Smart Locks with Free Professional Installation
BTRtec's smart lock installation service is included free with every Lockin smart mortise lock it sells, on houses in twelve cities across Canada and the United States. Professional smart lock installation means cutting a lock body into the edge of a door, wiring it through the door, and aligning it to the frame so it locks smoothly for years, not screwing a battery-powered unit onto a bolt that is already there. This page explains what that installation actually involves, why it costs nothing on top of the lock, and why BTRtec is the one that does it.
This service is for houses only, and it is not sold on its own. If you have already bought a standard smart lock elsewhere and need someone to fit it, this is not that service. BTRtec is the official North American distributor of Lockin smart mortise locks, and it exclusively installs the locks it distributes, included in the price of the lock, on single-family houses in the twelve cities listed below. Condominiums and high-rise apartments are not currently serviced.
Why a Mortise Lock is Not a Deadbolt Swap
Search professional smart lock installation and most of what comes back is a flat-rate quote: one number, any door, fifteen minutes. That number describes a different job. A standard smart lock, the kind sold by the big consumer brands, drops onto the two round holes your builder already drilled and turns the same bolt that came with the house. A locksmith can swap it in the time it takes to read the instructions.
A smart mortise lock is not that. The body is a single steel mechanism that has to sit inside a rectangular pocket cut into the edge of the door, with the escutcheon plates mortised flush into the face and a wiring harness run between them so the outside reader and the inside unit function as one device. None of that exists in a bored deadbolt swap, which is why a flat rate advertised for "smart lock installation" almost never applies to a mortise lock. The job is closer to fitting commercial hardware than to changing a battery.
The Three Things that Decide How Involved the Job is
None of the following show up in a product photo, and all three change what an installation actually requires.
Door thickness. Most North American exterior doors are one and three-quarter inches thick, which is the standard a premium mortise body is built for. Custom, high-end exterior doors sometimes run thicker, up to two or two and one-quarter inches, which Lockin hardware also accommodates. The doors that do not qualify are typically thin interior-grade doors, at one and three-eighths inches, mistakenly fitted to an exterior opening.
Existing preparation. A door with two round bored holes needs a new rectangular pocket cut and the old holes covered cleanly by the new hardware. A door that already has a mortise pocket is a cleaner job, but backsets are not standard across brands, so even a mortise-to-mortise change has to match what is already there.
Frame and strike condition. The bolt has to throw fully and the latch has to catch without forcing the door, which depends on the strike being cut and aligned correctly and set with screws long enough to reach the framing behind the jamb. A lock fitted into a solid door but paired with a weak strike is not doing its job.
Which Doors Take a Smart Mortise Lock
Lockin smart mortise locks fit virtually all standard exterior and entry doors across North America, including solid timber, engineered timber, fibreglass, and steel-clad construction. Each material changes the method, not the outcome. Solid timber holds a pocket cleanly but shows any error permanently, so the cut has to be right the first time. Engineered timber has a different internal structure that a technician accounts for when routing. Fibreglass and steel-clad doors need a factory-built lock block wide enough to accept a mortise chassis; if that block is not there or the door edge is hollow, a mortise lock cannot be safely retrofitted into it, which is exactly why fit is confirmed before anything is cut rather than after. A door that is too thin, genuinely hollow with no lock block, or has a stile too narrow to hold the hardware is the rare exception.
Why Btrtec Installs the Locks it Distributes
Most brands in this category sell a lock and leave the fitting to whoever the customer can find, a locksmith, a handyman, a contractor already on site. BTRtec does not. As the official North American distributor for Lockin, BTRtec trains its own technicians specifically on Lockin hardware, not on installation in general, because a pocket cut a fraction too large lets the lock body rock in the door, and a wiring harness pinched during assembly can fail the electronics within months even though the lock powers on the day it is fitted. Neither failure is visible at handover. Both show up later, as a lock that feels loose, drains its battery faster than it should, or stops responding reliably. A technician who has fitted hundreds of Lockin locks knows the tolerances that make a V5 Vision or an X9 last, in a way a generalist installer working from a manual does not. That is the reason we do not subcontract this work.
