curb, keep that clock in mind.

If the car is already at the city's Vehicle Impound Facility on York Street, the city says a locksmith may make a key there if the service takes no longer than 20 minutes. Driving it out takes valid current registration, current insurance and a valid U.S. state-issued driver's license.

Local rules worth knowing

Denver's Residential Rental Program requires a city license for any building, structure or accessory dwelling unit rented as a residence for 30 days or more at a time, including single-family homes, rowhouses, apartments and condominiums. Inspections check a subset of Denver's Residential Health Rules and Regulations, and two items concern doors:

• Residential Health Rule 2-202(C): doors, windows and other routes serving as ordinary or emergency exits must be kept free of stored material, and in no case obstructed or locked to persons within the dwelling.
• Residential Health Rule 2-201(C), basement units: habitable basement space must be separated from any furnace room by at least 1-hour fire-resistive material, including any door. Where a fuel-fired appliance space opens into a bedroom, the city's guidebook calls for a gasketed or weather-stripped solid wood door at least 1 3/8 inches thick, or a 20-minute fire-rated door, with a self-closing device.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Requesting service in Denver

Give the neighborhood and nearest cross streets, and say whether the door belongs to a house, a unit in a larger building or a garage off an alley. For a car, say whether it is on the street, in a garage or at the impound lot. See house lockout, car key replacement or the Colorado page.