Locks, rekeying and lockouts
Locks installed, rekeyed and opened, by a family counter since 1917
Replace or change any lock in your home or business: installations, rekeying, master keying, lockouts and sensitive evictions, with your satisfaction guaranteed on every installation and repair.
Chapter 01
A deadbolt that throws halfway, a key that needs a jiggle, a door you can't get through
Lock trouble is usually quiet for a long time before it gets loud. A key starts to need a little wiggle, a deadbolt stops short of the strike plate, a latch drags after a damp summer swells the door, a tenant moves out and nobody knows how many copies of the old key are still floating around. By the time the door won't open, the lock has often been complaining for months.
Then there is the plain lockout: keys on the kitchen counter, or in the ignition. For lockouts Wilensky's comes to you and gets you back into your home or car promptly and professionally, and no one ever has to know. Call (215) 468-4819.
Commercial and residential doors both come through the shop, including lock changes for sensitive evictions.
Green Genuine ILCO Key Blanks board hung with brass and steel key blanks and pink price tags
Pin tumblers, rekeys and master key systems, worked out at the bench
Most house locks are pin tumblers. Each chamber holds a key pin and a driver pin on a spring, and the right key lifts every stack until the gap between the two pins sits exactly at the shear line, so the plug can turn. Rekeying swaps the pins inside the same cylinder so the old key stops lifting them to that line and a new key does. The lock stays on the door, the hardware you picked stays, and only the key changes.
Replacing a lock is a different job from rekeying one, and the shop does both. A new installation makes sense when the hardware itself is worn or you want a better lock, and rekeying makes sense when the lock is sound and the problem is who has a key. Wilensky's services Kwikset, Schlage, Baldwin, Emtek, Yale, Mul-T-Lock, Corbin Russwin, Abus and the rest of the brands hanging on the board below.
Master keying is the same pin work taken one step further. A thin extra pin in each chamber lets a cylinder open for its own key or for a master key above it, which is how a building gives each tenant one key while the owner carries a key that opens every door. Every layer in that hierarchy loosens the lock a little, so the system gets laid out on paper before any pins are cut.
Chapter 03
After the install: test it, keep a spare, and know who to call
Once a new or rekeyed lock is on the door, try it the way you use it: door open, door closed, door pulled tight against the frame. A bolt that has to be lifted or pushed to slide home is worth mentioning at the counter, because a small adjustment now beats a lockout in the cold later.
The shop's own promise is "we guarantee your satisfaction on all installation and services for your locks." Estimates on sales and installations are free, in person at 1113 E Passyunk Ave or over the phone.
Wilensky's holds PA locksmith licence PA#005785 and belongs to ALOA and the Greater Philadelphia Locksmiths Association. A South Philadelphia rowhome front door, a shopfront in Center City or Old City, a property manager's building: the same counter has been handling them since 1917.
“Simply the best! I locked myself out and they came to help minutes before closing, and later installed a new code lock so I won't lock myself out again.” Becca Haydu, Google review.
The jobs on the board, the makers on the bench
Wilensky's lists its lock work under one name, the Wilensky Way. Screen door and window screen repair are covered on the Screens, Glass & Pipe page.