Fit is not guaranteed on every door before it is checked, which is exactly why the compatibility step exists. If you are unsure whether your existing door is a retrofit or a replacement job, see our guide on whether a smart mortise lock will fit.
What Installation Includes
Every installation follows the same stages, regardless of which lock you choose.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Compatibility confirmation | Your door is assessed against thickness, construction, and stile width before a technician is ever booked. |
| Pocket preparation | The pocket is cut to the lock body, or an existing pocket is matched, and old bored holes are covered cleanly rather than patched. |
| Cross-boring and wiring | Clean, perpendicular holes are drilled for the spindle and thumb-turn, and the wiring harness is run and secured between the outside reader and the inside unit. |
| Strike and frame alignment | The strike is cut and aligned so the bolt throws fully and the door closes without forcing. |
| Handing and calibration | The latch and deadlatch are set for your door's swing, and the lock is powered up and tested on site. |
| Setup and handover | Your unlocking methods, fingerprint, code, card, or app, are configured on site, and you are shown how to use them before the technician leaves. |
There is no separate quote at any stage. The price on the product page is the price installed.
Security Beyond a Standard Deadbolt
A Lockin smart mortise lock is built with multiple locking bolts and additional locking points, giving it more resistance to forced entry than a conventional single-bolt deadbolt. It also goes further than a traditional mechanical mortise lock: alongside smart access, it adds a built-in alarm and real-time detection of door and lock status, so unusual activity does not go unnoticed the way it would on a purely mechanical lock. If the battery runs down before you notice a low-battery warning, a Type-C port lets you power the lock temporarily from the outside with a standard portable power bank, in addition to the mechanical key backup, so you are never actually locked out.
Where Btrtec Installs
Installation is available on houses in twelve cities: Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Waterloo, Ottawa, and Montreal in Canada, and New York, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas in the United States. Orders can currently only be placed and fulfilled from within these service areas. If you are outside them, we cannot yet confirm a fitting date, and we would rather tell you that now than after checkout.
Questions People Ask About Smart Lock Installation
How much does smart lock installation cost with BTRtec?
Nothing on top of the lock. Professional installation is included in the product price, so the number on the product page is what you pay, fitted, with no separate quote. Most of the market prices installation as a separate, paid job on top of the hardware, which is why the question gets asked so often.
Can I install a smart mortise lock myself?
It is not recommended. Cutting or matching a pocket to the exact dimensions of a mortise body, boring clean cross-holes, and running a wiring harness without pinching it are skilled tasks, and a mistake is permanent on an expensive door. A bored deadbolt swap is a reasonable do-it-yourself project. A mortise lock generally is not.
How long does smart lock installation take?
Longer than a deadbolt swap, because the lock is cut into the door rather than dropped into existing holes. The exact time depends on the door and whether a pocket needs to be cut from scratch, which is confirmed during the compatibility check before a technician is booked.
Do I need a professional for a smart mortise lock specifically, or just for any smart lock?
A professional is needed specifically for a mortise lock. A standard smart deadbolt or an overlay retrofit that clamps onto an existing bolt is a genuine do-it-yourself job in most cases. A smart mortise lock is cut into the door and wired through it, which is a different category of work entirely.
What Happens After Installation
Doors move with the seasons, and an installed lock can occasionally need a small adjustment as a result. BTRtec provides free on-site support and adjustments within the one-year warranty period on every installation. Beyond the first year, this kind of issue is extremely rare, because the initial fit accounts for seasonal movement rather than assuming a static door.
This page describes houses only. BTRtec's installation service is not offered for condominium or high-rise apartment units.
See the range of premium smart mortise locks, then check whether your door qualifies for free professional installation. There is no pressure to buy, and if your door is not a fit, or your city is outside our current service area, you will know before you spend anything.
