Garage door lock work covers the T-handle lock and inside slide lock on manual doors, a keyed emergency release for garages with an opener and no other way in, and the deadbolt and knob on the garage side door. We fit, repair and rekey them, and secure the garage after a break-in attempt, including the release cord and the opener's remote codes.
What you get
- T-handle locks and lock bars on manual doors, repaired or replaced and keyed
- Inside slide locks fitted, or disabled when an opener runs the door
- Keyed emergency release for garages with no other way in
- Side-door deadbolts, knobs and reinforced strikes, rekeyed to your house key where the keyway allows
Garage locks we work on
A garage usually has two outside ways in: the garage door itself and a side door to the yard. Each needs its own kind of lock, and we cover both.
- T-handle locks on manual doors: an outside handle with a key cylinder that moves lock bars into the tracks.
- Slide locks: a bolt on the inside of the door that slides into a slot in the vertical track.
- Keyed emergency releases for garages with an opener and no other door.
- Side-door deadbolts, knobs and strikes on the garage service door.
Springs, cables and openers are separate jobs with their own pages, and a lock visit is a good time to have us look at them.
T-handle and slide locks on manual doors
A door without an opener locks from the outside with a T-handle. The key locks the handle, and the handle moves lock bars into slots on both vertical tracks. Over the years the cylinder wears, the bars and their linkage rust, and the bars stop lining up with the slots.
We replace worn cylinders and handles, renew the bars and linkage, and adjust them so they catch the track on both sides. If the door is only ever locked from inside, a slide lock on one or both sides is simpler.
You still find these locks on manual doors, including older detached garages off the alleys in North Park and at the end of long driveways in Lemon Grove.
Need your garage locks sorted today?
Call or text with your address, single or double door, and what the door is doing. The price is firm before the truck leaves the yard.
If you have an opener, lock out the old lock
An opener and a mechanical lock should not both be in charge of the door. If the slide lock or the T-handle bars are engaged when someone presses the remote, the opener strains against the lock and can bend the top section or damage the opener.
So on doors with an opener, we disable or remove the old lock. A closed door on an opener is already held down by the opener drive, and many wall controls have a lock button that blocks remotes while you are away.
If you want a physical lock as well, there are locks built to work with an opener, such as the LiftMaster automatic garage door lock, a deadbolt that engages when the door closes and releases when it opens. It works only with the opener models LiftMaster lists for it.
The emergency release: a convenience and a weak spot
The emergency release cord, usually with a red handle, disconnects the door from the trolley so it can be moved by hand. Its job is to get you out, or in, when the power fails or the opener breaks.
It is also a known weak spot. A thief can fish a hooked wire through the gap at the top of the door and pull the cord. We fit a guard on the release that blocks a hook from outside while a hand can still pull it from inside.
If the garage is the only way into the house, a keyed emergency release lets you disconnect the opener from outside with a key during a power cut. California has required battery backup on new residential openers since July 1, 2019, so newer openers keep working for a while in an outage. Older ones do not, and our guide to opening a garage door manually covers the release from inside.
Side doors: deadbolts, knobs and strikes
The garage side door is often the easiest way into a house. It sits out of view in a side yard, it often has only a knob lock, and the door from the garage into the house is often left unlocked.
We fit a single-cylinder deadbolt with a knob or lever, rekeyed to your house key where the keyway allows, so one key opens everything. The weak point on most side doors is the strike side of the frame, not the lock, so we fit a reinforced strike plate with long screws that reach the framing behind the jamb.
Some older side doors are hollow or rotted at the bottom. If the door or frame is too weak to hold a deadbolt, we tell you, and a new door and frame is a job for a carpenter or a licensed contractor.
After a break-in attempt
If someone has tried the garage, or got in, we secure it in one visit:
- Check the door, tracks, side door and frame for pry damage, and make sure the door still closes, seals and locks.
- Guard the emergency release so it cannot be hooked from outside, or fit a keyed release.
- Erase the opener memory if a remote was taken from a car or the house, then reprogram the remotes you still have and set a new keypad PIN.
- Rekey or replace the side-door lock and fit a reinforced strike.
Safety: if the door was forced and now hangs crooked, or a cable or spring looks loose, keep everyone out from under it and do not run the opener. Leave the springs, cables and bottom brackets to us. Remote work is covered on the remotes and keypads page.
Garage Door and Side Door Locks: common questions
Should I lock my garage door if I have an opener?
Not with the old slide lock or T-handle. If either is engaged when someone presses the remote, the opener strains against it and can damage the door or the opener. A closed door on an opener is already held down by the opener, and many wall controls have a lock button that blocks remotes. For extra security, use a lock made to work with an opener.
How do I stop someone opening my garage with a coat hanger?
That trick works by hooking the emergency release cord through the gap at the top of the door. A guard on the release lever blocks a hook from outside while you can still pull the cord by hand from inside in an emergency. We fit and test one on any lock or opener visit if you ask.
What is a keyed emergency release?
It is a small key lock on the outside of the garage door, linked by a cable to the opener's release. Turning the key disconnects the door from the opener so you can lift it by hand, as long as the springs are working. It matters on houses where the garage is the only way in, so a power cut or a dead opener does not lock you out.
Can you rekey my garage side door to match my house key?
Usually, yes, when the side-door lock and the house locks share the same keyway. Rekeying changes the pins inside the cylinder so the old keys stop working and your house key opens it. If the keyways differ, we replace the cylinder or the lock with one that can be keyed alike. It is a common step after moving in.
Do you repair T-handle locks on old garage doors?
Yes. On manual doors we replace worn T-handles and key cylinders, renew rusted lock bars and linkage, and adjust the bars so they catch both tracks. If the door now has an opener, we usually disable the old T-handle lock instead, because a lock and an opener working against each other damage the door.
The FAQ page has more answers. Not sure which part failed? Send a photo and we will name it.
Where we do this
We cover all of San Diego County, same day in most cases. Some of the places we work:
Related guides
- How to Program a Garage Door Remote, Keypad or HomeLink: How to program a garage door remote, keypad PIN or car HomeLink, erase old remotes after a move, and why programming fails on rolling-code openers.
- California Garage Door Opener Battery Backup Law (SB 969): Since July 1, 2019, California requires battery backup on new home garage door openers. What SB 969 says, who it covers and what landlords should do.
- How to Open a Garage Door Manually When the Power Is Out: Open a garage door by hand in a power outage: where the release is on chain, belt, screw and wall-mount openers, how to reconnect, and when to stop.
Ready to get the door moving again?
One call or text gets you a straight answer and a firm price before the truck rolls. Mon to Sat 7am to 7pm.