Locksmith services are always 10% OFF for ALL SENIORS.
Locksmith services are always 10% OFF for ALL SENIORS.
GTA Lockman Mobile Locksmith Services · Toronto & GTA
Handle deliveries without weakening the door, and strengthen the openings a parcel thief would try.
Related services
Plan keyless entry around door compatibility, code management and a practical backup entry method.
Learn moreWork through mechanical fit, power and supported controls when an electronic lock becomes unreliable.
Learn moreRestore reliable locking on the doors people use most, and strengthen the frames that are easiest to force.
Learn moreSecure a forced door, repair damaged locks and frames, and document the work for your police report and insurer.
Learn moreFind out whether the strike, the door or the lock is stopping the bolt, and correct the cause rather than the symptom.
Learn moreRepairs, rekeying and replacement hardware for homes, condos and apartments, with attention to the whole door.
Learn more
Ten years ago the front door had one job: keep people out. Now it also has to deal with several deliveries a week, often left on the step while nobody is home, sometimes by couriers who need to reach a lobby or a side gate.
That shift creates two separate questions. The first is about the parcels themselves: where they are left and whether they are still there when you get home. The second is about the door: whether the arrangements people make for deliveries quietly weaken it.
This page is about both, from a locksmith's point of view. We do not sell parcel insurance or run a delivery service; we work on the doors, locks and access arrangements that the deliveries pass through.
The simplest improvements cost nothing. Delivery instructions in the courier's app, a note on the door for a specific delivery, and a nominated safe place all reduce the number of parcels sitting in plain view from the street.
A parcel box or a lockable bin on the porch works well for households that receive frequent deliveries. Choose one that is fixed down or too heavy to carry, and put the key or code arrangement somewhere you can manage. A cheap box left loose on a step is simply a container that walks away with the parcel inside.
Pickup lockers and collection points remove the problem entirely for anything valuable, at the cost of a trip.
The arrangements people improvise for deliveries are where doors get weaker. Taping a key inside a mailbox, leaving the side gate unlocked, propping the garage door, disabling a latch so a courier can push the door, and leaving a key in a hidden spot are all common, and all of them hand access to anyone who works out the pattern.
A lockbox with a code is better than a hidden key, but the code has to change when it is no longer needed. The page on keys for cleaners, nannies and dog walkers covers managing temporary access properly.
If you use a keypad or smart lock to let a courier in, use a separate code that you remove afterwards, and check that your device records what you think it does. The pages on keypad locks and smart lock repair and troubleshooting explain code management and what these devices can and cannot do.
A porch full of parcels advertises that nobody is home. That makes the basics more important, not less: a deadbolt that throws fully into a reinforced strike, hinges that hold the door square, a latch that catches on its own, and a frame that will not split under a kick.
Most forced entries defeat the frame rather than the lock, so long screws into the wall framing and a reinforced strike plate usually give the most benefit for the cost on a typical GTA home. The page on side and back door lock repair covers that work, and lock grades explained sets out what hardware grades do and do not tell you.
If a delivery has ever been taken from your porch, check the rest of the perimeter at the same time: side gate, garage service door, basement entrance and any door that is out of sight.
In buildings, the question shifts to the lobby and the parcel room. Couriers get in by buzzer, by a door held open, or through a code shared among delivery drivers, and parcels are left in a room or on a floor that many people can reach.
Residents cannot fix a building's access control on their own, but the suite door still matters: a sound deadbolt, a door that latches on its own, and keys you can account for. The page on apartment and condo lockouts covers suite doors, and lost condo fob or building key explains what happens when a credential goes missing.
If parcel theft is a recurring problem in your building, it is a matter for the corporation or the property manager, who can look at the parcel room, cameras and how couriers are admitted.
Photos
Photographs from GTA Lockman Mobile Locksmith Services work across Toronto and the GTA. Send a picture of your own door and we can tell you what the visit would involve.
A video doorbell records what happened and can deter a casual opportunist. It does not lock anything, and footage rarely recovers a parcel. Treat it as useful information rather than a security measure, and make sure it is not the only thing you rely on.
Some smart doorbells integrate with smart locks to allow remote unlocking. If you use that, understand what happens when the internet or power fails, and keep a mechanical way in. A lock that can be opened remotely can also be opened by anyone who gains access to the account, so use a strong, unique password and keep the account list current.
