Every summer, the city hands its keys back
La Victoire, the Capucins, Saint-Michel and much of Bordeaux Sud live to the rhythm of student tenancies: inventories grouped at the end of summer, move-ins one after another, key sets passing from hand to hand. Replacing the cylinder between two tenants is the most routine request of the year here. It does not mean touching the mechanism: the cylinder is changed on its own, the lock and the door stay in place, and the next occupant leaves with a set whose exact number they know.
For a landlord managing several flats in the same building — common in the period rental buildings of the Chartrons or Saint-Michel — the question shifts. Should there be one key per home, or a master key system that also opens the lobby, the bike store and the bin store? That decision is prepared before ordering, because it commits the supplier that manages the building's keys. The detailed quote provided before work sets out the list of cylinders and the number of keys planned.
Original timber cannot be treated like a modern door leaf
On an échoppe door in Nansouty, Tauzin or Saint-Augustin, the solid timber door leaf is often more than a century old. The lock is a rim lock, its case screwed to the inside face, and neither the fixing centres nor the backset match the dimensions of current models. Replacing like for like is not always possible; adapting almost always is, provided you avoid multiplying the holes drilled into timber that has already moved. Measuring up on site avoids a pointless order and a door weakened for nothing.
In a co-owned building, the landing door remains private property, but the rules may require a consistent appearance across the landing: worth checking in the old stairwells of the centre and the Chartrons, where the doors mirror one another from floor to floor. The other case is the recent developments of Bordeaux Maritime, fitted with shielded locks. The cylinder can be replaced there without any particular difficulty, but the cover has to come off and go back on in a specific order, with the rod linkage under tension. Best to mention this detail when booking the appointment.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our lock and cylinder replacement page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Bordeaux.