North Carolina Locksmith Services

Homes and doors across North Carolina

Census Bureau estimates for 2024 put 38.2 percent of North Carolina's homes in buildings from 2000 or later, against 27.4 percent nationally, and only 4.7 percent before 1940. In Raleigh and Charlotte, close to half of all housing dates from 2000 or later.

Mobile homes are 10.4 percent of North Carolina housing, nearly double the national 5.4 percent, and about 98 percent of them are outside the four cities listed below. Older housing is more common in Greensboro and Durham: 20.2 and 14.2 percent of their homes predate 1960, against 7.8 percent in Raleigh.

What that means for locks:

• Mobile homes. Measure the door and the old lockset before buying a replacement rather than assuming a site-built size.
• Townhomes. Single-family attached homes make up 13.8 percent of Raleigh housing and 11.3 percent of Durham's. With an HOA, ask which gate, pool or mailbox keys it controls before you rekey.
• Older Greensboro and Durham houses. Original doors may still carry mortise locks, set in a pocket in the door edge, so a lock replacement has to match that pocket or the door needs work.
• Newer subdivisions. Before ordering a keypad or smart lock, check the maker's door-thickness and backset requirements.

How North Carolina's climate affects locks and keys

NOAA's state climate summary describes a humid climate with very warm summers and moderately cold winters, and says a storm at hurricane intensity reaches the state about once every three years. In September 2018, Hurricane Florence dropped 20 to 36 inches of rain on eastern North Carolina. The state averages about 5 inches of snow a year, while higher Appalachian elevations can get up to 100 inches. Some winter storms come from cold-air damming, when cold air is trapped against the Appalachians; one in February 2014 brought up to half an inch of freezing rain to some areas.

Practical upkeep:

• Freezing rain can glaze a keyway. Use a lock de-icer rather than hot water, which can refreeze inside the cylinder.
• Tidal flood days have increased along the coast as sea level has risen, peaking at 14 in Wilmington in 2018. Have any lock that sat in floodwater checked for corrosion; lock repair covers that work.

Renting in North Carolina: locks, keys and rekeying

About 33.2 percent of occupied North Carolina homes are rented, but renters are close to half of households in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro and Durham (46.9 to 50.4 percent).

On locks, Chapter 42 of the General Statutes provides:

• Working locks are the landlord's duty. G.S. 42-42(a)(8) lists the lack of operable locks on all doors leading outside, and on ground-level windows, as imminently dangerous conditions the landlord must remedy within a reasonable time after learning of them. The landlord may recover the cost from a tenant who caused the damage.
• Lock changes for survivors. Under G.S. 42-42.3, a tenant may notify the landlord, orally or in writing, that a protected tenant is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking and ask for the locks to be changed. If the perpetrator is not a tenant of the unit, the landlord has 48 hours to change them or allow the tenant to. If the perpetrator is a co-tenant, the tenant first provides a court order directing the perpetrator to stay away, and the landlord has 72 hours. The protected tenant pays; if the landlord does not act in time, the tenant may change the locks and must give the landlord a new key within 48 hours.
• Removal only by statutory procedure. G.S. 42-25.6 states that a residential tenant may be evicted or "constructively or actually removed" only through the procedures in Article 3 or Article 7 of Chapter 42. Under G.S. 42-25.9, a tenant removed any other way may recover possession or end the lease, and recover actual damages.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Where we take requests in North Carolina

North Carolina Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in North Carolina. City pages cover Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro and Durham. Elsewhere in the state, use the contact page.

Before you book a locksmith in North Carolina

After a declared state of emergency, or an abnormal market disruption declared by the Governor, G.S. 75-38 prohibits knowingly charging an unreasonably excessive price for goods or services used as a direct result of the emergency or to protect people and property. One factor is whether the price exceeds the seller's average in the prior 60 days. The rule lasts up to 45 days unless the Governor extends it.

The North Carolina Department of Justice prefers complaints through its online forms; the price gouging form opens only during a state of emergency.

A few checks:

1. Get the total price in writing before work starts, and keep the invoice, especially after a hurricane or ice storm.
2. If you rent and an outside door lock is broken, tell the landlord and keep a written copy, since G.S. 42-42 makes that repair their job unless the tenant caused the damage.