Electric Strike Installation & Repair in Houston
Want to buzz people in, or unlock the door with a keypad or card?
- Front desk needs to let visitors in with the push of a button?
- Staff should get in with a code or fob instead of a key?
- Electric strike buzzes but the door won’t open?
- Door unlocks but doesn’t relatch when it closes?
Call us 24/7 at 713-688-3887 to talk to a real locksmith and security specialist.
An electric strike replaces the metal strike plate in your door frame. When it gets power from a release button, keypad, card reader, or intercom, the strike’s keeper swings free and the door opens without anyone turning a key. Your existing lock stays in place, and the inside lever or panic bar still opens the door normally — which is exactly why strikes are the most common way to add controlled entry to a commercial door.
Alamo Key & Lock installs and repairs electric strikes for offices, clinics, storefronts, pawn shops, daycares, and apartment buildings across Houston. Because we’re locksmiths first, we get the part most installers get wrong: the door, the lock, and the strike working together.
Electric Strike vs. Magnetic Lock
Both lock a door electronically, but they work very differently — and the difference matters for fire code. With an electric strike, people inside still leave by turning the lever or pushing the bar, just like any locked door. A magnetic lock holds the door shut with an electromagnet, so it needs extra exit hardware to let people out. Under the 2021 International Building Code the City of Houston enforces, a sensor-released maglock needs a motion sensor, a “PUSH TO EXIT” button, and a fire-alarm release. A strike on a door with a normal lever or panic bar doesn’t.
That’s why we recommend a strike for most doors, and a magnetic lock where the door or frame can’t take one — some all-glass doors and gates.
| Electric strike | Magnetic lock | |
|---|---|---|
| How it locks | Your existing lock latches into the strike | Electromagnet holds a steel plate on the door |
| Leaving the building | Normal lever or panic bar — no extra hardware | Needs a motion sensor, push-to-exit button, and fire-alarm release |
| When the power goes out | Usually stays locked from outside (fail-secure); exit still works | Unlocks (fail-safe) |
| Fire-rated doors | Fail-secure strikes are used | Special rules apply |
| Best for | Most offices, clinics, storefronts, and back doors | Some all-glass doors, gates, and doors where a strike won’t fit |
Fail-Secure or Fail-Safe?
Fail-secure strikes stay locked from the outside when power is lost; fail-safe strikes unlock. Either way, people inside can always get out through the lever or panic bar. Most exterior and office doors use fail-secure so the building stays locked during an outage — and fire-rated doors must use fail-secure strikes so the door stays latched in a fire. Fail-safe is used where a door must unlock on power loss or fire alarm. Electric strikes also shouldn’t be used on stairwell doors that must allow re-entry during a fire.
Matching the Strike to Your Door
The right strike depends on the lock and the frame. Picking the wrong one is the most common reason a new strike doesn’t work reliably:
| Your door and lock | Typical strike | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lever lock or mortise lock in a hollow-metal or wood frame | HES 1006 or HES 5000 | The 1006 is the everyday workhorse; it comes fail-secure, with a separate fail-safe version |
| Rim panic bar | Surface-mounted strike such as HES 9400 or 9600 | Mounts on the frame without deep cutting |
| Aluminum storefront door with a deadlatch | Adams Rite 7400 series | The standard for Houston strip-center storefronts |
| Glass door | Strikes made for glass doors, such as HES 9100/9200 | No cutting into the glass |
| Von Duprin exit device | Von Duprin 6000 series strikes | Matched to the device |
We also check the power supply: strikes need clean DC power at the right voltage, and many “bad strike” calls are really power problems.
Common Electric Strike Problems
- It buzzes but the door won’t open. Usually “preload” — the door is pushing against the strike’s keeper (misalignment, weatherstripping, air pressure, or a warped door), so it can’t swing free. Quick test: buzz it while pulling the door toward the frame. If it pops open, it’s preload.
- It buzzes constantly. A DC strike being fed AC power buzzes. Fixing the power supply fixes the noise.
- The door doesn’t relatch. The latch isn’t reaching the keeper — alignment, door sag, or a closer that isn’t closing the door fully.
- It works sometimes. Loose wiring, a failing power supply, or a strike that’s the wrong voltage.
- The strike feels hot. Some strikes run warm when powered continuously, which can be normal — we check whether it’s within the manufacturer’s spec.
What an Installation Includes
A complete electric strike job covers the strike cut cleanly into the frame, a power supply sized for the lock, wiring run through the frame, and the device that releases it — a desk button, keypad, card or fob reader, or intercom. We align the door so the latch catches every time, adjust the door closer so the door closes fully, and test every function with you before we leave.
Adding a buzz-in door is often the first step toward a full access control system, and a strike can also be paired with a panic bar on exit doors.
Electric Strikes for Houston Businesses
We install strikes for reception doors in offices and medical clinics, buzz-in doors for pawn shops and jewelry stores, staff entrances for restaurants, classroom and front doors for daycares, and amenity and lobby doors for apartment buildings. Call us any time — we answer 24/7 — and see our Commercial Locksmith page for everything else we do for businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an electric strike?
An electric strike replaces the strike plate in a door frame. When it receives power from a button, keypad, card reader, or intercom, its keeper releases so the door can be pushed or pulled open without a key. The existing lock stays in place.
Is an electric strike or a magnetic lock better?
For most commercial doors, an electric strike. People inside leave through the normal lever or panic bar, so it doesn’t need the motion sensor, push-to-exit button, and fire-alarm release a sensor-released magnetic lock requires. Magnetic locks suit some all-glass doors and gates.
What happens to an electric strike when the power goes out?
A fail-secure strike stays locked from the outside and a fail-safe strike unlocks. In both cases people inside can still exit through the lever or panic bar. Fire-rated doors must use fail-secure strikes.
Why does my electric strike buzz but the door won’t open?
Most often the door is pressing against the strike’s keeper (called preload), so it can’t release. Pull the door toward the frame while buzzing; if it opens, the door needs alignment or a preload-rated strike. Constant buzzing usually means the strike is getting AC instead of DC power.
Can you add an electric strike to my existing door?
Usually, yes. We match the strike to your existing lock and frame, including aluminum storefront doors, hollow-metal frames, wood frames, and doors with panic bars.