Commercial Locksmith in Chicago, IL

Storefronts on Milwaukee Avenue in West Town

The Milwaukee Avenue District in West Town became a Chicago Landmark district on April 9, 2008. About half of its buildings have a single storefront, typically with a central entrance door between display windows, below lofts or flats. The earliest reached their flats through a separate side entrance, which gives those buildings two doors with different jobs: the customer door on the street and the door to the homes above. For commercial locksmith work there, list each door and say who uses it.

The city's Historic Preservation Division handles permit applications for work in landmark districts, so check with it before replacing a street-facing door. Say in your request that the building is in the district and whether the door is original, so repair or rekeying can be weighed against replacement before anything is ordered.

Storefronts with flats above

Chicago's Minimum Requirements for Existing Buildings set lock standards for buildings with dwelling or sleeping units, and a storefront with flats above is one. Under 14X-4-403.2, a door from outside or a vestibule into a lobby, corridor or stair leading to units needs a deadlocking latch with at least a 1/2-inch bolt, released from inside without a key, unless an attendant is continuously on duty. Whether that rule reaches the side entrance of a particular storefront-and-flats building is worth confirming with the city. This is general information, not legal advice.

Turnover, staff and keys

When a shop changes hands or an employee leaves, old keys stay in circulation until someone deals with them. Rekey the customer door, the back door and any storage-room doors, and keep a written list of who holds each key. Keep the shop's keys separate from the flats' entrance, so that a departing tenant upstairs does not mean rekeying the store, and the reverse. See lock rekeying for how that works.

Describing a commercial job

• The cross streets, and whether the job is the front door, the rear door or the side entrance to the flats.
• The door and frame type, such as glass, metal or wood, and the current lock.
• How many people hold keys, and who has left or arrived.
• Whether flats are above the storefront.

The Chicago page covers the Milwaukee Avenue District in brief; send the details through the contact page.