Lock Replacement in Denver, CO

Old doors, new hardware

In the Census Bureau's 2024 estimates, 16.0 percent of Denver's homes are in buildings from before 1940, against 6.6 percent statewide. 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. On a door that old, a replacement lock has to suit the door as it stands: its thickness, its existing holes and whether it takes a mortise lock. Say in your request if the house is inside that district, so any visible hardware can be discussed before it is changed.

A house in Harvey Park, where mid-century modern homes dominate and most date to 1954 through 1965, may still carry a lock original to it, now six decades old or more.

When replacing beats repairing

• the cylinder or latch is worn past adjustment and keeps failing
• the door was damaged and the lock no longer sits square
• a door with only a latch needs a deadbolt
• you want one matching set across the exterior doors

If keys are the only problem, lock rekeying may be enough.

Rental basements and the city's inspection items

Among the items Denver's rental inspections check, Rule 2-201(C) covers basements: habitable basement space must be separated from a 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 door with a 20-minute fire rating, with a self-closing device. Replacement hardware has to suit such a door, so mention in your request if a door is one of these. This is general information, not legal advice.

What to send

• which doors, inside or out, and what is failing
• door material and thickness, if you know them
• photos of the door edge and both faces of the lock
• whether you want the new locks keyed alike

The general service is described at lock replacement, and the Denver page covers the neighborhoods named here.