Residential locksmith (219)-342-5595
Jacob’s Lock and Keys provide all residential locksmith services. Our services include screen doors, high-security locks, rekey, lock replacement, mortise locksets, and profile cylinders. We make sure that our locksmith professionals are trained well enough to provide the best experience. If you are in need of a residential locksmith, Jacob Lock, and Key Locksmith Service is the best locksmith company in the area. With years of experience and a team of skilled professionals, we are the experts you can trust to handle all of your lock and security needs. From lock-outs to lock repairs and replacements, Jacob Lock and Key have you covered. We offer emergency service, so you can get help anytime you need it, and our team is dedicated to providing excellent customer service. In addition to our top-notch service, Jacob Lock and Key use only the highest quality locks and techniques to ensure that your home is secure against unauthorized access. If you need a simple lock repair we have the expertise and equipment to get the job done right. Don’t trust your home’s security to just anyone. Choose the professionals at Jacob Lock and Key Locksmith Service for all of your residential locksmith needs. You’ll be glad you did.
Sliding, Patio, Security, and Screen Door Locks
Back doors and patios are a favorite target for break-ins, mostly because their locks are often weak from the factory. A sliding glass door, for example, usually ships with a flimsy latch that a determined person can pop in seconds. We fix that by installing stronger mortise locks, foot bolts, and anti-lift pins that stop anyone from prying the panel loose or lifting it off its track. As a result, the same door that felt like a soft spot becomes one of the harder ways into your home.
We also work on patio doors, storm doors, and security screen doors, which each use their own style of latch and keeper. If a screen door handle has stopped catching, or a security door drags and will not lock, we repair or replace the hardware so it seats cleanly again. On top of that, we can add a keyed lock to a storm door, so you can leave the main door open for airflow and still stay locked up. For folks who want app control, our smart lock installation works on many of these doors as well.
Locksmith Help for Renters and Landlords
Moving into a rental is exciting, but you rarely know how many old keys are still floating around out there. Past tenants, their friends, cleaners, and contractors may all keep copies, so a fresh rekey on move-in day is the simplest way to know that only your keys work. Because a rekey keeps the existing hardware and just resets the pins, it costs far less than swapping every lock, and it takes only a few minutes per door.
Landlords and property managers count on us between tenants for the same reason. After all, handing new renters a truly secure unit protects both sides and heads off deposit disputes later. Therefore we rekey units on turnover, set up master-key systems for multi-door buildings, and get lockboxes and door hardware ready for showings. If you rent and your landlord promised a rekey, ask for it in writing, and call us if you would rather handle it yourself. Whether you own the building or just signed a lease, we can usually be there within 10 to 15 minutes.
Bedroom, Attic, and Basement Door Locks
Not every lock we install sits on a front door. Inside the house, bedroom doors often need a simple privacy lock, but plenty of folks also want a keyed knob on a home office, a nursery, or a room where medicine or a firearm is stored. When a curious toddler locks a bedroom from the inside, we open it in seconds without cracking the door. On top of that, we swap out worn interior knobs and levers so the latch actually catches again.
Attic and basement doors get overlooked until they matter. For attic access, we add locks to hatches and pull-down stair doors, which keeps kids out and makes the space harder to reach during a break-in. Basement doors are similar, though they come in two flavors. First, the interior basement door usually just needs a working knob or a keyed lock for privacy. Second, an exterior bulkhead or cellar door often needs a fresh hasp, a keyed lock, or a slide bolt, so nobody can lift it open from the yard.
Side Garage Doors and Screen Security Doors
The side service door on a garage is one of the most common weak spots we see in Gary homes. Because it sits out of sight, burglars love it, and builders often hang a hollow slab with a bargain lock. Therefore we upgrade these doors with a solid deadbolt and, when you ask, rekey them to match your house key so one key works everywhere. If the garage connects to the house, that single door becomes the line between the garage and your living space, so it is worth doing right.
Screen and storm security doors deserve the same attention. Many already carry a keyed lock, and we can rekey it to match your main entry, so you are not juggling a separate key. When a closer sags or a latch stops grabbing, we repair or replace the hardware so the door shuts and locks cleanly again. As a bonus, a well-locked storm door lets you leave the main door open for a breeze while the house stays secure. For a full upgrade, our rekey service can bring every one of these doors onto a single key.
