Lock Repair in Springfield, MO

How Springfield weather works on a lock

NOAA reports that summer humidity in Missouri has trended upward since the mid-20th century. A wood door swells when the air is damp and shrinks as it dries, so a latch can start missing its strike. On muggy days a deadbolt that drags usually means the door has moved, and adjusting the strike is often enough. In the January 2007 ice storm the National Weather Service in Springfield measured an inch and a half of ice, and water that works into a keyway or latch can ice up the parts.

Signs a lock needs attention:

• The deadbolt only throws when you lift or push the door.
• The key turns stiffly or has to be jiggled.
• The knob or lever wobbles, or the latch sticks halfway.

Upkeep, and Mid-Town's older hardware

• Puff a dry lubricant made for locks into the keyway now and then; heavy oil collects grit.
• Tighten loose strike and hinge screws; longer screws that reach the frame hold better.
• After an ice storm, use lock de-icer on a stuck lock rather than turning the key harder.

Mid-Town's historic district dates from about 1871 to 1952, and some houses there may still use their original locks. Repair can mean cleaning one, replacing a worn spring or fitting a matching part instead of a whole new lock.

A renter's repair rule

Section 441.234 RSMo lets a tenant have work done on a condition that affects a home's security and violates a local housing or building code, then deduct the receipted cost, if the landlord has not acted within 14 days of written notice or within the time an emergency requires. It applies only after six consecutive months of tenancy with rent paid and no uncured written notice of a lease violation, and it caps the repair cost and total deductions. This is general information, not legal advice.

Details worth including

1. The neighborhood or cross streets, and the age of the house if you know it.
2. Which lock is failing and how: stiff key, loose knob, dragging bolt.
3. Whether it gets worse in cold or in humid weather.

A key that snaps in a stiff lock calls for broken key extraction. The lock repair page describes the service, and the Springfield page covers Mid-Town and the other older districts.