Locks explained
Garage Door Locks: Up-and-Over, Roller and Side Doors
Most up-and-over garage doors lock with a central handle that drives rods or cables to latches at each side. These wear and can leave one side unlatched, so many owners add a floor-mounted defender or extra bolts. A side door into the house needs front-door grade locks. Work is charged by time, at £65 to £85 an hour (MLA price list, Checkatrade and Bark).
How does an up-and-over garage door lock?
The handle in the middle of the door turns a lock body that pulls on two rods or cables. These move latches at the left and right edges into catches on the frame. A small cylinder in the handle locks the body so the handle cannot turn. Because the latches sit at the sides, a stretched cable, a bent rod or a worn catch can leave one side unlatched even when the handle feels locked. Retractable and canopy doors both use this pattern, and replacement lock bodies are made to suit the common door makers.
What about roller, sectional and side doors?
Roller doors are usually motor driven, and the motor holds the curtain closed; manual versions use a lock in the bottom rail that bolts into the guides. Sectional doors use side bolts or a T-handle lock that throws bolts into the frame. A side or personnel door, especially one into the house, is in effect an external door and deserves the same locks as a front door: a BS 3621 mortice deadlock on timber, or a multipoint lock with a TS 007 3 star or SS 312 Diamond cylinder on uPVC. An integral garage is a route into the home, so check what your insurer expects.
How can you add security to a garage door?
The usual additions are a garage defender, a steel hoop bolted into the floor in front of the door and padlocked upright, and extra bolts fitted inside on doors without electric opening. A padlock used outside should be a closed shackle type. Sold Secure grades padlocks Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond, in rising order of resistance; it tests products, not fitters, so the grade belongs to the part. Where the garage has a motor, keep the remote and any keypad code as carefully as a house key, and change the code when people move out.
How do you tell what you have, and why does it fail?
Lift the door from inside and look at the back of the handle. A lock body with two rods or cables running to the sides is the up-and-over pattern. The maker's name is often on the frame or inside the panel, and it decides which lock body fits. Common faults are a handle that turns without the door locking, a key that will not turn because the cylinder has seized in the weather, and a latch that misses its catch because the door has sagged. Spring, cable-drum and track faults belong to a garage door engineer rather than a locksmith.
What does a garage lock cost, and when do you call a locksmith?
No separate garage figure exists in this site's sourced rates, so the guide is the daytime hourly rate: £65 to £85 an hour (MLA price list, Checkatrade and Bark). A replacement lock body and handle for a common up-and-over door is often a short job once the part is matched. A euro cylinder change on a side door costs £105 to £175 fitted (MLA price list; MyJobQuote). Call a locksmith when you cannot lock the garage, when keys are lost, or when you want the garage keyed alike with the house. Call a garage door engineer when the springs or motor are at fault.
Common questions
Can you replace just the lock on an up-and-over garage door?
Usually, yes. Replacement lock bodies and handles are made for common door makes. The maker's name and the handle's fixing centres decide which one fits, so a photo helps a locksmith match it.
Is a garage covered by my home insurance?
Many policies cover an attached or integral garage, and some name the locks needed on doors that lead into the house. Check your policy, because outbuilding cover and lock conditions vary between insurers.
What is a garage defender?
It is a steel hoop fixed to the floor in front of an up-and-over door and locked upright with a padlock. It holds the foot of the door down and is a visible deterrent.