Case Study: A Smart Lock On A Glazed Timber Front Door

A traditional panelled timber front door with reeded glazing in its upper half. On it were two things: a Yale nightlatch, and above the glazing a Yale keypad lock that had failed. The customer was clear that he had not liked how it operated even when it worked — which matters, because a lock somebody finds awkward is a lock they stop using properly.

He had already chosen and bought the replacement. We are happy either way; if you have bought something already, tell us the make and model and we will say honestly whether it suits your door before anyone turns up.

The obvious move is to put the new lock where the old one was. Two things ruled that out, and both are the sort of thing you only see once you have the old lock off.

The timber there had already been cut about. Whoever fitted the Yale had chipped away a good amount of the door to make it sit right. That work was done and could not be undone; what was left in that area was noticeably less door than the rest of it.

The new lock needed a much bigger pocket. The Vila's lock body is wide, and its deadbolt has to slide through the middle of the door edge. Cutting that mortice in the same place would have meant boring deep into timber that was already thin — and, going in that far in that position, risking the glazing above it. A cracked pane on a period front door is not a small problem to fix.

So the lock went in below the glazed section, into the solid part of the door where there was full thickness to work with and no glass anywhere near the drill. That put it at a natural handle height, which is where a handle wants to be anyway.

It is a small decision and it took longer to reach than to execute. It is also the difference between a lock that is fitted and a door that is quietly weakened.

You can see the old Yale in the photographs, still on the door above the new one. That was the customer's call and we think it was the right one. Taking it off would have left a set of holes and a patch of bare, chipped timber on the face of a door he likes. It does no harm where it is.

Not every job ends with the door looking factory fresh. Sometimes the tidiest outcome is the one that leaves the fewest scars.

The Vila 569 opens four ways: fingerprint, PIN on the keypad, a card fob — it came with three — and the app, which runs on Tuya. We set all of it up, tested each one, and then spent the time showing the customer and his wife how to use them: how to add and remove a fingerprint, how to change a code, and what the keypad settings do.

That last part is not padding on the invoice. A smart lock that only one person in the house understands is a smart lock that causes arguments.

Left as a five-star Google review after the installation.

Timber doors are the interesting ones. Unlike uPVC and composite doors, which nearly all use the same multipoint mechanism and euro cylinder, every timber door is its own case — different thickness, different history of previous locks, and often glazing in exactly the place you would want to put something. There is more on how the two compare in our guide to smart locks on uPVC and composite doors.

If yours has had previous locks fitted, send a photograph of the door and its edge with your enquiry. That usually tells us what is possible before we arrive, and it is how this job was scoped.