Locksmith Before & After in Florida, FL
We’ve been at this for over 42 years. In that time, we’ve seen every kind of lock problem Florida can throw at a property - corrosion from salt air, worn cylinders in beach rentals, smart locks fried by summer lightning, and hardware store deadbolts that lasted maybe two seasons. Photos don’t lie. Here’s what professional locksmith work actually looks like.
Recent Transformations
Commercial Rekey After Tenant Turnover - Downtown Orlando Office Building
The property manager called us at 4 p.m. on a Friday. Three tenants had moved out that week, two more were coming Monday, and the previous locksmith had left them with a mismatched pile of keys and no master chart. We rekeyed all six suites to a new Schlage master key system, cut 47 keys on-site, and handed the manager a written bitting list before we left. Monday morning, everyone got where they needed to go.
Emergency Lockout - St. Augustine Historic District, 11 p.m.
A family locked themselves out of their 1926 coquina cottage after a late dinner on St. George Street. The mortise lock was original to the house, and the homeowner was rightly worried about a drill-happy tech destroying something irreplaceable. We picked it clean, no drilling, no cosmetic damage. The lock went back to working the way it had for nearly a century. They called us back two months later to rekey the whole house.
Residential Smart Lock Installation - Tampa Palms New Build
The homeowner had spent $800,000 on a new build and got a $12 builder-grade knob on the front door. Worse, the strike plate was shallow-set into soft pine framing. We installed a Yale Assure Lock with Z-Wave, bored the door properly for a 2-3/8″ backset, and installed a four-screw reinforced strike with a full metal box into the stud. The door went from decorative to actually secure. The integration with their Ring system worked on the first try.
Safe Crack & Bolt Work - Miami Beach High-Rise
A SentrySafe in a Miami Beach condo had a dead electronic lock. The owner had the key, but the solenoid wouldn’t release. We diagnosed it on-site, drilled the lock at the precise manufacturer-specified point, replaced the failed actuator with an OEM part, and rekeyed the override lock while we had it open. The safe went back into service that afternoon instead of becoming a $400 paperweight.
Commercial Panic Bar Replacement - Fort Lauderdale Warehouse
The warehouse was 800 feet from the Intracoastal, and the existing Von Duprin panic bar had corroded so badly the touchpad wouldn’t depress. The fire marshal had flagged it during inspection. We removed the unit, found pitting in the rim cylinder housing that explained the repeated failures, and installed a Sargent 2828 with a stainless steel cover and a Medeco high-security rim cylinder. The new hardware was rated for coastal exposure. The fire marshal signed off the next morning.
Automotive Key Programming - Jacksonville, Lost All Keys
The customer had dropped their only proximity key in the St. Johns River while fishing. We met them at the boat ramp with no working key to copy from. We pulled the door lock to decode the mechanical key, cut a new blade, then used our Honda immobilizer software to program a new proximity key and clear the lost one from the vehicle memory. The car started. They drove home. Total time: 73 minutes from our arrival.
Want Results Like These?
Every job here carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise - backed in writing, no arguing, no paperwork. We quote flat prices on the phone before we roll, and a live person answers every call, 24/7. If you’re staring at a lock problem in Florida and want it handled properly the first time, call (844) 956-4715. We’ll tell you exactly what it takes and exactly what it costs. Then we’ll be there when we say.
Written by Randall Odom, Owner & Master Locksmith at Strongbox Lock & Safe Co. of Florida, serving Florida since 2013.