Smart Locks in Didsbury & Chorlton

A modern composite door is a known quantity. A Victorian timber door is whatever it has become after a century of paint, movement and previous repairs — thickness varies across the same door, and the backset is rarely what the lock's instructions assume.

That is why we measure before quoting rather than after. It is also why locks sold as “fits any door” frequently do not.

Many original doors here have a mortice lock with a separate nightlatch, rather than the euro cylinder most retrofit smart locks are designed around. That changes which products are viable — some replace the nightlatch neatly, others need the door reworking in a way that is not worth doing.

Parts of Didsbury and Chorlton sit in conservation areas, where the appearance of the street frontage matters and alterations can be controlled. Even where nothing formally applies, most owners here do not want a large plastic keypad on an original door.

There are discreet options — internal-side fittings that leave the outside of the door untouched, and units that keep the existing furniture. We will show you what the door will actually look like before you commit.

An original timber door takes longer to survey than a modern one, but the price is the same — the survey is part of the first installation, not an extra. What changes the number is the lock you choose and how many doors you want done, not the age of the house. Current figures are on the pricing page.

If the survey finds the door cannot take a lock safely, we tell you before any work starts and there is nothing to pay.

On a period door the survey is the job. Thickness gets measured in more than one place because it often varies across the same door, the backset is checked against what the lock actually needs, and the stile is checked for enough timber to work with.

Only then do we recommend a lock. That order matters: it is the reason people end up with a lock that does not sit right, having bought the lock first and found a fitter second.