Cylinder or mechanism: the reason tells you which
The cylinder holds the secret. It comes out with one screw on the edge of the leaf and is changed without touching the mechanism. At Les Vernes, where flats turn over with the tenancies, this is the everyday job: the new occupant moves in, earlier copies must stop working, and the rest of the lock is blameless. The mechanism stays put and the door is not altered.
The lock proper is the case, the bolts, the faceplate and, on a multipoint, the whole linkage. You touch it when the mechanism itself is at fault: a bolt that no longer throws, a bent rod, a faceplate pulling away. In the blocks of central Givors you still find rim locks fitted to leaves too thin to be mortised.
So the reason decides the job, not the other way round. Measurements are taken on the spot, at the landing or at the gate: door type, leaf thickness, centre distance, how far the cylinder stands proud on each side. A detailed quote comes before the work, and the parts removed stay available to you.
Givors doors that come from no catalogue
At Les Étoiles, Renaudie drew flats with oblique angles and no two volumes alike. The openings follow that geometry: a door may sit in a reveal that is not square, in a frame built with the block itself. Everything is measured before anything is ordered, even when the model looks ordinary.
In the centre, original flat doors are solid timber and have taken valley winters far sharper than the coast ever sees. The wood swells, the leaf rubs, and a new lock fitted to a tired frame goes out of adjustment quickly. The frame is dealt with first, the ironmongery second. On these leaves two millimetres of play is enough to make the top bolt of a multipoint catch.
Towards Bans the question is often about something other than the front door: gate, wicket gate, outbuilding or garage door. Those cylinders live outdoors all year, exposed to the runoff coming down the slopes, and wear faster than one sheltered on a landing. A gate cylinder is chosen with that constant exposure in mind.
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 Givors.