Door Hardware & Lockset Replacement
Door hardware and lockset replacement is the swap of knobs, levers, deadbolts, entry handlesets, smart locks, and mortise locks — paired with proper strike-plate alignment so the latch throws under its own weight — and starts at $150 for a single interior swap. The brass knob in the master bath that spins without catching, the front-door deadbolt that needs a thumb on top to throw, the entry handleset finally too tired after twenty years, the smart lock still in the box because the screws that came with it look an inch too short. Hardware swaps look like five-minute jobs and turn into two-hour fights when the strike is 1/16 inch off, the door is bored at 2-1/8 inch backset instead of 2-3/8, or the existing mortise will not accept the new strike plate. Handis brings the right templates, the longer-shank screws, and the patience to mortise the strike properly. Most single-lockset swaps finish in 30 to 45 minutes.
Service
What Does a Hardware & Lockset Visit Include?
Door hardware and lockset replacement is a two-part job — installing the new lockset (knob, lever, deadbolt, smart lock, or entry handleset) and mortising the strike plate so the latch falls into the strike under the door's own weight, with no forcing — verified across five test-closes before sign-off. The lockset is the easy part. The strike is the part rookies skip, and the reason a $25 knob turns into a $200 service call when the door has to be slammed to latch. We mortise the strike to the latch, not the other way around, and verify with five test-closes under the door's own weight before packing up.
Interior Knob & Lever Swaps
Round knobs out, levers in (ADA-friendly, easier on arthritic hands), or like-for-like brass to brushed nickel to matte black for finish changes. Standard 2-3/8 inch backset, 2-1/8 inch bore — we verify the existing prep matches the new lockset on the booking call. If the door is bored at 2-3/4 inch backset (common on older entry doors), we bring an adjustable-latch lockset that fits both.
Exterior Deadbolt Installation
Single-cylinder, double-cylinder, and keyed-alike deadbolts on existing prep (1-inch latch bore, 2-1/8 inch faceplate bore). We verify the throw — the deadbolt has to engage 1 inch into the jamb without forcing — and remortise the strike where needed. Doubling up on a single-deadbolt door (adding a second strike higher or lower) requires a fresh bore; we will tell you on the call.
Why Does Strike Plate Realignment Matter?
The diagnostic step most installers skip. The strike has to catch the latch on closing without any forcing — if you have to push the door to engage the latch, the strike is off and the lockset is wearing out twice as fast as it should. We mortise the strike upward, downward, or sideways, file the strike hole if the miss is under 1/16 inch, and remortise entirely if drift is over 3/16 inch. Five test-closes before sign-off.
How Does a Smart Lock Retrofit Work?
Schlage Encode, August Wi-Fi, Yale Assure, and Level Lock all retrofit on existing deadbolt prep. We swap the lockset, pair it with your phone, set up auto-lock and notifications, and test the throw against the existing strike. Battery compartments, Wi-Fi setup, and shared-access codes for cleaners or dog walkers all configured before we leave. Smart-lock arrival depending on model can be larger than the existing strike — we remortise to fit, not force.
Entry Handleset Upgrade
Front-door handleset upgrades (Emtek, Schlage Camelot, Baldwin) replace the exterior handle plus the matching interior knob or lever and tie into the existing deadbolt prep — or include a new deadbolt as part of the kit. Mounting holes rarely align exactly with the existing prep; we drill the new pattern and patch any leftover hole in the door face with a hardwood plug before the trim plate covers it.
Mortise Lock Servicing (Older PNW Homes)
Pre-1960 Seattle bungalows and Craftsmans run mortise locks instead of cylindrical bores — a rectangular lock body recessed into the door edge with a separate exterior thumbpiece. We service mortise locks (clean and lubricate the latch and deadbolt mechanism, replace the cylinder, refit the spring) without replacing the case. Full case replacements require sourcing a Baldwin or Marks mortise body to fit the existing prep — we will tell you on the call if yours qualifies.
How Door Hardware & Lockset Replacement Works
Six sequential steps from the door-prep check to the five-test-close strike verification — the order we follow on every lockset swap so the latch falls into the strike under the door's own weight.
Verify Door Prep on the Booking Call
Confirm the existing backset (2-3/8 inch standard, 2-3/4 inch on some older entry doors) and the faceplate bore (2-1/8 inch standard) against the new lockset spec. Older or unusual prep means an adjustable-latch lockset travels on the truck so the visit is single-trip.
Old Lockset Removal
Back out the lockset screws, separate the interior and exterior halves, and pull the latch and strike. Inspect the door edge mortise for chipping and the strike mortise for drift before any new hardware comes out of the box.
