Lock Replacement in Albuquerque, NM

Door ages decide what fits

The age of a door often decides what a new lock has to fit.

• Huning Highlands. Platted in 1880, it is mostly Queen Anne, Italianate and other Victorian houses from the 1880s to the 1920s, and in 1980 it became the city's first Historic Overlay Zone. An original door there may be cut for a mortise lock, a rectangular lock body set into a pocket in the door's edge, which a standard round-bore deadbolt kit will not fit without altering the door. Decide early whether to keep that original hardware.
• Nob Hill. The neighborhood took shape between about 1925 and 1950, so a door there may carry screw holes and plate outlines from earlier hardware that a new lock's trim has to cover.
• The 1970s and 1980s. More than a third of the city's homes, 35.2 percent by Census Bureau estimates, date from those decades, so original locks in them are decades old. Worn cylinders, sagging latches and tired springs are what to look for.

Replace, repair or rekey

New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act treats it as deceptive to say a replacement is needed when it is not (Section 57-12-2(D), item 16). Ask what has failed and have the reason written on the estimate. A deadbolt that only misses its strike may need lock repair instead, and a sound lock with lost keys can be rekeyed.

Window hardware and the housing code

Albuquerque's Housing Code, Section 14-3-3-3, says bedrooms below the fourth floor need a window that opens for emergency escape. Before fitting locks or stops that pin such a window shut, make sure it can still be opened from inside. This is general information, not legal advice.

What to send before a replacement

• photos of both sides of the lock and of the door edge
• the door material and, if known, the house's age and neighborhood
• whether you want to keep the look of original hardware
• whether several doors should share one key

The lock replacement page describes the service; the Albuquerque page has the city overview.