Services
Locksmith work, sorted by what is actually locked.
A Better Locksmith has worked out of two Pawtucket counters since 2001, and the work has always split the same three ways: homes, businesses, and vehicles. A door, a filing cabinet, and a car ignition do not fail the same way, and they are not fixed the same way either, so the pages below are organized around the actual job rather than a single generic service list.
Two calls come in more than any other: someone locked out right now, and someone who just moved somewhere new and wants every lock in the place answering to one key. Both get their own page below, ahead of the full list, because that is genuinely what most people are calling about.
Homes
Doors, deadbolts, and the day you move in
Most residential calls start with a door that will not lock, will not open, or has just been forced. Doors get opened and unlocked, broken keys get removed from the cylinder, and a door that has to be lifted or shouldered to latch usually turns out to be an alignment problem rather than a lock problem, which is the single most common misdiagnosis in the business.
Deadbolts, knobs, jimmy-proof lock sets, peepholes, patio door locks, and garage door locks are all fitted in brands built to last, Schlage, Kwikset, and Arrow among them, with the manufacturer's own warranty honored on anything the shop installs. Military, police, and fire discounts apply to residential work, and every estimate is free.
See residential locksmithing →
Businesses
A keying schedule, not a pile of locks
A commercial building is a keying schedule more than a pile of individual locks, and it shows the moment a business has been re-keyed piecemeal for years and nobody can account for who is holding which key anymore. Master key and restricted key systems solve that directly, alongside the more ordinary calls: business openings, lockouts, and broken key removal.
High-security and commercial grade hardware, lever handle locks, panic bars, exit devices, and Detex closers all get fitted and repaired, and interchangeable cores from Best, Schlage, and Arrow let a whole building get re-keyed in minutes without pulling a single lock off a door. The shop is bonded and insured, and it also handles the smaller jobs nobody else wants: filing cabinets, mall gates, and re-keys tied to real estate and bank foreclosures.
See commercial locksmithing →
Vehicles
Every key gone is still an ordinary Tuesday
Losing every key to a car is the normal case here, not the rare one. Lost keys get remade from scratch, cut by code where the code is on file, or cut straight from the vehicle's own VIN when nothing else is left to work from, and a broken key gets removed from the ignition or door lock without damaging either.
Transponder, VATS, laser, proximity, and remote head keys are all programmed at the counter, along with remote start keys and new remotes, and duplicates get cut while the car is still parked outside. The shop is associated with NASTF, the National Automotive Service Task Force, which is the legitimate channel a locksmith uses to get vehicle key and security information, and senior discounts apply to automotive work.
See automotive locksmithing →Where most calls start
Two pages worth reading before the rest
Emergency lockouts
Most people find this page because they are standing outside a door right now. Emergency lockout service runs around the clock, for doors and for vehicles, and covers what fails: a key inside, a key broken in the cylinder, or a lock that has genuinely failed. Say which one on the phone and the shop will tell you honestly what it takes, and whether it costs anything at all.
Read about emergency lockouts →Re-keying
The other most common call is from someone who just moved in, took over a rental, or inherited a set of keys with no idea how many copies exist. Re-keying answers all of it: several locks brought onto one key, a full master system for a building, or a straightforward re-pin that keeps the hardware you already have on the door.
Read about re-keying →Everything the shop does, by lane
Homes
- Doors opened and unlocked
- Broken key removal
- Locks and deadbolts re-keyed
- Lock installation
- Deadbolts installed
- New home re-keying
- Re-key locks to fit one key
- Door closer installation
- Peephole installation
- Master key systems
- Break-in door repair
- Real estate re-keying
- Foreclosure re-keying
- Jimmy-proof lock sets
- Door alignment
- Garage door locks
- Mail box locks
- Knobs and lock sets
- Patio door locks
Businesses
- Business openings
- Lockouts
- Broken key removal
- Re-keying
- Lock and deadbolt installations
- Lever handle locks
- Lock repair
- High-security and commercial grade locks
- Master key systems
- Mall gate locks
- Filing cabinet locks
- Door closers
- Panic bars
- Detex
- IC cores (Best, Schlage, Arrow)
- Restricted key systems
- Exit devices
- Real estate and bank foreclosures
Vehicles
- Car door unlocking
- Lost keys remade
- Broken key removal
- Laser keys
- Duplicate keys
- Original keys made
- All lock types replaced
- VATS keys remade
- Remote head keys
- Keys made by code
- Locks changed
- Remote programming
- Proximity keys
- Columns repaired
- Transponder keys
- New remote start keys programmed