Commercial Door Hardware in Burbank, CA

What counts as commercial door hardware?

When we say commercial door hardware, we mean everything on a business door that holds it shut, lets people through, and keeps it secure: the lockset, the latch, the strike plate in the frame, the hinges, the closer, the exit device, and the trim on both sides. A house door usually gets a simple cylindrical knob and a deadbolt. A commercial door is built for far more cycles in a day, and the hardware reflects that.

Many Burbank businesses run on mortise locks. A mortise lock sits inside a deep pocket cut into the edge of the door, and it combines the latch, the deadbolt, and the cylinder in one steel case. They are sturdy and repairable, which is why you still find them on older storefronts and office suites. They are also the kind of hardware that most general handymen don't want to touch, because the parts are fitted rather than snapped together.

This page covers the repair and replacement of that hardware: commercial door repair, commercial latch repair, and the common complaints of a door that won't latch or won't lock. If your real problem is that you're locked out of a business right now, that's a different call, and our business lockout service is the better starting point.

• Mortise locks and their cases, cylinders, and trim
• Latch bolts, deadlatches, and strike plates
• Lever handles and knobs on office, shop, and warehouse doors
• Hinges and door alignment where they affect locking
• Hardware on storeroom, back-of-house, and employee entrances

Why won't my commercial door latch?

A door that won't latch is one of the most common calls we get from businesses, and it's rarely the lock that has failed. Usually the latch bolt and the strike plate have stopped lining up. That can happen slowly, because hinges loosen over thousands of openings, or suddenly, because someone slammed the door, a delivery cart clipped it, or the building shifted a little.

The causes tend to fall into a few families, and sorting out which one you have is most of the job.

• Misaligned strike: the latch bolt hits the edge of the strike plate instead of entering the opening. Sometimes the plate can be adjusted or filed; sometimes it needs to be moved or replaced.
• Sagging door: worn hinges or loose hinge screws let the door drop, so the latch sits lower than the strike. Fixing the lock won't help until the door is lifted back into position.
• Worn or sticking latch bolt: the spring inside has weakened, or grit and old lubricant have gummed up the mechanism, so the bolt doesn't extend fully.
• Broken lever or spindle: the handle turns but nothing moves, because the part connecting it to the latch has sheared or slipped.
• Door closer problems: if the closer doesn't pull the door fully shut, the latch never gets a chance to catch. That's a closer issue, and we cover it under door closer repair.
• Swollen or warped door: wood and some composite doors take on movement with heat and humidity changes and start to rub the frame.

Why won't my office or warehouse door lock?

A commercial door that won't lock is a different problem from one that won't latch, and it's worth telling them apart before you call. If the door closes fine but the key won't turn, or the key turns and the bolt doesn't move, the trouble is inside the lock itself or in the cylinder.

On office door lock repair calls, a key that turns stiffly is often an early warning. Cylinders that have handled years of daily use pick up wear on their pins, and the key itself may be worn from many copies of copies. We'll check whether a fresh key cut from the original code solves it before we suggest replacing anything.

Warehouse door lock repair has its own pattern. Doors at loading areas and side entrances take more abuse, more dust, and more forced closing. Hasps, rim locks, and heavy-duty cylinders can bind or bend. Sometimes the lock has been tampered with, and we'll tell you honestly if what we find looks like attempted forced entry, so you can decide whether to involve the building owner or your own security.

If a key has snapped off inside the cylinder, that's its own specialty, and our broken key extraction page explains how that's handled. If the whole storefront needs attention, our storefront lock repair page goes deeper on glass-door and street-facing hardware.

How we repair commercial door hardware, step by step

We try to work the same way on every call: look first, explain what we see, and only then pick up tools. David, who owns the company and leads our technicians, set that standard decades ago and it hasn't changed.

1. Call (213) 577-1366. A real person answers at any hour, any day. Tell us what the door is doing: won't latch, won't lock, key sticks, handle spins freely. Mention if it's a glass door, a metal door, or a wood door.
2. We send a mobile van technician to your Burbank address. Our storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood supports the vans with parts and key-cutting equipment.
3. Test before touching. The technician works the door, the latch, and the key, and checks the hinges, strike, and closer. Many problems that look like a failed lock turn out to be alignment.
4. Explain the options. You hear what's wrong, what can be repaired, what should be replaced, and what each route involves, before work begins.
5. Do the work. That might mean adjusting or replacing a strike, re-seating hinges, servicing a mortise case, swapping a cylinder, or fitting new hardware to the existing door prep.
6. Test again. We cycle the door repeatedly, with the key and with the handle, and check that it closes and latches on its own.
7. Hand over keys and information. You get working keys and a plain explanation of what was done, so whoever manages your building knows the state of the door.

How much does commercial door hardware repair cost in Burbank?

We don't quote a number before we know what's wrong, and any company that quotes a firm figure over the phone for a latch that won't catch is guessing. What we can do is tell you exactly what moves the cost, so you can judge a quote when you get one.

