Locksmith in Riverside & Avondale, Jacksonville

Historic neighborhoods, historic hardware

Riverside and Avondale stretch along the west bank of the St. Johns River, southwest of downtown. The Riverside Historic District was Jacksonville's first, listed on the National Register in 1985. Avondale was planned from 1920 as an upscale neighborhood, mostly in the Mediterranean Revival style, and was listed in 1989. Between them you'll find Craftsman bungalows, Prairie-style houses, grand homes along the river and small apartment buildings on the side streets.

For a locksmith, that means original doors and hardware that are often 80 to 100 years old.

Mortise locks, skeleton keys and glass knobs

Early 1900s homes here often have:

• Mortise locks, a boxy lock body set into the edge of a thick wood door, often with a separate cylinder above the knob;
• Skeleton-key locks on interior doors, and sometimes on back doors;
• Glass or brass knobs and decorative plates the owners want to keep;
• Transom windows and sidelights, which affect what kind of lock is safe near the glass.

We don't rush to replace any of this. Many mortise locks can be taken apart, cleaned, given new springs and fitted with a new cylinder, which keeps the original look and makes the lock reliable again. See our door lock repair page for how that works. When a new cylinder is fitted, we can rekey it to match the rest of the house, so one key opens every door.

If the original lock can't be saved, we'll install a new lock sized for the door's thickness and backset, and we'll try to use the existing holes so you don't end up with extra ones in old-growth wood.

Keeping the look, adding security

Many owners want a real deadbolt without spoiling a 1920s door. Options include a deadbolt in a finish that matches the original brass, a mortise lock with a modern cylinder, or high-security cylinders whose keys are registered to you and cut only on your authorization. On doors with glass panels, a double-cylinder deadbolt is sometimes suggested, but it can trap you in a fire. We'll talk through the trade-offs before we drill anything.

If you're planning bigger exterior changes, like a new front door, check the city's historic district rules first. Restoring the existing lock usually avoids that question.

Apartments and garage apartments

Riverside has a lot of rentals: small buildings, duplexes, quadplexes and garage apartments behind older houses. Owners call us to key units between tenants, set up a master key and fix worn locks on shared entry doors. Tenants call us when they're locked out. We'll check ID and the lease before opening any door.

Five Points, parking and lockouts

Parking is tight around Five Points and the Shoppes of Avondale, and cars get locked with keys inside. We come to you and open the car with Lishi picks instead of a slim jim, so nothing gets bent or scratched, even on a busy street. For locked homes, we pick older locks by hand whenever we can.

How we get there

From our base in 32258 we usually take I-95 north over the Fuller Warren Bridge, then exit onto Riverside Avenue or Park Street. For Avondale and Murray Hill, I-295 across the Buckman and north on Roosevelt Boulevard is sometimes faster. Most trips take 25 to 45 minutes, and we'll warn you if bridge traffic is bad.

What affects the price

Restoring a vintage lock takes more time than rekeying a modern one, and hard-to-find parts can add to the cost. We'll explain that before we start, along with the number of locks. See our pricing page for more.

Nearby

Across the river from here is San Marco, which has its own 1920s homes. South on US 17, we also serve Orange Park.

Call (904) 509-0907 or text us and describe the door and lock, or send a photo. We're available Mon & Fri 7 AM–2 PM and Tue & Thu 7 AM–6 PM.