New Lockset Install
Seat the latch in the door edge, align the spindle through the bore, mate the interior and exterior halves, and torque the connecting screws to seat the trim flush against the door. Knobs spin freely, levers swing without binding, deadbolts throw under thumb-pressure only.
Strike Plate Realignment & Mortise
The latch is fixed once the lockset is in the door — the strike has to come to it. Mortise the strike upward, downward, or sideways until the latch falls into the strike, file the strike hole on misses under 1/16 inch, or remortise entirely on drift over 3/16 inch.
Longer Screws on Exterior Deadbolts
Replace the 1-inch screws shipped in the lockset box with 3-inch
Smart-Lock Pairing & Five-Cycle Test
On smart locks (Schlage Encode, August Wi-Fi, Yale Assure, Level) pair the lock to the phone, set auto-lock and away mode, create shared access codes, and run five lock-unlock cycles. On every install — smart or mechanical — five test-closes verify the latch falls into the strike under the door's own weight before sign-off.
Door Hardware & Lockset Replacement Pricing
Final pricing depends on the lockset type, whether the strike needs remortising, and how many doors are bundled into one visit. Smart locks and entry handlesets often include the lockset cost separately. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us the locksets, the finishes, and the doors — we will quote the whole visit.
Why Handis for Door Hardware
The single most-common service call we get on hardware is the smart lock installed by the previous tech that has not worked right since day one. The strike was off, the screws were too short, the auto-lock setting was misconfigured, and the homeowner thought it was the smart lock itself failing. It almost never is — it is the install. We have replaced enough Schlages, Augusts, and Yales to know which model needs which strike depth, which one needs the 3-inch screws for the deadbolt strike instead of the 1-inch pack-ins, and which app needs which firmware update before it will pair on the first try.
Strike to latch, not latch to strike
The latch is fixed once the lockset is in the door. The strike has to come to it — mortised upward, downward, or sideways until the latch falls into the strike without any forcing. We check this on five test-closes under the door's own weight before we sign off.
Longer screws on every exterior deadbolt
The 1-inch screws that come in the lockset box only bite the jamb. We replace them with 3-inch #9 screws that pass through the jamb and into the framing stud — that is what makes a deadbolt actually resist a forced kick. Standard upgrade on every exterior deadbolt we install. Adds maybe two minutes; cuts kick-in vulnerability by 80%.
Smart locks paired and tested before we leave
Schlage Encode, August Wi-Fi, Yale Assure, Level — each one has a different setup flow, a different battery compartment, and a different auto-lock behavior. We pair the lock to your phone, set up auto-lock and away mode, create shared access codes for cleaners or dog walkers, and run five lock/unlock cycles on each before we pack up.
Finish-match across the whole house
A new brushed-nickel deadbolt next to a brass knob looks wrong. On whole-home visits we verify the finish on the booking call and bring locksets, deadbolts, hinges, and strike plates that all match. Interior hinges sometimes need to come along on the swap — we will tell you if yours do.
30-day workmanship guarantee
If a lockset we installed binds, the deadbolt does not throw freely, the strike no longer catches the latch, or a smart lock loses pairing within 30 days because of our workmanship, we come back and fix it at no extra charge. The guarantee covers our work — it does not cover battery replacement on smart locks or wear-and-tear on the lock cylinder itself.
Estimate
Tell us the doors (interior, exterior, front-door), the locksets (knobs, levers, deadbolts, smart locks, handlesets), and any specific brands. We will quote the visit.
Customer Reviews
Door hardware and lockset replacement reviews from real Handis customers.
Front door Schlage Encode that I had tried to install myself. The lock paired with the app but the deadbolt bound every time I tried to throw it from the app. Tech showed me the strike was off by an eighth and the included screws had stripped the jamb. He remortised the strike, switched to 3-inch screws, and the deadbolt throws under app command every time. Should have called from the start.
Whole-home swap, eight interior knobs to levers plus three exterior deadbolts. Tech matched all three finishes to the brushed-nickel I had picked, verified the strike on every door, and used the longer screws on the deadbolts. Three hours start to finish. House feels new.
Master bath knob that had been spinning without catching for six months. Tech swapped the lockset, mortised the strike a touch upward because the door had settled, and the latch falls into the strike without a single push. Twenty minutes. Should not have lived with that for half a year.
1922 Craftsman, mortise locks on every interior door. Two of them had stopped working. Tech took both apart, cleaned and lubricated the mechanisms, replaced one spring, and put them back together. Saved me from replacing irreplaceable original hardware. Knew what he was doing the second he saw the prep.
Front-door handleset upgrade — Baldwin Estate trim, new deadbolt, new interior lever. The mounting pattern was different from the old one and there were three leftover holes in the door. The tech plugged each one with a matching hardwood plug, sanded flush, primed, painted. You cannot see the patches. Door looks original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about door hardware and lockset replacement.