By the Master Locksmith team · October 16, 2026
Clocks in Maryland, DC and Virginia fall back one hour at 2am on November 1, 2026. From that week on, most people get home from work after dark, and the front door becomes the place where a sticky deadbolt or a worn key finally gets noticed. Two weeks of daylight is a good window for a few front door lock checks, so small problems get fixed on your schedule instead of on a cold, dark doorstep.
All you need is a screwdriver and a flashlight. Each check tells you whether a door is fine or needs a locksmith.
Why the time change is a good deadline for front door lock checks
According to timeanddate.com, sunset on November 1 arrives about an hour earlier by the clock than the day before. Research summarized by the Brookings Institution found that when daylight saving time adds an hour of evening light in spring, robberies drop by an average of 7 percent over the whole day, with the biggest drop in the evening hour that gains light. The November clock change moves that evening hour back into darkness.
Darkness also makes ordinary lock trouble worse. A key you have to jiggle in daylight becomes a key you cannot line up at 6pm with grocery bags in your hands. Doing these checks now means any repair or replacement can be booked in daylight.
Check 1: The deadbolt throws all the way without a push or a lift
Lock the front door from inside with the door closed and watch how the thumb turn feels. It should turn smoothly and stop firmly.
If you have to push the door, lift the handle or lean on it to get the bolt to turn, the bolt is rubbing on the strike plate. When that happens, the bolt often stops short of full extension. The door looks locked, but a partly thrown bolt holds far less than a fully seated one.
The usual cause is a door or frame that has shifted slightly, so the bolt no longer lines up with the hole in the strike plate. Our earlier post on what Maryland weather does to your home locks covers how seasonal swelling and shrinking cause this. In many cases the fix is adjusting the strike plate or the hinges, not buying a new lock.
Check 2: The strike plate and frame feel solid
With the door open, look at the metal strike plate on the frame. Check that its screws are tight and that the wood around it is not split, soft or patched.
The deadbolt is only as strong as the wood and screws holding the strike plate. Short screws that only grip the thin trim of the door jamb are a weak point, and the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions’ home security survey lists reinforcing the frame and strike plate among its recommendations for hinged exterior doors. Longer screws that reach the framing behind the jamb, or a reinforced strike plate, make a real difference for a small amount of work.
Check 3: Every key works the first time, in the dark
Go outside after sunset one evening this week and try each key your household uses. Use only the porch light, the way you will be coming home in November.
Watch for keys that need to be wiggled, pulled back slightly or turned with force. A worn key or a worn cylinder rarely fails all at once. It gets harder to use until, one evening, it does not turn at all, or it snaps in the lock. Copies made from copies are a common culprit, because small errors add up with each generation.
If only one key is the problem, a fresh copy from a good original may be all you need. If every key is stiff, the cylinder itself likely needs attention. That is a house lock repair job, and a technician can tell you on site whether a repair will do or whether the cylinder should be replaced.
Check 4: You know who still has a key
Summer and early fall bring a lot of people through a house: contractors, cleaners, dog walkers, house sitters during vacations, relatives in town for a visit, a college student who moved out. Make a quick list of everyone who was given a key this year and whether you got it back.
If the list has gaps, rekeying is the simple answer. A locksmith changes the pins inside your existing locks so old keys stop working, and you get new keys. Your hardware stays on the door. If a lock is worn out or you want a stronger deadbolt anyway, that is the moment to replace it instead. Our post on high-security locks versus standard locks explains when an upgrade is worth considering.
Check 5: Give side, back and sliding doors the same attention
Back doors, basement entries and doors from an attached garage get less daily attention than the front door, and they are the ones people forget to lock once it is dark by dinner time.
Run the same deadbolt and strike plate checks on every exterior door. For sliding patio doors, the state’s security survey recommends taking up slack in the upper track and using a bar or similar device in the bottom track to stop the door from being forced open. If a sliding door lifts or rattles in its frame when locked, it needs adjustment.
If you are thinking about a double cylinder deadbolt (one that needs a key on both sides) for a door with glass, the same survey advises checking local building and fire codes first. A key-only lock on the inside can slow your own exit in an emergency.
Check 6: Smart lock batteries and settings
If you have a smart lock or a keypad deadbolt, replace the batteries now rather than waiting for the low-battery warning. Check that the keypad lights up so you can read it at night, and confirm the auto-lock timer is set the way you want it.
Make sure everyone in the house knows where the physical backup key is and that it actually turns the lock. Backup keys on smart locks often go unused for years.
What to handle yourself and what to hand off
Tightening a loose strike plate screw, swapping smart lock batteries, testing the backup key and making a fresh key from a good original are all reasonable to do on your own. Use a dry graphite or PTFE lubricant if a lock feels gritty, never household oil.
Call a locksmith when a bolt will not fully extend even after you tighten the hardware, when keys are stiff across the board, when you do not know who has keys, or when the frame around the strike is damaged. Forcing a stiff lock through another winter usually turns a repair into a replacement.
Book the fixes before the evenings get dark
Master Locksmith is a mobile locksmith based in Silver Spring, serving homes across Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Washington, DC and the wider Maryland and Northern Virginia area. Our technicians come to your door, explain your options before any work starts, such as whether to rekey or replace a lock, and give you a clear quote and an honest arrival time before anyone is dispatched. Most jobs are done in one visit, with no hidden fees.
If a door failed any of these checks, call Master Locksmith at (301) 888-5152. Our hours are Monday through Saturday, 7am to 11pm, and Sunday, 8am to 6pm, so you can get it sorted before November 1.
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