The Ashgrovian is a beautiful house with a front door that has not shut properly since 1946.

Front doors at the top of the stairs, side doors off the verandah, and the French doors that every Ashgrovian seems to have. Opened by pick or bypass so the original hardware stays exactly where it is, which matters on a house where nothing can be replaced like for like.

Mortice cases, rim locks and the brass furniture that came with the house. Cleaned, adjusted and rekeyed so they keep working for another few decades. In almost every case the original is better made than anything you could buy to replace it.

On a house this old, on a block this steep, the stumps move and the timber moves with them. Most sticking doors and missed latches here are alignment rather than lock failure. Packing the hinges and adjusting the striker costs a fraction of new hardware and usually lasts years.

A new key cut to the lock on site with no original needed, or the barrel rekeyed so the missing key stops working. Old locks can generally be rekeyed without disturbing the visible brass at all.

On the street, in a carport or halfway up one of the driveways around here. Air wedges and long reach tools that do not mark the paint, plus replacement keys cut and programmed beside the car for most makes on the road.

Deadbolts to AS 4145 on doors that can take them, casement window locks, and hardware chosen in finishes that look right on a period home rather than fighting it. Keyed alike wherever possible so you carry one key.