Wisconsin Locksmith Services

Homes and doors across Wisconsin

Census Bureau estimates for 2024 put 17.5 percent of Wisconsin homes in buildings from 1939 or earlier, against 11.5 percent nationally. In Milwaukee the share is 33.9 percent, and another 27.9 percent of its homes date from the 1940s and 1950s. Kenosha sits at 20.8 percent pre-1940. Madison has the largest share of newer homes of the four cities on this site: 31.6 percent were built in 2000 or later.

About 20.2 percent of Milwaukee homes are in two-unit buildings, compared with 5.6 percent statewide and 3.2 percent nationally. Madison leans toward large complexes, with 31.3 percent of homes in buildings of 20 or more units. In Green Bay, 43.4 percent of homes were built between 1950 and 1979.

At the door:

• Two-unit buildings. The street door, a shared stair or basement door and each unit's door can be keyed differently. Know which are yours before you rekey.
• Pre-1940 doors. If an original door still has a mortise lock, with the lock body set into a pocket in the door edge, ask about repairing or rekeying it before replacing the hardware.
• Houses from 1950 to 1979. Where a house has separate front, side, basement and garage entries, rekeying them to one key cuts down the ring.

How Wisconsin's climate affects locks and keys

NOAA's state climate summary puts yearly snowfall at about 30 inches in the south and more than 100 inches along the Gogebic Range, helped by lake-effect snow on the south shore of Lake Superior, where annual snowfall has trended upward. Snowfall over the rest of the state has also increased since 1930. Days with 2 inches or more of precipitation have become more frequent, and the 2015–2020 period had the most.

The state Department of Transportation says about 35 to 40 winter weather events hit Wisconsin in an average winter, and it uses an average of 452,000 tons of salt per season statewide.

Practical upkeep:

• Salt slush dries in car door keyholes and around fob buttons. Wipe them after salty drives; a gritty, sticking cylinder may be dirt or corrosion rather than a worn key.
• Use lock de-icer on a frozen lock and never force the key; a twisted key can snap in the cylinder and need broken key extraction.
• If a key fob's range drops during a January cold snap, try a new coin-cell battery before assuming the fob has failed.
• After a heavy rain puts water in a basement or garage, check those door locks for rust.

Renting in Wisconsin: locks, keys and rekeying

About 32 percent of occupied Wisconsin homes are rented. The share is 37.5 percent in Green Bay, 42.0 percent in Kenosha, 56.1 percent in Madison and 56.6 percent in Milwaukee.

• Lock changes for survivors. Wisconsin Statutes section 704.16(4) requires a landlord to change a residential tenant's locks when the tenant asks and provides a certified copy of a qualifying document, such as an injunction, a condition of release ordering no contact, a criminal complaint alleging stalking or sexual assault, or one filed after an arrest for domestic abuse. The landlord must change the locks, or let the tenant do it, within 48 hours after receiving the request and copy. The tenant pays, and a tenant who changes them with permission must give the landlord a key within a reasonable time.
• Co-tenants. Under 704.16(4)(c), if the person named in the document also rents that unit, the landlord need not change the locks unless the document is an injunction directing that person to avoid the requesting tenant's residence or a condition of release ordering no contact.
• No lockouts. Administrative Code ATCP 134.09(7) bars a landlord from excluding, forcibly evicting or constructively evicting a tenant other than by an eviction procedure under chapter 799. The state's Landlord-Tenant Guide says constructive eviction could include changing the locks, and section 704.44(2m) makes a residential rental agreement void if it authorizes evicting or excluding a tenant other than by judicial eviction.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Wisconsin city pages

City pages cover Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay and Kenosha. Wisconsin Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Wisconsin.

• Milwaukee
• Madison
• Green Bay
• Kenosha

Before you book a locksmith in Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, consumer complaints go to the Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), online or by mail. DATCP asks for the problem history with the date and location of purchase, plus copies of receipts, invoices, contracts, canceled checks and advertisements. Its staff contact the business on your behalf, though DATCP says it cannot force a business to resolve a complaint.

A few checks:

1. Get the total in writing before work starts and keep the itemized invoice; both are the kind of record DATCP asks complainants to attach.
2. Save the ad or listing you responded to; DATCP lists advertisements among the documents to include.
3. In a two-unit building or large complex, name the exact door and confirm whether it is yours or the owner's to change.