Access control for NYC townhouses.
A townhouse gives you the full footprint: front door, garden level, roof access, maybe a garage, and every one of those entries needs control. We design access control around the real layout of NYC townhouses, from Brooklyn brownstone stoops to limestone-fronted Manhattan rowhouses.
Every entry from the stoop to the roof, wired back to one controller with battery backup in the cellar.
Five stories, many entries, one system.
Townhouses are not apartments and they are not suburban houses. Narrow lots, shared party walls and three to five stories of living, with entries that all have to talk to the same system.
Multiple separate entries
Most NYC townhouses have a stoop-level front door, a garden or basement entry, a rear yard gate and sometimes a connected garage. Each gets its own access rules under one system, not four separate afterthought locks.
Pre-war construction
Brownstone and limestone townhouses built before 1940 have thick masonry, dense plaster and little conduit. Low-voltage fishing, and wireless hardware where it fits, let us install cleanly without gutting walls or opening finished surfaces.
Household staff and service access
Housekeepers, dog walkers, contractors and building supers each need the right doors at the right hours, revocable when you say so. Fobs and phone credentials beat physical keys that never come back.
Video intercom at the stoop
Visitors arrive at street level while you may be five floors up. A two-wire video intercom that forwards to your phone lets you see, talk and buzz them in from anywhere, including the back patio or the roof.
One backbone across every floor
In a four or five-story townhouse, the panel, the door hardware and any smart locks need a reliable backbone, not consumer devices on different apps. Structured low-voltage wiring or mesh wireless puts every floor on the same controller.
Fire and life safety
Electrically locked egress doors generally must release on a fire alarm signal. We pick the lock for each door around its use and the building's fire and life safety requirements, and plan any tie-in to your fire alarm system in the scope.
Wired through a pre-war townhouse. No gutted walls.
Step through how cable gets from the controller in the cellar to the stoop door without opening the plaster.
Pre-war brick walls usually have a narrow furring space behind the plaster. That gap, not the finished wall, is the route from the cellar to the stoop door. Where no path exists, as at many roof doors, we use a wireless lock instead.
From the open cellar ceiling, a fish tape goes up the furring space and the cable is pulled back behind it. Two small access holes, one in the cellar and one hidden behind the door trim.
The strike goes into the old wood jamb with a backing plate and a custom strike plate, so the frame is reinforced rather than chewed out. The stoop reader is fed through a sleeved core in the brick.
The access holes are patched to match the existing finish and the trim goes back on. From the room, nothing shows but the hardware.
What we install in NYC townhouses.
Every product is chosen for New York weather, older construction and daily use by owners and household staff alike.
Key fob and card access
Prox · RFID · multi-doorProximity fobs and RFID cards are the workhorse of townhouse access control: simple for regular users and quick to revoke when staff turns over. Multi-door programming means different credentials open different entries.
Video intercom systems
Stoop · garden · appWired and IP video intercom stations at the stoop door and garden entry, indoor monitors on the main floors, and app forwarding so you can answer the door from anywhere in the city.
Smart lock installation
Grade 1 · PIN · fob · phoneGrade 1 smart locks with PIN, fob and phone credentials on front doors and secondary entries. The full job, including door prep, strike reinforcement and low-voltage wiring, not a consumer deadbolt dropped in.
Access control panels
2 to 8 doorsCentral panels for 2 to 8 doors that log every entry, run time-based schedules and connect to your alarm system. Housed in a clean enclosure in the mechanical room or a closet, not zip-tied to a pipe.
Electric strikes and magnetic locks
Fail-safe · fail-secureFail-safe electric strikes on stoop doors and fail-secure hardware on interior secured areas, with the right holding force and frame reinforcement for each door, including custom strike plates for pre-war wood frames.
Gate and rear yard access
WeatherizedRear yard and areaway gates are a common weak point. Weatherized keypads, fob readers and electric gate latches built for outdoor NYC conditions: freeze-thaw cycles and direct rain.
From walkthrough to the first fob.
We do the legwork up front, so the install is clean and you know how to run the system when we leave.
On-site assessment
We walk every entry: front door, garden level, rear gate, roof and any garage. We measure frames, check wall construction and map existing conduit and low-voltage runs. Pre-war masonry and finished millwork are noted before anything is specified.
System design and proposal
A written proposal with hardware specs, a wiring plan and a credential structure for family, household staff and service providers. Nothing you do not need for your footprint.
Installation
Our technicians handle the wiring, hardware and panel. We protect existing finishes, patch every penetration, and coordinate with your super or contractor when the work is part of a larger renovation.
Programming and handoff
Every credential is programmed, staff schedules are set, and every door and reader is tested. We walk you through the management interface in person: adding a fob, pulling an access log and locking out a user, without calling us for the basics.
Townhouse access control, answered.
Can you install access control in a pre-war brownstone without damaging the original trim and plaster?
Yes. We fish low-voltage wiring inside the walls without opening large sections of plaster, and use wireless access hardware where a wired run is not practical. Door hardware goes in with backing plates suited to older wood frames, and any penetrations are patched to match the existing finish. The same care applies in landmarked buildings, where keeping original material comes first.
How do I manage access for a housekeeper or dog walker without giving them a physical key?
Each person gets their own fob or phone credential with time restrictions. For example, a housekeeper's fob works Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM only. If that person leaves your employment, you turn off their credential in the management software, with no rekeying. The access log shows when each credential was used and at which door, so every entry is on record.
Do I need a permit from DOB to install access control in my townhouse?
It depends on the scope and the building. Whether a job needs a Department of Buildings filing, and what applies to work on fire-rated doors, egress paths or anything tied to the fire alarm, is something we check during the site visit. We tell you what applies before any work is scheduled. If the townhouse is classified as a multiple dwelling, with three or more units, different rules may apply. Every penetration we make through a fire-rated wall or floor is fire-stopped.
What happens to my access-controlled doors if the power goes out?
Every system we install has battery backup at the panel, which keeps the doors working through typical Con Edison outages. Egress-side doors are set fail-safe, so they release on power loss and people can always get out. Entry-side hardware can be fail-secure or fail-safe depending on the door and your preference, and we explain the trade-off for each door during design.
Can the video intercom at the front door ring on my phone when I am not home?
Yes. The IP video intercoms we install push a live video call to your phone when someone presses the stoop button. You see the visitor, talk to them and release the door strike, whether you are in the back garden, at the office or out of the city. It works over your home Wi-Fi and a standard mobile data connection.
My townhouse has a garden-level apartment. Can I run separate access zones for the two units?
Yes. We set up the panel with separate credential groups and door assignments, so the garden unit tenant opens their own entry only, and you keep independent control of the main house. A shared street gate or areaway door can be a common door for both groups. Tenant credentials are managed separately and can be changed or turned off at the end of a tenancy without touching the rest of the system.
Access control for every kind of NYC home.
Ready to secure your townhouse?
We walk the property, map every entry and give you a clear written proposal. No pressure and no vague estimates. Licensed, insured and based in New York City.