Patio & French Door Locks
Patio sliders and French doors are a common feature of homes across Streatham — from the Victorian terraces off Streatham High Road to the newer builds near Streatham Common itself — and their locks take a surprising amount of daily punishment. Every time a panel is slid back or a pair of French doors is thrown open to the garden, the multipoint lock mechanism, the hook bolts, the roller cams, and the euro cylinder all do their job quietly. When one component wears out or fails, the door either will not close properly, will not lock at all, or leaves the property exposed without anyone realising it.
Open 24 hours, 7 days a week · Fully insured
Streatham Common Locksmith is a fully insured, 24/7 mobile locksmith service covering Streatham and the surrounding area. Our trained technicians come to you — whether that is a mid-terrace house in SW16, a ground-floor flat near Streatham Hill station, or a small commercial premises on Streatham High Road. We carry a broad range of parts for uPVC patio doors and French doors in our vans, so most repairs and replacements can be completed in a single visit. If you need a locksmith London residents and local businesses can call at any hour, we are ready on 020 4530 9860.
What we do
Available 24/7
Day, night, weekends and bank holidays — a real local locksmith answers and sends a fully-stocked van.
We come straight away
Based in Streatham, we send a locksmith straight away — we're usually with you in about 30 minutes.
Fully insured
Vetted locksmiths, a clear price on the phone, and no surprise add-ons when we arrive.
Damage-free entry
We pick and bypass locks the right way, so most lockouts are solved without drilling anything.
Frequently asked questions
My uPVC patio door handle has gone floppy and the door will not lock — what has happened?
This almost always means the gearbox inside the multipoint lock case has failed. The gearbox is the driven component that converts your handle movement into upward and downward bolt engagement. When its internal teeth strip or break, the handle turns freely but nothing happens. The lock case usually needs to be replaced rather than repaired in situ. Our technicians carry a range of common gearbox cassettes and can identify the correct replacement by the existing lock's measurements. We confirm the exact price before any work begins.
How do I properly lock French doors that have lever handles rather than a key lock?
The most secure setup when you have lever handles on French doors is a multipoint lock on the active (opening) leaf, operated by lifting the lever and turning the cylinder, combined with flush or surface-mounted shoot bolts at the top and bottom of the passive (fixed) leaf. This gives you three or more bolt engagement points on the passive leaf and several more on the active one. If your doors currently only latch without deadlocking, adding a quality cylinder and upgrading to a multipoint mechanism is a significant security improvement — something we do regularly on Streatham properties where rear garden doors have been overlooked.
Can you replace a mortise lock on French doors, including rebated styles where the two leaves overlap?
Yes. A 5-lever rebated mortice lock for French doors is a specialist item — the faceplate is stepped or angled to accommodate the rebate where the active and passive leaves overlap rather than meeting edge to edge. Getting the rebate depth and the bolt throw length correct is important; a poorly fitted mortice lock for French doors will bind or fail to deadlock properly. Our experienced technicians measure the existing door geometry before sourcing the correct lock case, and we fit it so the bolt engages cleanly with the opposing keep on every use.
What factors affect the price of a patio or French door lock repair or replacement?
The main factors are the type of mechanism needed — a euro cylinder swap involves fewer parts than a full multipoint lock case replacement — whether additional components such as handles, keeps, or shoot bolts are required, the time of day (a call-out on a bank holiday evening carries a different charge to a weekday afternoon visit), and the travel distance to your postcode district. We always confirm a fixed, up-front price over the phone before anyone comes out, so there are no surprises when the job is complete.
Should I upgrade my French door or patio door cylinder to an anti-snap type?
For most Streatham properties, yes. Standard euro cylinders are vulnerable to the snap-and-reach technique, where the outer portion of the cylinder is sheared off and the remaining stub manipulated to retract the lock. Anti-snap cylinders are engineered with a sacrificial break point that leaves the internal locking section intact even if the outer end is attacked. Pairing an anti-snap cylinder with a compatible lever handle to achieve the TS007 3-star combined standard is what many home insurers now look for on rear and side doors. We carry a selection of rated cylinders and can fit one during the same visit as any other repair.
Do you work on commercial premises as well as homes — for example, a shop or office with French doors on a rear elevation?
Yes. When a business needs the kind of thorough, insured approach a commercial door locksmith provides, we work to exactly the same standard as on a residential call-out: trained technicians, fully insured service, confirmed up-front pricing. We cover commercial premises along Streatham High Road and throughout the SW16 area. Business owners often need out-of-hours attendance so the premises can be secured before opening or after closing time — our 24/7 availability means we can respond at whatever hour the fault occurs. Call 020 4530 9860 and we will send someone straight away.