About Kentish Town Locksmiths

The two things that cause the most frustration in locksmith work are unexpected costs and unnecessary damage. We have built our entire way of working around eliminating both. Before any work begins — before we have opened a single tool bag — we confirm the exact price with you. That figure covers parts, labour and any call-out charge. It does not change once you have agreed to it. The cost of a job is shaped by factors including the type of lock or door involved, the parts required, the time of day, and the distance travelled to reach you, and we explain each of these clearly on the phone and again on arrival.

On non-destructive entry: our first approach to any lockout is always to open the door without damage. The techniques used by a skilled locksmith to manipulate, pick or decode a lock without breaking it are the product of real training and practice, and they work in the majority of residential situations. We only move to drilling — which destroys the cylinder and requires a replacement — when the lock genuinely cannot be opened any other way, or when doing so would take significantly longer and therefore cost you more than a straightforward replacement would. We tell you which route we are taking and why, before we take it.

We also take the condition of your property seriously in a practical sense. We work on people's front doors, communal entrances, office doors and workshop shutters — surfaces and frames that can be marked or scratched if handled carelessly. Our locksmiths work methodically and tidy up after themselves. If we drill a lock, we do not leave swarf and debris on the mat. If we need to remove a door handle or escutcheon plate, it goes back on correctly. These are small things, but they are the difference between a job that feels professional and one that does not.

[1] As an emergency locksmith London operates around the clock, we respond to lockouts from residential properties of every kind: Victorian terraced houses with original timber doors, purpose-built blocks of flats with communal entrances, modern new-build flats, and housing association properties where the managing agent needs to be contacted. We also handle lost key situations where the concern is not just getting in but ensuring the property is secure afterwards — particularly important when keys may have been taken rather than simply misplaced, in which case a lock change is the appropriate response rather than simply gaining entry.

Our residential locksmith work covers the full range of door types found across North London. uPVC doors — common on 1980s and 1990s housing — use multipoint locking systems operated by a central gearbox, and when these fail (often through a snapped or worn euro cylinder, or a dropped door putting the mechanism out of alignment) the work requires specific tools and replacement cassettes matched to the door brand. Composite doors present similar considerations. Older timber doors typically carry a Yale-type nightlatch on the top and a 5-lever mortice deadlock lower down; we stock BS3621-rated versions of both. Anti-snap cylinders — including TS007 3-star rated products — are something we actively recommend and fit where appropriate, because cylinder snapping remains a common method of forced entry across this part of London.

Commercial locksmith work has its own demands. Offices, retail units, workshops and communal areas in blocks of flats all have higher footfall, more complex access requirements, and sometimes more than one stakeholder — landlord, tenant and letting agent — with a say in what gets fitted. We work on commercial-grade deadlocks, overhead door closers, door handles and latch sets, and the kind of robust cylinder locks fitted to steel security doors. We understand that for a business, a door that cannot be locked properly at the end of the day is not a minor inconvenience — it is a liability — and we treat commercial call-outs with the same urgency we bring to residential emergencies.

Every job we take on comes with the same set of commitments, and we mean them in a practical rather than a marketing sense. First: you receive a confirmed price before any work begins. Not a rough figure, not a range to be refined later — a specific quote that covers the full scope of work as we understand it on arrival. If something unexpected is discovered mid-job that changes the cost (a lock that is seized internally, a damaged keep that needs replacing alongside the cylinder), we stop, explain the situation, and get your agreement before continuing.

Second: we always attempt non-destructive entry before drilling. This is not simply good practice — it protects you from the cost of a replacement cylinder when one might not be necessary. Third: we leave the work area tidy. Fourth: we do not carry out or charge for work you have not agreed to. Fifth: we are fully insured, so if something does go wrong, there is proper cover in place rather than a verbal assurance. These are not aspirational promises; they are the basis on which we ask you to judge our service.

If you are dealing with a lock problem right now — whether it is a locked-out situation, a damaged uPVC door lock, a broken nightlatch, or a commercial door that will not secure — call 020 7871 7825. We answer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including bank holidays. Tell us where you are and what is happening, and we will take it from there.