Most doors run a standard pin tumbler lock that any hardware store copies a key for. A high security lock closes that gap: its cylinder resists picking, drilling and prying under timed testing, and its keys copy only with your authorization. For 25 years King Locksmith and Doors Inc. installs and repairs them across Maryland, Washington DC and Northern Virginia.
A high security lock is a high grade lock category, not one function: any lock whose cylinder, the keyed part, is listed under UL 437, the laboratory standard timing how long it survives picking, drilling and prying, or rated under ANSI/BHMA A156.30, the industry standard grading cylinders A, B or C for key control and attack resistance. Inside sit hardened inserts that stop drill bits, a sidebar, a second locking bar the key must also release, and a patented keyway, a key shape only the maker cuts.
We fit listed cylinders into the storefront and mortise locks District of Columbia buildings already run, keyed into one restricted master system. Upgrading? We survey free.
Benefits follow the cylinder. A standard lock can be bumped, picked or drilled in minutes and its key copied anywhere. A UL 437 listed cylinder holds out for its full timed test, and a restricted keyway means a former tenant or employee cannot quietly duplicate a key.
Key control gives you a signed record of every key cut. Master keying puts one key on an owner’s ring while each unit keeps its own. Most models drop into your existing lock body, so no new door.
Across Washington DC we install high security locks on storefront doors, office suite entries, server rooms, pharmacies, multifamily building entrances, government contractor offices and homes where a break-in or a copied key would cost far more than the lock.
They are the wrong buy for a low-value interior door or passage closet; a standard Grade 2 lever, the mid commercial rating, serves those doors well. Not sure which doors deserve the upgrade? Our high security lock locksmith surveys them free.
Your storefront, server room or front door deserves a cylinder that resists picking, drilling and copied keys. Book a free survey; we recommend the lock.
Five high security brands ride on our trucks because their cylinders pass real attack tests, their keys stay under your control, and parts arrive fast.
Medeco pins must lift and rotate to free a sidebar, the second locking bar, and its patented keyway means only authorized shops cut your keys.
Mul-T-Lock stacks a pin inside each pin, so two heights must match at once, and its UL 437 listed cylinders retrofit most commercial lock bodies.
Abloy uses rotating discs instead of spring pins, so nothing bumps and nothing freezes, which makes it our first pick for exterior doors and gates.
Schlage Primus adds a second row of finger pins on the key's edge and slides into existing Schlage locks, so upgrades keep your current hardware.
Three calls dominate. The key turns but the door stays locked: the tailpiece, the bar carrying the cylinder’s turn to the latch, has sheared, or the sidebar sticks in a dry cylinder. Lost keys on a restricted keyway: nobody else can cut one, so you wait on us. Corrosion outside: salt and rain seize the pins and the key binds.
We check the key first, then cylinder rotation, then tailpiece and latch, then door alignment. Locked out? Our mobile units respond 24/7. Call (240) 345-1455 in Maryland or (202) 800-2622 in Washington DC and NOVA.
We repair a sheared tailpiece with the genuine part on our trucks, clean and lubricate a dry sidebar cylinder in place, and for lost keys cut restricted keys from your registered code or repin so old keys go dead. Repair loses when a cylinder is drilled or discontinued.
Then we replace. We match cylinder format, mortise, rim or key-in-lever, plus length and finish so the new cylinder seats in the existing lock without drilling, and key it into your master system where the keyway allows. Measure, match, install, test operation and egress before we leave. Our in-house door expert fixes alignment same visit. Free estimates.
A door anyone can pick or copy a key for is open. Call (240) 345-1455 now or book high security lock service online today.
High security locks secure storefronts, server rooms and pharmacies, but every door has its match. Browse our lock type resources below to see each function, its applications and our services.
Straight answers from King Locksmith Technicans to on High Security Locks questions customers ask us most.
(240) 345-1455
UL 437, a laboratory test timing resistance to picking, drilling and prying, and ANSI/BHMA A156.30, which grades cylinders A, B or C.
Standard locks use spring pins and an open keyway anyone copies. High security locks add hardened inserts, a sidebar and a patented keyway.
for storefront or office we specify a UL 437 listed cylinder in a Grade 1 body, the highest commercial rating.
Yes. The rating belongs to the lock body and door, so a listed lock keeps it when we fit a high security cylinder.
