Grand Opening: Up to 20% Off. Valid for the grand opening period through December 31, 2026. One offer per job. Offers cannot be combined. No discount on emergency, lockout, or after-hours service, car keys / automotive, or service calls.
One family of hardware, without mixing cams and keyways
ASSA ABLOY owns a lot of names. That does not mean a Medeco cylinder, a Sargent mortise, an HES strike, and a Yale lock can be stacked because the boxes share a parent company. The visit identifies the keyway, checks cylinder length, and matches the cam. Key control is written down. A shaved cylinder or a lost bitting list is treated as a problem, not as a creative shortcut.
Use this when a building already has two or three of those brands and a vendor has proposed a part that 'should fit.' It is not a general rekey of a Kwikset house. Bring the key that currently turns, any key card or authorization the system uses, and the lock model if it is stamped on the face.
Medeco, Sargent, HES, and Yale only where they actually mate
Included is identification, a compatible cylinder or strike, and a record of the keyway. Not included is bypassing a restricted key system because a duplicate was convenient. Wrong cams, mixed keyways, and shaved cylinders are the failures we see after a previous swap. UL 437 applies when the cylinder is a high-security one. The building's own key-control policy applies when blanks are restricted.
Commercial DC suites often inherited a Sargent mortise and later added an HES strike for a card reader. The cam and the faceplate have to agree or the lever droops. We will not mill a cylinder down to force a fit. If the keyway is restricted, the person who may order a key is the person on that system's record, not whoever is standing in the corridor.
Frequent questions
Does a Medeco key automatically fit a Sargent mortise in the same building?
No. The mortise can often accept a Medeco cylinder of the right length and cam. The keyway is a separate choice. Mixing them without checking the cam is how levers fall off in a week.
What is a shaved cylinder, and why do you refuse it?
Someone ground the shell so a long cylinder would sit in a short prep. It looks seated and it fails under torque. We replace it with the length the housing was made for.
Who is allowed to order the next restricted key?
Whoever the key-control record names. A lost bitting list means we stop and rebuild the record with the authorized holder. We do not cut from a guess because the stamp wore off.
Can an HES strike be added without touching the cylinder?
Often yes. The strike has to match the latch on that mortise, and the frame has to have room for the cut. The cylinder stays put unless the keyway itself is the complaint.