Missouri Locksmith Services

Homes and doors across Missouri

Census Bureau estimates for 2024 show that 70.3 percent of Missouri homes are single-family detached, against 61.1 percent nationally, and 13.0 percent were built in 1939 or earlier. The four cities on our pages differ sharply:

• St. Louis. 56.1 percent of homes date from 1939 or earlier, and 23.7 percent sit in buildings with two to four units, about three times the national share. Rekeying or repairing an original mortise lock avoids refitting the door, since a modern lock may not fit the old pocket.
• Kansas City. One home in five (20.2 percent) is pre-1940, and another 43.0 percent went up between 1940 and 1979.
• Springfield. 28.4 percent of homes were built in the 1960s and 1970s, and 29.7 percent are in buildings with five or more units.
• Columbia. Newest of the four: 40.6 percent built in 2000 or later and just 3.8 percent before 1940. A door that already has a standard deadbolt bore is the simpler starting point for a keypad or smart lock.

How Missouri's climate affects locks and keys

NOAA's state climate summary describes cold arctic air reaching Missouri in winter and warm, moist Gulf of Mexico air in summer, with summer humidity trending upward since the mid-20th century. Average snowfall tops 20 inches a year in the north and stays under 5 inches in the south.

Southwest Missouri has seen severe ice. During the January 12–14, 2007 ice storm, the National Weather Service office in Springfield measured an inch and a half of ice, 14 other counties along the I-44 corridor reported at least an inch, and about 200,000 residences lost power.

In practice:

• Keep lock de-icer in the house or a bag, not inside the car it is meant to open. Never force a key into an iced cylinder; a snapped blade calls for broken key extraction.
• An outage like 2007's knocks out Wi-Fi and garage door openers. Put fresh batteries in keypad and smart locks before winter, and know where the backup key is.
• A deadbolt that drags against the strike plate on muggy days usually means the door has moved with the humidity. Adjusting the strike is often enough.

Renting in Missouri: locks, keys and rekeying

About 31.4 percent of occupied Missouri homes are rented, but renters are the majority in St. Louis (54.0 percent), Springfield (55.4 percent) and Columbia (51.0 percent). Two sections of the Revised Statutes of Missouri bear directly on locks:

• Security repairs, section 441.234. It covers a condition that detrimentally affects the "habitability, sanitation or security" of a home and violates a local housing or building code. It applies only after six consecutive months of tenancy with all rent paid and no uncured written notice of a lease violation. If the landlord does not fix the condition within 14 days of the tenant's written notice, or as promptly as an emergency requires, the tenant may have the work done and deduct the receipted cost. The repair must cost less than $300 or half the periodic rent, whichever is greater, and no more than one month's rent; total deductions are capped at one month's rent in any 12-month period. If the landlord disputes the repair in writing, the local government must first confirm the code violation in writing. It excludes damage the tenant's household caused, and a lease cannot waive it.
• Lockouts, section 441.233. A landlord who removes or excludes a tenant or the tenant's belongings without judicial process and a court order, or causes the removal of the doors or locks, is deemed guilty of forcible entry and detainer under chapter 534. The exception is abandonment under section 441.065: the landlord reasonably believes the tenant has moved out, rent is 30 days unpaid, written notice is posted and mailed, and the tenant neither pays nor answers in writing within 10 days.

Before you rekey a rental, check whether the lease requires giving the landlord a key. This is general information, not legal advice.

Where we take requests in Missouri

Our city pages cover Kansas City in the west, St. Louis in the east, Springfield in the southwest and Columbia in the middle of the state. Missouri Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Missouri.

• Kansas City
• St. Louis
• Springfield
• Columbia

Elsewhere in Missouri, send a request with your ZIP code through the contact page.

Before you book a locksmith in Missouri

Section 407.020 of the Merchandising Practices Act bans deception, fraud, false promises, misrepresentation and concealment of material facts in selling or advertising merchandise, which section 407.010 defines to include services. The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section takes complaints online, by mail or in person, and says to expect a response within about 30 days.

Checks worth making first:

1. Get the total in writing, parts and labor included, before work starts; a renter using section 441.234 needs the itemized receipt.
2. Keep the quote and invoice. A mailed complaint to the Attorney General should include copies of both, never the originals.