Panic Bar Installation
If your Westbury commercial or multi-unit property needs a panic bar installation — whether it's a storefront on Post Avenue, a school corridor, or a warehouse loading door — Westbury Locksmiths sends a trained, insured technician directly to your location, usually within 20 minutes. We handle everything from straightforward crash bar installation on hollow-metal doors to more complex panic bar with mortise lock configurations that integrate a full deadlocking mechanism into a single exit device. No subcontractors, no callbacks — just qualified hands on your hardware the same day you call.
Open 24 hours, 7 days a week · Licensed, bonded & insured
Exit devices aren't one-size-fits-all, and the wrong setup can leave a building out of code compliance or expose a business owner to liability. Our mobile team serves Westbury NY and the surrounding Nassau County corridor around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, bringing the right parts and tools to you rather than asking you to haul heavy door hardware to a shop. Whether you're replacing a failed rim-latch device or specifying a mortise lock panic bar for a high-traffic egress door, we confirm an exact, up-front price before any work begins — so there are never surprise charges on the invoice.
What we do
Available 24/7
Day, night, weekends and holidays — a real local locksmith answers and rolls a fully-stocked van.
Fast local response
Based in Westbury, we reach the Westbury area in well under an hour.
Insured & background-checked
Vetted technicians, up-front pricing, and no surprise add-ons when we arrive.
Damage-free entry
We pick and bypass locks the right way, so most lockouts are solved without drilling anything.
More about our work
Everything you need to know about how we help — at a glance.
What Panic Bar Installation Actually Involves — and Why It's Not a DIY Job
A panic bar (also called a crash bar or exit device) is a spring-loaded horizontal bar mounted across an egress door that unlatches the door when body pressure is applied — no handle-turning, no fumbling with a knob. Under New York State Building Code and fire egress regulations, most assembly occupancies, educational buildings, and commercial spaces with occupant loads above a set threshold are required to have code-compliant exit devices. Getting the device, the strike, the door prep, and the back-set alignment right is critical: a misaligned panic bar can fail to retract the latch bolt under pressure, which is exactly the scenario these devices exist to prevent.
Our technicians evaluate the door material (hollow metal, solid wood, aluminum storefront), the frame condition, the existing mortise lock or cylindrical lock prep, and the required fire-rating before recommending a device. A surface-mount rim device suits many standard steel doors, while a vertical-rod device is often necessary on pairs of doors with no center post. For doors already cut for a full mortise pocket, a panic bar mortise lock combination — where the exit device interfaces directly with a mortise lock body — delivers both egress compliance and the robust security of a mortise deadbolt when the door is locked from the outside. We measure, align, and test every installation before we leave the property.
Panic Bar Installation, Repair, and Replacement: Our Full Exit-Device Services
Westbury Locksmiths handles the complete lifecycle of commercial exit hardware, not just new installs. Below is a representative list of the specific services our commercial locksmith team provides on panic bar and exit-device calls across Westbury and Nassau County:
1. New rim-latch panic bar installation on single doors. 2. Mortise lock panic bar installation (full mortise body + exit trim). 3. Vertical-rod device installation on door pairs. 4. Concealed vertical-rod device fitting. 5. Panic bar replacement — swapping failed or outdated devices with current code-compliant hardware. 6. Crash bar installation on aluminum storefront doors. 7. Panic bar repair — latch bolt adjustment, spring replacement, push-pad realignment. 8. Dogging (hold-open) mechanism service and re-keying. 9. Exterior trim cylinder re-keying on panic bars. 10. Mortise lock cylinder replacement within an exit-device assembly. 11. Door knob lock removal and conversion to exit-device configuration. 12. Electric strike integration with panic bar trim. 13. Electromagnetic hold-open device installation. 14. Door closer installation paired with new exit devices. 15. Weatherstrip and door-bottom seal replacement on egress doors. 16. Panic hardware on fire-rated doors (coordinated with required closer and smoke seal). 17. Emergency locksmith response for panic bars that have seized or failed overnight. 18. Broken push-pad or cross-bar replacement mid-shift to restore egress compliance. 19. Retrofitting older Von Duprin or Sargent-style bodies with updated trim sets. 20. Keyed-alike cylinder programs across multiple exit doors on the same master key. 21. Lockout assistance when outside trim cylinder fails and staff are locked out. 22. Exit-device installation on rooftop access doors. 23. Back-door and loading-dock exit-device installation for warehouses. 24. School and institutional egress hardware service calls. 25. Post-installation door alignment and latch adjustment to ensure smooth panic-bar operation. 26. Consultation on exit-device type selection to meet Nassau County AHJ requirements.