Shops, restaurants and offices take deliveries through rear and service doors, which is exactly where security tends to slip. Doors get propped, closers get disconnected and keys get lent to drivers.
The page on rear door security for shops and restaurants covers that door in detail: making sure it closes and latches on its own, using a proper hold-open device rather than a wedge, and keeping exit hardware releasing freely from inside.
If a parcel is taken, report it to the retailer or courier for the claim, and to the police if you have footage or if it is part of a pattern in your area. If anything about the door was damaged or interfered with, photograph it before repairs and have the door checked; see lock repair after a break-in.
Review what the thief actually had access to. If a lockbox code, a gate or a garage was involved, change the code and check those openings as well as the front door.
We can reinforce strikes and hinges, repair and adjust doors so they latch reliably, fit deadbolts suited to the door, rekey or replace cylinders where codes or keys have been shared, fit and set up keypad hardware with individual codes, and advise on which of your openings is the weakest.
We do not install cameras or doorbell systems, and we will say when the useful change is a habit rather than hardware.
Deliveries rise sharply from late November through December, and so does the number of parcels left in plain view. It is a sensible moment to check the things that make the difference: a parcel box or a nominated safe place, delivery instructions set in the apps you use, a porch light that works, and a front door that latches and locks without being pushed.
The same period brings dark afternoons, when an unlit porch full of boxes is visible from the street for hours. None of that requires new hardware, but it is worth doing before the season rather than after something has gone missing.
When you call, describe the doors, how deliveries usually arrive and any arrangement you currently use to let couriers in. Our posted hours appear below, and we do not promise a fixed arrival time. The residential locksmith page covers related work around the home.
Keep reading
A lockbox with a code is better than a key hidden under a mat, but it is still a way into your home that exists all day. If you use one, mount it out of direct view, change the code when it is no longer needed, and avoid sharing the code in group messages. A better arrangement for deliveries is somewhere to leave the parcel that does not involve entering the house at all, such as a fixed parcel box on the porch.
A lockbox with a code is better than a key hidden under a mat, but it is still a way into your home that exists all day. If you use one, mount it out of direct view, change the code when it is no longer needed, and avoid sharing the code in group messages. A better arrangement for deliveries is somewhere to leave the parcel that does not involve entering the house at all, such as a fixed parcel box on the porch.
Only a separate code that you remove afterwards, and only if you are comfortable with the device's limits. Check what your lock records and whether remote features depend on an internet connection that could drop. Keep a mechanical way in for when batteries or connectivity fail. Never share your own everyday code, since it is far harder to withdraw and may be reused across several services.
For households receiving frequent deliveries, yes. It takes parcels out of view from the street, which is what most opportunistic theft relies on. Choose one that is bolted down or too heavy to carry off, and decide how the code or key will be managed. A light box left loose on a step tends to disappear with the parcel inside, which is worse than the parcel being visible.
Report the theft to the retailer or courier, and to the police if you have footage or it is part of a local pattern. Then check the door itself. If anything was damaged or interfered with, photograph it before any repair. Take the opportunity to check the rest of the perimeter, especially the side gate, garage service door and any entrance out of sight, since those are where a repeat attempt usually goes.
They record what happened and can deter a casual opportunist, but they do not lock anything and footage rarely recovers a parcel. Treat a doorbell camera as information rather than security. The things that actually keep someone out are a deadbolt that throws fully, a reinforced strike fixed into the framing, sound hinges and a frame that will not split. A camera on a weak door is still a weak door.
Not as a resident request. Lobby and common-area doors belong to the corporation or property manager, and work on them needs their authorization. Report the propping to management, since they can look at the closer, the door hardware and how couriers are admitted. What you can control is your suite door: a deadbolt that throws fully, a door that latches on its own, and keys and fobs you can account for.
It usually is. An unlocked gate gives access to the back of the house, where doors and windows are out of sight from the street and where tools, bicycles and ladders are often kept. If couriers need to reach a back door, consider a parcel box at the front instead. If the gate must be accessible, make sure the back door itself has a proper deadbolt and a sound frame.
Usually a fixed parcel box plus a reinforced strike on the entrance doors. The box addresses the parcels; the strike addresses the door, because most forced entries split the frame rather than defeating the lock. Both are modest changes that do not alter how the household uses the doors day to day, and neither depends on batteries, an app or a courier following instructions.
Describe the door, hardware and service address. Contact GTA Lockman Mobile Locksmith Services to confirm the scope and scheduling for your location.
