Swapping out Sargent Locks

Continuing the saga of house improvements for my mother…

After her fall, we knew that she needed someone in the house with her full time.  But she had spread her papers (financial and otherwise) all over the house.  I didn’t have time to actually sort and clean it all up, so opted to lock up the rooms until I was able to get to it.  When dad built the house in the 1960s, he opted for Sargent locks.  They are extremely well made with lots of security features (not surprising, they do high-end commercial locks).  But that means that they are not easy to remove.

After some searching, I found this video.  But using a vise grip or wrench damages the finish.  What other options exist?  I remembered a weird tool in dad’s collection, searched a bit on the Sargent Lock website, and realized that I had the necessary wrench.  With that and a phillips screwdriver, I was good to go.

Unfortunately, although I wanted to replace these with new Sargent locks, it wasn’t to be.  They are only doing commercial sales now, and the couple of local dealers I spoke with weren’t interested in a small sale.  It’s too bad, as they have some really cool options for key code (push-button) locks, proximity sensor locks, etc.

I ended up changing out the interior locks on the bedrooms and basement doors to Schlage lever-handles.  They’re nice, but mom doesn’t really like them.