Common Home Lock Types We Install and Repair
Homes in Gary use a handful of lock styles, and knowing the difference helps you pick the right upgrade. The most familiar is the doorknob, or keyed knob, which handles everyday entry but offers little real security on its own. That is why almost every exterior door also needs a deadbolt. A deadbolt throws a solid metal bolt deep into the frame, so it resists kicks and pry bars far better than a knob alone. Together, a knob and a deadbolt make the standard front-door setup we install most often.
Older Gary homes often have a mortise lockset, a heavy lock body that slides into a pocket cut into the edge of the door. Inside that lockset sits a mortise cylinder, the round threaded piece your key turns. When the key wears out or the lock jams, we can rekey or replace just the cylinder instead of swapping the whole unit. Similarly, a rim cylinder drives surface-mounted rim locks that bolt onto the back of the door, and you will often see those on side and rear entries. Some newer doors, like patio and euro-style entries, use a profile cylinder, the oval cylinder held in by a single screw, which makes it quick to rekey or swap when a key goes missing.
A few specialty locks round out the list. A jimmy-proof deadlock, the interlocking Segal-style rim lock found on many apartments, resists being pried apart at the jamb, so it remains a favorite for extra door security. Finally, we service mailbox locks, so a lost mailbox key or a stuck cluster-box lock never leaves your mail exposed. If you want all of these keyed alike, our rekey service can put your whole home on a single key.
Cabinet and Padlock Locks
Security does not stop at your doors. Around the house, cabinet and drawer locks keep valuables, medicine, and important papers out of the wrong hands. We install and repair locks on file cabinets, desk drawers, medicine cabinets, and display or gun cabinets, and we can rekey them if a key goes missing. When a small cabinet lock jams or a key snaps off, we open it without wrecking the furniture, then fit a fresh cylinder that turns smoothly again.
Padlocks handle almost everything outside the house, from shed doors and side gates to detached garages and lockers. We cut off seized or forgotten padlocks, supply sturdy replacements, and key several padlocks alike, so one key covers the shed, the gate, and the garage. Because a bargain padlock is easy to defeat, we also steer you toward hardened models that actually resist bolt cutters.
Storage Unit Lockouts
Storage units cause their own headaches. If you are locked out of a self-storage unit because the key is lost or a disc lock froze, we come out and open it, then set you up with a new lock on the spot. As a result, you get back into your belongings the same day instead of waiting on the facility office. We usually reach you within 10 to 15 minutes, so a stuck storage lock never wrecks your whole afternoon.
Old Doors With a 5-Inch Latch and Bolt
Gary has a lot of century-old homes, and many still wear their original doors. Those doors often carry old-style hardware, like a large rim lock with a 5-inch latch and a separate bolt, that you simply cannot buy off the shelf anymore. Because the sizes and screw holes do not match anything modern, most handymen just tell you to replace the whole door. We take a different approach and work with what you already have whenever we can.
First, we service the original mechanism itself. We free up a sticky 5-inch latch, realign a dropped bolt, replace worn springs, and clean decades of paint and grime out of the case, so the lock throws smoothly again. When a part is truly beyond saving, we source a close vintage match or adapt a new cylinder to fit the old body, so your door keeps its character. As a result, you hold onto the original look while the lock finally works the way it should.
Sometimes an old door needs more security than its antique latch can give. In that case, we can add a modern deadbolt above the original hardware, or retrofit the existing mortise pocket with a stronger keyed unit. Either way, we keep the vintage faceplate where it matters and quietly upgrade the protection behind it. If you want everything on one key, our rekey service can bring the old and new locks onto a single key.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I’m locked out of my house right now. What happens when I call you?
A: You call (219) 342-5595 and a real person picks up — not a voicemail, not a national dispatch center reading your zip code off a screen. We ask for your cross streets, tell you how far out we are, and give you a price before we hang up. In most of Gary, Hammond, Merrillville, and the surrounding NWI communities, we’re knocking on your door within 10–15 minutes. We’ve done this long enough to know that being locked out of your own home is already stressful enough. We don’t add to it.
Q: I’ve seen locksmiths advertise service calls. Why does it end up being ?
A: Because that’s a bait-and-switch operation — and it runs heavy in the Northwest Indiana and Chicago metro area. They quote a low number to get you on the phone, then inflate the bill once they’re at your door and you have no other options. It’s documented, it’s predatory, and the FTC has written about it. Our price on the phone is our price at your door. Most residential lockouts with us competitively priced. If your situation is more complex, we tell you why before we start.
Q: I just got the keys to my new house in Merrillville. Do I actually need to rekey?
