Georgetown
Locksmith work on Georgetown's oldest doors
Some of the doors here were hung before the District existed. The hardware on them is often worth restoring rather than replacing, and what goes on the outside face is not entirely the owner's decision.
The buildings
Federal brick, heavy timber and hardware to match
Georgetown's residential streets run from late eighteenth-century houses through Federal and Victorian brick, and the front doors reflect it: thick, solid timber, often with paneled construction and a fanlight above. They were built for rim locks and box locks mounted on the inside face, and a fair number still carry them.
Doors of that weight put real load on hinges and frames. When a Georgetown door starts binding it is usually because the slab has dropped under its own weight, not because the lock is failing. Hardware also tends to be brass, which wears gracefully and cleans up well — another argument for servicing rather than swapping.
Later additions complicate things. Most houses have had a modern deadbolt fitted at some point, sometimes through a rail that should not have been drilled. Sorting out an assortment of locks fitted across two centuries is normally a keying exercise rather than a replacement program.
What we are usually asked for
Four jobs that keep recurring here
- Keeping original hardware in service
- Cleaning, re-springing and adjusting rim and box locks so they work properly again, with a modern deadbolt doing the security work elsewhere on the door.
- Doors that have dropped
- Heavy slabs pulling on old hinges. Usually resolved at the hinge and the strike rather than by touching the lock at all.
- One key for a house with five locks
- Front, garden, basement, carriage house and a gate, all added at different times. Keying them alike removes the ring without altering anything visible.
- Storefront hardware on M Street and Wisconsin
- Retail doors cycling hundreds of times a day, with the wear that implies. See commercial hardware.
Practicalities
Getting a van to a Georgetown door
The streets were laid out well before vans existed. Many blocks are narrow, some are still cobbled, curbside space is scarce and a good number of houses have no alley access at all — the front door is the only door. Below M Street the traffic makes midday appointments slower than early ones.
None of that is a problem, but it does shape scheduling. If there is a driveway, a carriage house entrance or a stretch of unrestricted curb, saying so when you book makes a real difference. So does knowing whether the work is on the street face, where a ladder or a bench may need setting up.
Questions and answers
Questions about Georgetown
Is my original rim lock worth keeping?
Usually yes, for two reasons. It is part of the door, and replacing it leaves marks that are difficult to undo. And a serviced rim lock still works perfectly well for what it does. Pair it with a deadbolt elsewhere on the door and you get both the original character and a lock that resists force.
Do I need approval to change my front door hardware?
Possibly, if it is visible from a public street. Georgetown exteriors are reviewed by the Old Georgetown Board, and the threshold for what counts as an alteration is not obvious from outside the process. Rekeying and servicing existing hardware is not an alteration. Ask before ordering anything with a different look.
My front door has become hard to close. Is that the lock?
On a heavy Georgetown door, rarely. Weight, hinge wear and a frame that has settled account for most of it. Look at whether the gap along the top edge is even — if it tapers, the door has dropped and the lock is a bystander.
Can everything in the house go onto one key without new locks?
Often, provided the cylinders share a compatible keyway. Where they do not, a single cylinder swap on the odd one out is usually enough, and it can be chosen to match the finish of what is already there.
Keep reading
Related reading for period houses
Old doors, heavy hardware and historic review come up together, and these pages go into each.
Old hardware deserves a look before a decision
A photo of the lock and the door edge is usually enough for us to say whether it can stay.