Mortise Lock Integration: When a Panic Bar Needs More Than a Rim Latch
Not every egress door only needs to open from inside. Many commercial doors in Westbury — think the back office entrance of a medical practice near Old Country Road, or the employee exit of a multi-tenant industrial building — must also provide keyed security from the outside. That's the scenario where a panic bar with mortise lock configuration is the right answer. The mortise lock body is set into a precisely routed pocket in the door edge and provides a deadbolt or deadlocking latch that can only be retracted from the exterior with a key, while the exit device still guarantees one-motion egress from inside.
Fitting a mortise lock panic bar correctly demands careful door-edge preparation, precise strike alignment in the frame, and correct trim selection so the outside lever or thumbturn coordinates with the exit device's latch retraction. Our technicians carry mortise lock bodies in common backset sizes and can cut or enlarge door-edge pockets on-site with portable equipment. If the existing mortise pocket from a previous installation is the wrong depth or hand, we correct it rather than forcing a misfitted body — because a poorly fitted mortise lock is a security vulnerability, not an upgrade. Call (516) 400-4528 any time — we answer 24/7 — and we'll assess your door and recommend the right exit-device and lock combination.
Pricing Factors, Response Time, and What to Expect from Our Westbury Team
Several variables shape what a panic bar job costs, and we walk every customer through each one before work starts. The type of exit device specified (rim, mortise, vertical-rod, concealed-rod) carries different hardware costs. The condition of the existing door and frame affects labor time — a door with a damaged edge or a misaligned frame takes longer to prep correctly. The time of day matters: emergency overnight calls or calls on holidays involve different labor considerations than a scheduled weekday installation. Travel distance from our Westbury base factors in on longer runs. And if additional parts are needed — a new door closer, an electric strike, a replacement cylinder — those are itemized clearly in the quote. You receive a confirmed, fixed price before we touch anything.
Our response time target across the Westbury NY area is 20 minutes, and we operate around the clock every day of the year. We're a mobile locksmith team, which means a fully stocked service vehicle comes to your door — whether that's a commercial building in the Merchants Industrial Park area or a school facility off Jericho Turnpike. Our technicians are insured and trained on current commercial door hardware, and we work to complete installations damage-free wherever the door and frame condition allows. For non-emergency commercial locksmith projects like scheduled panic bar installation across multiple doors, we're also available for pre-arranged daytime appointments. Either way, the process is the same: we assess, quote, and execute — no vague estimates, no upsells at the job site.
Frequently asked questions
What is a locksmith call-out fee, and does it apply to panic bar jobs?
A call-out fee is a baseline charge some locksmiths apply just for showing up, separate from labor and parts. At Westbury Locksmiths, we give you a single, all-in price confirmed before we start — there's no hidden dispatch surcharge layered on top. Factors like time of day, travel distance, and the specific hardware needed are all reflected in one transparent quote, not itemized as surprise add-ons after the fact.
How much should a locksmith cost per hour for exit-device work?
Hourly rates for commercial locksmith work vary based on the complexity of the job, the hardware involved, and whether the call is during standard business hours or overnight. Rather than quote an hourly rate that may shift as the scope changes, we assess the full job — door condition, device type, any additional hardware needed — and give you a fixed price upfront. That way you know the total before we pick up a single tool.
Can a panic bar be repaired, or does it always need full replacement?
Many panic bar failures are repairable without replacing the entire device. Common fixable issues include a worn or broken push-pad spring, a latch bolt that has drifted out of alignment with the strike, a seized dogging mechanism, or a failed cylinder in the exterior trim. Our technician will diagnose on-site and tell you honestly whether a targeted panic bar repair restores full function and code compliance or whether the device body is too worn for a durable fix and panic bar replacement is the better call.
What locks can locksmiths not open, and does that affect exit-device service?
Qualified locksmiths can open the vast majority of lock types through non-destructive methods — including the cylinders found in panic bar trim sets. Certain high-security restricted-keyway cylinders may require the manufacturer's authorization process before a duplicate key can be cut, but that's a key-control policy, not a technical barrier to opening. For exit-device work specifically, if the exterior cylinder has failed or a key has been lost, we can address the cylinder through legitimate, ownership-verified means so egress hardware is never left non-functional.
What do I do if I've locked myself out of a building that has a panic bar on the exit door?
First, check whether any other entrance to the building — a front door, a side entry, or a roof-access hatch — can be opened with a key you have on hand. Contact your property manager or another key holder if one is reachable quickly. If none of those options resolve the lockout, call (516) 400-4528. We respond 24/7 across Westbury NY, verify ownership or authorized access before proceeding, and use non-destructive entry methods wherever the lock type permits, protecting the door and the hardware.
Do you handle panic bar installation near me if I'm outside Westbury?
Yes. While our home base is Westbury NY, our mobile team regularly serves surrounding Nassau County communities. If you're searching for panic bar installation near me or a crash bar installation near me and you're in the broader Long Island area, call (516) 400-4528 and we'll confirm coverage for your specific address. We dispatch around the clock, so there's no need to wait until business hours to find out if we can reach you.