The cylinder covers most cases, the lock body far fewer
Around the metro terminus at Cuire-le-Bas, flats change hands often. A tenant moves out, a house share reshuffles, a spare key was lent and never came back: in all of these, replacing the cylinder alone settles the question of who holds a working key, without touching the mechanism or the door itself and without keeping the flat out of use any longer than it has to be.
The whole lock is replaced when the mechanism is at fault: a bolt that no longer throws, bent linkage, a faceplate pulling out of the leaf. In the old village you still find surface-mounted locks on period doors. The replacement part is not always a standard size, so the fixing centres are measured on site before anything is ordered.
On the Vassieux houses the key ring usually covers more doors than people remember: gate, side gate, service door, cellar, garden store. Deciding what to replace means listing those ways in, because a lost key concerns all of them, not only the front door. An interior cylinder is quickly swapped; a weather-beaten gate lock is ordered from measurements, since outdoor models are not interchangeable between makes.
What the building's rules and the street impose on the choice
On a Montessuy estate the flat door belongs to your lot, but the face onto the corridor is seen by everyone and the building's rules often cover it: colour, handle, number, viewer. A cylinder is yours to change freely; a lock that shows from the landing deserves a line to the managing agent before you order.
Several estates at Montessuy and up on the plateau run a master-key scheme: one key opens the hall, the bike store and the flat door. Fitting an independent cylinder means carrying two keys from then on. That is no disaster, but it is better chosen knowingly than discovered late one evening with your arms full of shopping.
For a village house whose door opens straight onto the street, the constraint is different. The leaf is sometimes thinner than a modern door, and not every cylinder can be fitted without adjusting the length or leaving it standing proud on the outside face, which is exactly what should not happen. Measure first, order afterwards.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our lock and cylinder replacement page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Caluire-et-Cuire.