By Gene and Katie Hamilton

To add to the all-around security of your home, add deadbolt locks to your front, side and backdoors. A cylinder deadbolt, operated by a key from the outside and a thumb turn from the inside, is a good choice to protect against intruders. While this lock design has been around for years, many new finishes are available, although traditional brass continues to be the favorite today.

A locksmith will replace an old lock with a good quality brass deadbolt lock for $158, which includes the labor and material. If you have basic carpentry experience, you can make the swap for $75, the cost of the lock, and save 55 percent. Choose a deadbolt lock designed for a do-it-yourself installation, which includes a paper template you can tape onto the door to help align the holes for accurate cutting. Buy a door lock installation kit, which includes a hole cutter for a drill and a spade bit to bore smaller holes in the edge of the door.

If the new lock holes don't line up with the old ones, plan on patching the holes and painting the door to conceal the patch. This involves several steps - applying a filler, building up the area to match the surface of the door, and sanding it smooth before painting. Do this after you've removed the old lock and before installing the new one.

Sound too complicated and time consuming? Here's a link to Home Advisor, a free referral service that matches homeowners with local contractors.

Schlage has information videos at their How-to-center.

The average price to install a deadbolt lock noted above is cost data to compare a locksmith’s estimate with doing it yourself. Tweak the data by adding your ZIP Code to find a local cost.

Improvement and Repair Cost Updated 2019

The cost and time data is generated by averaging labor and material data from annually updated cost books used by contractors and refined by the authors' experience remodeling 13 houses. They are authors of 20 home improvement books and Do It Yourself or Not, a weekly column syndicated by Tribune Content Agency. The national cost can be adjusted by ZIP Code.