Lock Replacement in Rockville, MD

A century of doors in the West End

Replacement means taking out a lock and fitting a new one, usually because the old one is worn past repair, its key cannot be matched, or the owner wants a different kind of lock. The door shapes the job, and Rockville's West End has doors from more than a century of building.

Large Victorians went up first, along West Montgomery Avenue and South Washington Street in the late 1800s. Bungalows, Craftsman, Colonial Revival and Cape Cod homes came through the mid-1900s, with split-levels later. Each era can bring different hardware:

• Victorian and early 1900s doors may hold a mortise lock, a box set into a pocket cut in the door edge. A new mortise lock sized to that pocket avoids re-cutting an original door.
• Mid-century and split-level doors more often take a cylindrical knob lock or deadbolt fitted through round bored holes. A replacement that matches the hole size and backset goes in without fresh drilling.
• A door with only a knob lock can gain a separate deadbolt when the lock is replaced, if the door is solid enough to drill.

Historic district approval

The West End includes the West Montgomery Avenue Historic District. On a locally designated historic property, the city requires approval for exterior alterations such as changes to windows and doors. Storm windows and storm doors can get staff approval; most other work needs a Certificate of Approval from the Historic District Commission.

Before swapping visible entry hardware or altering a door on such a property, ask the city whether approval is needed. Fitting a new lock into existing cutouts, or keeping the original lock through lock repair, leaves the door itself unchanged. This is general information, not legal advice.

Photos and details that help

• The neighborhood, and whether the house is in a historic district.
• Photos of the lock from outside and inside, and of the door edge showing the latch plate.
• Whether the door is original to the house.
• The kind of lock you want: a deadbolt, a handleset, a mortise lock or a keypad model.
• Whether other doors should take the same key.

For the general steps, see lock replacement. The Rockville page covers the city's other neighborhoods.