- Service
- Window lock repair
- Typical visit
- Under an hour
- Often
- No new hardware needed
- Estimate
- Free, price fixed first
Hardware service
Window Lock Repair
A sash lock does two jobs: it secures the window and it pulls the sashes tight against the seal. When it stops doing the second one, you get a draught long before you get a security problem.
Symptom index
Find your symptom
Almost every window lock fault is one of these, and most of them are alignment rather than a broken lock.
Lock will not close at all
The sash has moved and the lock no longer reaches its keeper. The lock itself is usually fine.Keeper alignment
Lock closes but the window rattles
It is engaging without drawing the sashes together. This is both your rattle and your draught.Keeper depth
Lock works in winter, not in summer
Timber swelling and shrinking across the Kansas range moves the sash several millimetres between seasons.Seasonal adjustment
Lock is stiff or gritty
Dust in the mechanism. Often recoverable with cleaning rather than replacement.Service
Lock spins without engaging
The cam or the fixing screws have stripped. This one does need new hardware.Replace lock
Lock painted solid
Decades of paint over the mechanism. Nearly always freeable without damage.Free and service
Keeper missing entirely
Removed at some point and never replaced. The window has effectively had no lock since.Fit keeper
Casement handle turns, nothing locks
The multi-point mechanism is not engaging its keepers along the frame.Multi-point service
Tilt latches will not hold
Broken latches or balance shoes out of position. Common on tilt-in double-hungs.Latches and shoes
Sliding window latch misses
The sash has dropped on worn rollers, so the latch no longer lines up.Roller and latch
Need a lock on a bedroom window
Possible, but it must still open from inside without a key or tool.Egress-safe device
Want to limit how far it opens
Vent stops and opening control devices do this without compromising escape.Vent stop
How it works
Why alignment is the whole story
A window lock is two halves that have to meet within a couple of millimetres. Everything else follows from that.
01 / The lock body
Mounted on the sash. Cam locks, sweep latches, casement handles. Mechanically simple and rarely the part that has actually failed.
02 / The keeper
Mounted on the frame or the opposite sash. Its position decides whether the lock merely closes or genuinely compresses the seal.
03 / The tolerance
A few millimetres. That is all the margin there is, which is why a sash that has moved slightly takes the lock out of action completely.
04 / The seal
A sash lock is the thing that squeezes the weatherstrip. A lock that does not grip means a window that is shut but not sealed.
05 / Seasonal movement
Kansas timber moves twice a year. A keeper set in February can be out of register by August, which is why we set them to work across both.
06 / Egress
A bedroom window has to open from inside without a key or tool. No security device we fit will ever compromise that.
Specification
What a lock repair should include
It is a short visit, but doing it properly means looking at the sash, not only at the lock.
| Item | Status | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|---|
| Sash position check | Included | Because the sash is usually what moved, not the lock. |
| Keeper register and depth | Included | Whether the lock reaches, and whether it compresses the seal when it does. |
| Seasonal range allowance | Included | Set so it still works when the timber moves the other way in six months. |
| Weatherstrip condition | Included | A lock can only pull tight against a seal that is still springing back. |
| Mechanism clean and lubricate | Included | Dry lubricant, never oil, which holds the dust Kansas produces in quantity. |
| Paint release where needed | Included | Freeing a painted-over lock rather than cutting it off and replacing it. |
| Egress check on bedrooms | Included | Any device fitted must still allow escape from inside without a key. |
| Period hardware matching | Included | Where an older home needs a replacement that looks right as well as works. |
| Written fixed price | Included | Before any work begins. |
| Replacement windows | Not offered | A failed lock is never a reason to replace a window, and we have none to sell you. |
Kansas conditions
Why window locks fail in Kansas
Movement, dust and wind, in that order.
01
Timber moves twice a year
Eastern Kansas humidity swells sash through the summer; the dry cold of a Kansas winter shrinks it back. A lock and keeper that lined up perfectly in spring can be several millimetres out by August, which is why so many windows here lock for only half the year.
02
Clay soil shifts the frame
Across eastern and south-central Kansas, expansive clay moves houses seasonally. The opening racks slightly, the sash follows, and the lock stops meeting its keeper. The lock is the symptom; the ground is the cause.
03
Wind makes a loose lock obvious
A lock that closes without pulling tight is tolerable in still air. In a Kansas wind it rattles all night and lets air through the seal, which is why most people notice this fault in the first windy week of autumn.
04
Dust in the mechanism
Dry conditions and field work put fine soil into the air. It works into cam locks and casement gearboxes, where it binds the mechanism and gets mistaken for a worn-out lock.
Workmanship
Five ways lock work gets done badly
This is a small job, which is exactly why it gets rushed.
01
Fitting a new lock to a sash that has moved
The new lock misses the keeper in exactly the same way the old one did. The geometry has to be corrected first, and usually that is the entire repair.
02
Setting the keeper for one season only
Adjusted in August, useless by February. The keeper has to be set so the lock works across the full range of movement, not at today's position.
03
Cutting off painted-over hardware
Original locks in older Kansas homes are usually better made than their replacements. Freeing them takes patience, not a chisel.
04
Ignoring the weatherstrip
A lock can only pull tight against a seal that still has spring in it. Realigning a lock against flattened stripping fixes the rattle and leaves the draught.
05
Fitting keyed locks on bedroom windows
A sleeping room window must open from inside without a key or tool. Any device that compromises that is a safety problem, whatever it does for security.
Coverage
Window lock repair across Kansas
A mobile service covering the whole state, east to west. Pick your town below, or call and we will come to you.
Window Lock Repair Across Kansas
Questions
Window lock questions
Q1
My window lock will not close any more.
Almost always the sash has moved and the lock no longer lines up with its keeper. Repositioning the keeper usually solves it with no new hardware at all.
Q2
The lock closes but the window still rattles.
It is engaging without drawing the sashes tight. That is a keeper depth problem, and it is worth fixing because it is also a draught.
Q3
My locks work in winter but not in summer.
Kansas timber moves enough between seasons to put a keeper out of register. It can be set to work across both rather than just one.
Q4
Can you fit child safety devices?
Yes, using proper window opening control devices. On bedroom windows these must still allow escape from inside without a key or tool, and we fit them accordingly.
Q5
Can you match the hardware in an old house?
In most cases, yes. Period sash fasteners and lifts are still available in appropriate patterns and finishes.
Q6
Is a window lock worth a call-out on its own?
Yes, and we are happy to come for one. Mention anything else while we are there, though, because most of the cost is the visit.
Related
Other repairs we handle
Windows and doors are the whole business, so whatever has failed, it is on this list.
Next step
Get your windows locking again
Free estimates across Kansas, and we are glad to take the small jobs.