Burwood East Locksmith Guide: Local Homes, Locks and Keys

Burwood East is our home suburb. Our workshop is at 50 Middleborough Rd, a short distance from Burwood Highway and Burwood One, and a large share of our work happens within a few kilometres of it. This guide covers what we have learned about the homes, businesses and lock problems in Burwood East, and what residents can do to keep their properties secure and easy to live with.

A suburb of three parts

Burwood East is really three kinds of place side by side.

Established family streets. Around Bennettswood, Burwood Heights and the streets off Station Street and Blackburn Road are brick veneer and weatherboard homes from the 1960s and 1970s. Many still have original timber doors, aluminium sliding windows and a mixture of lock brands added over the decades.

Newer townhouses and units. As older blocks have been subdivided, townhouses and small unit developments have filled in, especially close to Burwood Highway and Middleborough Road. They tend to have modern deadlatches, aluminium sliders and internal garage access.

A busy commercial strip. Burwood Highway, Middleborough Road and Highbury Road carry shops, offices, showrooms and business parks. These premises see heavy daily use and regular staff changes.

Each part has its own typical lock problems.

Lock problems we see in family homes

Sticking doors in winter

Timber doors in older houses swell through wet winters. A deadlock that throws easily in March can need a shoulder against the door by July. The lock is usually fine. The strike plate just no longer lines up. Adjusting or relocating the strike, and tightening the hinges, usually fixes it. Our lock repair service handles this every week.

A ring of mismatched keys

After fifty years and several owners, many houses have a different key for every door: one for the front deadlatch, one for the deadbolt, one for the back door, one for the screen doors and one for the garage. Keying the locks alike brings them onto a single key. Where one lock is an incompatible brand, a matching cylinder is fitted. See lock rekeying.

Basic back door locks

Back doors on older homes often have only a basic latch. Because they face the back garden, out of sight, they deserve a proper deadbolt with a reinforced strike plate. Our security locksmith assessments almost always start here.

Unlocked windows

Aluminium sliding windows from the 1970s and 1980s often rely on a simple catch. Keyed window locks and anti-lift blocks are inexpensive and very effective. See window locks.

Lock problems we see in townhouses and units

Lockouts

Townhouses and units commonly use deadlatches that lock as the door closes. Stepping out to the letterbox or bins without keys is enough. Our lockout service handles these regularly. A spare key with a neighbour is the cheapest prevention.

Garage access doors

Many townhouses have a door from the garage into the house. If a garage remote is stolen from a car, that door becomes the main barrier. A deadbolt on it is worthwhile.

Courtyard sliders

Sliding doors onto small courtyards are hidden from view. A keyed bolt and anti-lift protection make them much harder to open. Our guide to sliding door security explains the options.

Lock problems we see in businesses

Worn shopfront locks

Aluminium shopfront doors on Burwood Highway open hundreds of times a day. Their latches and cylinders wear quickly. A latch that does not catch at close is a security gap overnight, so we treat these as priority repairs.

Staff turnover

Offices and business park units rekey when staff leave without returning keys. A master key system with restricted keys makes this cheaper and more controlled. See commercial locksmith and our commercial locksmith guide.

Rentals near Deakin

Deakin University's Burwood campus is close by, and many homes in the surrounding streets are rented by students and staff. Leases change over regularly, especially around February and July. Rental providers and agents often rekey between renters, and renters with consent sometimes ask for bedroom privacy locks in share houses. Our guide to landlord and tenant lock rules in Victoria covers the basics.

Moving into a Burwood East home

Houses in Burwood East change hands often. If you have just bought or rented here:

1. Count the keys you received and try them in every lock.
2. Note any lock that sticks or feels loose.
3. Rekey every external lock, keyed alike.
4. Check back doors and sliders have proper locks.
5. Check ground-floor windows lock.

Our article Rekey or Replace Locks? helps you decide what to keep.

Being close helps

Because our workshop is in Burwood East, most addresses here are only minutes away. That keeps call-out costs down and means we can often fit a job in the same day. We still give honest arrival estimates rather than promises, because the actual time depends on what is already booked.

Being local also means we often know the hardware before we arrive. If we have rekeyed or repaired your locks before, we usually have a record of what you have.

Visiting the workshop

You are welcome to visit 50 Middleborough Rd during office hours. People often bring in a lock, a cylinder or keys to be cut. Call ahead if you are bringing something in, so we can make sure someone is there.

Emergency help in Burwood East

For lockouts, broken keys, doors that will not lock and break-in damage, our emergency locksmith line is answered 24/7 on 03 4422 2837. Our guide Emergency Locksmith Burwood East explains how it works.

Neighbouring suburbs

We also cover the suburbs around Burwood East:

• Burwood to the west.
• Blackburn South to the north.
• Forest Hill to the north-east.
• Vermont South to the east.
• Glen Waverley to the south.

Get in touch

Read more on our Burwood East locksmith page, call 03 4422 2837, or request a quote online. Our office is open 7 days, 8:00am to 7:00pm (Friday until 7:30pm), with emergency lockouts handled 24/7.