Commercial Locks, Panic Bars and Keypad Entry in Houston
Run a shop, an office or a rental building? We service commercial door hardware such as panic bars and keypad entry systems, and we rekey locks when staff or tenants move on.
Panic Bars and Exit Devices
A panic bar, or exit device, lets anyone inside leave with one push. Rim devices latch onto a strike on the frame, mortise devices work a lock set into the door’s edge, and vertical rod devices latch at the top and bottom.
When a bar stops latching, the device is often fine: sagging hinges, a closer out of adjustment or a loose strike leaves the latch just short of catching.
Restaurants, gyms and churches above a set occupant load need panic hardware on any latched exit door.
Keypad Entry and Electric Strikes
Keypad entry lets staff in with a code instead of a key. Standalone keypad levers run on batteries with a key override, while larger setups wire a keypad to an electric strike, which releases the latch in the frame.
Strikes come fail-secure, staying locked when the power drops, or fail-safe, unlocking. Fire-rated doors call for fail-secure so they stay latched in a fire, and people inside still leave by the lever or the bar.
Outside keypads take Houston’s sun, humidity and summer storms head-on, so pick an outdoor-rated unit and keep its batteries fresh.
The Right Hardware for Each Business Door
| Need | Typical hardware | Code point to know |
|---|---|---|
| Fast exit for a crowd | Panic bar: rim, mortise or vertical rod | Required on latched exits of larger gathering spaces; fire doors take fire exit hardware |
| Staff entry by code | Keypad lever lock, or a keypad with an electric strike | The code controls the way in, never the way out |
| Locking out former staff | Rekeyed cylinders or new interchangeable cores | Rekeying keeps a fire door’s labeled lock; only the pins change |
| Control over key copies | Restricted keyway, often master keyed | A fire department key box, where required, needs a current key |
| Glass storefront entrance | Narrow-stile deadlock with mortise cylinders | Key-locking from inside only on some main doors, with a posted sign |
| Handles anyone can use | Cylindrical or mortise lever lockset | One hand, no tight grip or twist, 34 to 48 inches up |
| Door that won’t latch on its own | Closer, strike and hinges adjusted | A fire door must close and latch by itself |
These points come from the International Fire Code and the International Building Code, as adopted locally, and from the ADA Standards for Accessible Design. Two rules sit behind most of them: exits open from inside without a key or special knowledge, and fire doors keep their labeled hardware. Both are part of How We Work.
Lever Locks, Latch Guards and Storefront Locks
Back doors take the most abuse: deliveries, a door propped open for air, a pry bar after hours. A latch guard is a steel plate over the gap between door and frame at the latch, so a bar or a shim can’t reach it. It’s most often fitted to doors that swing out.
On a busy door, a Grade 1 lever lock, the heaviest commercial grade, holds up where a house lever starts to droop. A sagging lever or a sticking latch usually comes down to worn return springs, a bent spindle or a shifted strike, so the fix is often a part, not a new lock.
Glass storefront doors use narrow-stile locks: a hookbolt deadlock in the door’s aluminum stile, turned by a mortise cylinder outside and often a thumbturn inside.
Key Control for Staff, Tenants and Vendors
Rekeying After Turnover
When an employee leaves or a tenant moves out short a key, rekeying changes the pins so the old keys stop working while the hardware stays. With apartment turnover, rekeying between tenants keeps a former tenant’s copy out. Interchangeable cores speed it up: a control key pulls the core and a new one slides in.
Master Keys and Restricted Keyways
In a master key system, each person’s key opens only their own doors, and a master opens them all. The trade-off: a lost master means rekeying every door it opens, and master-keyed cylinders are a little easier to defeat. On a restricted keyway, blanks come only through authorized dealers and get cut only for the people a business names in writing, so copies take effort, which is the point.
Keeping Keys, Codes and Exits in Order
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Should we rekey when an employee leaves?
If they held a key, it’s the safe call. Keys are easy to copy, and there’s no telling whether one was. Rekeying the doors that key opened makes every old copy useless while the hardware stays, and a keypad code can simply be deleted before their last shift ends.
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Can a panic bar be locked at night?
The outside can be, but the push bar always lets people out. Many exit devices are “dogged” with a hex key during business hours so the door opens with a push; releasing the dogging at closing lets the latch catch, so the outside needs a key. Chains or padlocks on an exit break the fire code while anyone is inside.
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Will a “Do Not Duplicate” stamp stop copies of our keys?
Not reliably. The stamp is a request, and plenty of key machines will copy the key anyway. For keys a kiosk can’t copy, the usual answer is a restricted keyway, paired with numbered keys and a sign-out sheet that shows who holds what.
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Is a keypad better than keys for a small business?
Each has trade-offs. Keypad codes can be handed out and deleted on the spot, and some models record who came in, but keypads need power and codes get passed around. Keys need no power but get copied and lost. Many businesses use both: a keypad for staff, a key for managers.
Details to Gather for a Business Visit
- The number of doors that need work
- What each door is made of: wood, hollow metal, aluminum or glass
- Who is authorized to approve the work
- Whether keys must be restricted
In a leased space, check the lease too. It often says whether a tenant may change the locks and whether the landlord keeps a key.