Lock Replacement in Lansing, MI

Replacing hardware on Lansing's oldest doors

The Cherry Hill Neighborhood Historic District, centered at Cherry and Hillsdale streets, was part of Lansing's original plat. The city's walking tour describes 19th-century brick and clapboard Victorians there, mostly Italianate and Queen Anne. A door in a house of that age may carry a mortise lock, set into a pocket in the door edge, rather than the round bore that most hardware sold today expects.

That leaves two paths when an old lock gives out:

• Fit a new mortise lock into the existing pocket, which keeps the original look and adds no new holes to an original door.
• Keep the old hardware as a latch and add a separate deadbolt, which means boring the door and cutting the frame for a strike.

Newer housing in the south

Design Lansing places the city's newest housing in the south. Doors on houses like those more often take a direct swap: a standard deadbolt and a knob or lever set dropped into the existing holes. Reasons to replace rather than rekey include a worn latch, a failed finish or a move from knobs to levers.

Rental doors and the property maintenance code

Lansing Code Section 1460.01 adopts the 2015 International Property Maintenance Code, whose Section 304.18 sets minimums for rented units:

• Unit entry doors need a deadbolt with at least a 1-inch throw that opens from the inside without keys, special knowledge or effort. A sliding bolt does not count, and neither does a deadbolt that needs a key inside.
• Operable windows within 6 feet above the ground or a walking surface that give access to the unit need sash locks.
• Basement hatchways must be secured against unauthorized entry.

A landlord replacing hardware between tenants can check every door, window and hatchway against that list at once. This is general information, not legal advice.

Describing the doors

Say how many doors need work and what each has now: knob, lever, mortise lock or separate deadbolt. Photos of both faces and the edge of an old door help, as does the backset, the distance from door edge to hole center. If the locks work and only the keys are a concern, rekeying keeps the existing hardware. See lock replacement for the service and the Lansing page for the housing.