The first factor is whether the fix is adjustment or replacement. Realigning a strike or tightening hinges is a lighter-cost job than replacing a mortise case. The second is the hardware itself: standard commercial grades are usually the more economical route, while specialty or discontinued mortise cases can take longer to source and cost more. Fire-rated doors, doors with exit devices, and doors tied into an access system all add requirements.

Other factors include the number of doors, whether the door needs to be rekeyed to match an existing key system, the time of day you call (after-hours work differs from daytime scheduling), and whether a damaged door or frame has to be repaired before the hardware will hold. We give you the full picture on-site before work starts, so there are no surprises on the invoice.

• Adjustment versus part replacement versus full lockset replacement
• Grade and brand of hardware, and whether the part is easy to find
• Fire-rated, panic, or access-controlled doors, which have extra requirements
• Number of doors and whether keys must match an existing system
• Condition of the door and frame around the hardware
• Daytime scheduling versus after-hours or emergency calls

Repair, rekey, or replace the hardware?

The honest answer depends on the door. We lean toward repair when the hardware is sound and something just drifted out of alignment, because it costs the business less and keeps the door's existing look. Mortise locks are especially good candidates for repair, since the cases can be serviced and many parts are available.

We recommend replacement when the hardware is cracked, badly worn, or the finish and parts are no longer available, or when the door is constantly being repaired. If you've had a staff change and are worried about who holds keys, a rekey is often the sensible step, and our lock rekeying service handles it without replacing the hardware.

Where a door needs an exit device for code or safety reasons, we'd discuss panic bar installation rather than trying to patch an inadequate setup. And if you're thinking bigger, such as a unified key hierarchy across a suite or building, a master key system is the structured way to do it. We'll tell you plainly if a simple repair is all the door needs.

Commercial door hardware around Burbank

Burbank's commercial doors come in several kinds. Downtown Burbank and the Media District have office buildings and newer mid-rise properties, plus large controlled-access apartment complexes whose common-area and service doors need the same commercial-grade hardware. The Golden State District and Northwest District have the working side of the city, with shop and warehouse doors. Magnolia Park and the South San Fernando Boulevard district have storefronts, and storefront lock service along Magnolia Boulevard and San Fernando Boulevard is a regular part of what we do here.

The scenario we watch for most in this city is office and gate access hardware work for media companies around the Media District. Those sites tend to combine a lockset on the office door, a gate or secondary entrance, and some form of card or keypad control. When the mechanical hardware is worn, the electronic side can't do its job either. If the lock fails to latch, an access reader doesn't matter. For the electronics themselves, see our access control installation page, and for fenced yards and rolling entrances, gate lock repair.

Climate plays a part. Valley heat in summer swells wooden doors, which is a frequent reason a door that latched fine in winter starts to stick or miss its strike. Dry Santa Ana winds sweep down from the Verdugo foothills and can slam doors hard enough to bend latches and loosen strike plates. On the plus side, Burbank is far enough inland that salt-air corrosion isn't a factor, so hardware here usually fails from use and alignment, not rust.

We serve all Burbank ZIP codes: 91501, 91502, 91504, 91505, and 91506. Our base is in Westwood, about 16 miles away, and the mobile vans are how we cover Burbank, along with the rest of our 140 cities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties. If you manage a building in Burbank, our commercial locksmith page gives the wider picture of business work.

Why call Wilshire Lock & Key for commercial door hardware?

We've been in business since 1987, and a lot of that time has been spent on exactly this kind of hardware: mortise cases, commercial latches, and older doors that need a skilled repair rather than a quick swap. We have a real storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, plus mobile service vans, so the person who comes to your door is backed by a shop with parts and equipment.

We are one company. When you call (213) 577-1366, you aren't reaching a call center that sells your job to whichever contractor picks it up. The people who answer and the technicians who arrive work for the same company, and David oversees the work. That means someone is accountable for what gets done at your door.

We'd rather tell you a door needs a ten-minute adjustment than sell you a new lockset. If something is beyond what can be fixed on-site, we say so, and if an item is dealer-only or needs ordering, we'll tell you that up front.

• In business since 1987
• Storefront in Westwood plus mobile vans
• One company, no dispatch middlemen
• David's oversight of the work
• Phone answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round

What to ask any commercial locksmith before they start

California requires locksmith companies to hold a license from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS), called a Locksmith Company (LCO) license. Ask any locksmith you're considering for their license number, and check it with BSIS yourself. That applies to us as well as anyone else, and it's a sensible habit for any business owner or property manager.

Beyond that, ask whether the person on the phone works for the company that will show up, whether the technician can explain the problem before work starts, and whether you'll get an itemized explanation of the cost. A business door is part of your security, so it's reasonable to expect straight answers.

More locksmith help in Burbank

• Access Control Installation in Burbank
• Commercial Locksmith in Burbank
• Door Closer Repair in Burbank
• Master Key System in Burbank
• Panic Bar Installation in Burbank
• Storefront Lock Repair in Burbank
• All services in Burbank

Commercial Door Hardware near Burbank

• Glendale
• Toluca Lake
• North Hollywood
• Sun Valley
• Studio City
• Valley Village