A: Without question. A house key isn’t like a password only you know — it’s a physical object that was copied, shared, and handed around for years before you showed up. The previous owner’s contractor has one. Their ex has one. The neighbor who watered plants in 2019 has one. You don’t know and you can’t know. Rekeying is affordable, takes about 15 minutes, and from that moment forward you are the only person on earth with a working key to your home. It’s the most underrated security move in real estate.
Q: My teenager locked themselves in the bathroom and won’t come out. What do you do?
A: We open it in about 90 seconds and nobody gets hurt — not the door, not the frame, not the lock, and not the teenager. Interior privacy locks are built to be bypassed. They’re not security locks. A small tool inserted into the pinhole on the outside handle releases the mechanism cleanly. We’ve done this call dozens of times across Gary and Hammond. The hardest part is usually finding parking.
Q: I lost my keys near my house. Is that actually a risk or am I overthinking it?
A: You’re not overthinking it. A key found near your home — especially one on a ring with anything that has your name, address, or gym tag on it — is a usable key. Most residential break-ins in Northwest Indiana are opportunistic. Someone finds a key, walks the neighborhood until they find the door it fits. Rekey the same day you realize they’re gone. It costs less than your monthly streaming bill and eliminates the risk entirely.
Q: Rekeying vs. replacing locks — which one do I actually need?
A: Rekeying is the right call 80% of the time. It changes the internal pins inside your existing cylinder so every old key stops working — the lock looks identical from the outside but a new key is the only one that turns it. Replacement makes sense when the hardware is physically damaged, when you’re upgrading to a higher-grade deadbolt, or when the cylinder is so worn it’s become easy to pick. We look at what you have, tell you the truth, and don’t sell you new hardware when a rekey does the job.
Q: Can you install a smart lock so I never need a physical key again?
A: Yes — and we do this regularly for rental property owners in Gary and Merrillville who are tired of cutting keys for every new tenant. We install Schlage Encode, Kwikset Halo, and Yale Assure locks on-site, program the codes before we leave, and walk you through the app setup if the model supports remote access. You leave with a working system the same day. No trips to the hardware store, no YouTube tutorials, no leftover screws you’re not sure where to put.
I broke a key off inside my front door lock. Can you fix it without replacing the whole lock?
In most cases, yes. Broken key extraction is one of the more common service calls we get — it happens when a key is worn down, when someone forces a stiff lock in cold weather, or just bad timing. We use extraction tools to remove the broken piece without damaging the cylinder. Once it’s out we inspect the lock: if the cylinder is in good shape, we cut a new key and you’re done in under 20 minutes. If the key broke because the lock itself is worn or the keyway is damaged, we tell you that before touching anything else and give you options.
Can you rekey all my doors so one key opens everything?
Yes, and most homeowners don’t realize this is an option until someone mentions it. If you have a front deadbolt, a knob lock, a back door, and a garage entry — all keyed differently — we can rekey every cylinder to operate on a single key. Takes about 30–45 minutes for a typical home with three or four exterior locks. You leave with one key that works everywhere. No more cycling through a ring of keys in the dark to find the right one.
What do I need to have ready when you show up for a lockout?
Have a photo ID and something that connects you to the address — a driver’s license with the address on it is ideal, or a utility bill, lease agreement, or a piece of mail. We verify this before opening any door. It is a quick check, takes about a minute, and it is the same thing any legitimate locksmith should require. If someone offers to open your door without verifying who you are first, that tells you something about how they operate.
How long does a rekey actually take?
A single deadbolt takes 10–15 minutes. Three or four locks on the same visit runs 30–45 minutes total. We bring key-cutting equipment with us, so there is no waiting on duplicates — working keys are in your hand before we leave the driveway. If you are doing a full move-in rekey on a house with multiple exterior doors, budget an hour to be safe, though we are usually done faster.
My landlord said they would rekey before I moved in. Should I trust that?
Follow up and confirm it happened — or just pay to have it done yourself and know for certain. Most leases in Indiana don’t include language requiring a rekey between tenants, and even if yours does, there is no way to verify the work was completed unless you saw it happen. A rekey takes 15 minutes and costs less than most people spend on dinner. It is the only way to be certain that you and your household are the only people with a working key to your front door.
Areas We Serve
Jacob’s Lock and Key provides residential locksmith service across Gary, Hammond, Merrillville, Hobart, Munster, Schererville, Griffith, and Crown Point. We come to you — no shop visit, no waiting room. Call (219) 342-5595 any day of the week for emergency lockouts, same-day rekeying, or a scheduled lock upgrade.
Last updated: 07/19/2026