Lock Repair in Green Bay, WI

How Wisconsin weather wears Green Bay locks

NOAA's climate summary for Wisconsin reports that snowfall has trended upward along Lake Superior and has increased since 1930 across the rest of the state. It also finds that days with 2 inches or more of precipitation have become more frequent, with the 2015-2020 period having the most. More snow and more heavy-precipitation days give water more chances to reach a lock, and it shows up at the door in a few ways:

• Ice and thaw. Water that gets into a cylinder or strike turns to ice overnight, so the key binds or the bolt will not throw until the door warms.
• Salt and grit. Salt tracked in on boots and thrown up as slush dries on hardware and in keyholes, leaving a gritty feel that can pass for a worn key.
• Heavy rain. When a downpour puts water in a basement or garage, the locks on those doors can start to rust inside.
• Seasonal movement. A wooden door that swells in wet weather and shrinks in dry cold can pull the bolt out of line with the strike, so the lock feels stiff only part of the year.

Older hardware in Astor

Houses in the Astor Historic District date from the later 19th and early 20th centuries. Where an original door there still carries its period lock, repair can mean cleaning the mechanism, replacing tired springs or fitting a new cylinder into the old lock body. That keeps a historic door intact when new hardware would mean cutting it.

Simple upkeep between visits

1. Use dry graphite or a lock-specific lubricant, not household oil, which collects grit.
2. Thaw an iced lock with de-icer instead of forcing the key.
3. Tighten loose strike and hinge screws so the bolt meets the strike squarely.
4. After a wet spell, work the basement and garage locks a few times to check for stiffness.

What to send

Describe what the lock does wrong and when: only in cold weather, only after rain, or all year. Name the door, include a photo, and give your neighborhood association or cross streets. See lock repair service, broken key extraction if a key has already snapped, and the Green Bay page.