The cylinder is more often enough than the whole lock
The cylinder holds the key combination and comes out with one screw on the edge of the leaf, leaving the mechanism untouched. The lock proper is the case, the bolts and, on a multipoint, the linkage. Between two tenants in a furnished flat at Charrière Blanche, on a recent standard door, changing the cylinder settles the matter. The next occupant gets keys with no copies circulating in the block.
On the houses at Les Sources and Vianney the request rarely comes alone. The lost keyring also opens the side gate on the boundary, the service door at the back and the garage. Replacing the front door cylinder alone, leaving the other ways in untouched, restores only part of the security: the whole keyring has to be dealt with.
The complete lock is the answer when the mechanism itself has gone: a bolt that no longer throws, distorted linkage, a faceplate pulling away, a bent case. In the old core, on thick doors hung in frames bedded into stone, straight replacement is not always possible without work on the surround, and that is said before any part is ordered.
What gets measured and checked before ordering
Three dimensions govern the choice of a cylinder: how far it runs each side of the door panel, where the fixing screw sits, and the profile. On an out-of-size door in the old core no catalogue reference lands exactly, and a barrel standing ten millimetres proud gives a grip to anyone who wants to snap it. Those dimensions are taken on site, door open, before anything is ordered.
In a block of flats the entrance door is yours, but its landing face may be governed by the building rules. In the small buildings of the core as much as in the Pérollier estates, a word with the managing agent before the work saves having to undo a colour or a handle afterwards.
A landlord with several flats does better to think about key organisation when buying rather than later: a separate cylinder per flat, one pass key for the bike store and the laundry room. Redoing that arrangement two years on means replacing every barrel at once.
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 Écully.