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Lock Rekeying, Any Hour
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Same locks, new keys, old keys stop working.
Rekeying swaps the pins inside your existing locks so every old key dies: the smart, affordable move after moving in, losing keys or parting with a tenant or contractor.
Houses, condos, townhomes and apartments get the same standard: honest advice on repair versus rekey versus replace, quality hardware from names like Schlage, Kwikset and Yale, and doors that close right when the job is done.
You approve the number first. A range over the phone, a firm price in person, and only then does the job start.
Locks get opened the patient way; destructive entry happens only with your explicit approval when there's truly no alternative.
Every pin tumbler lock, which covers the overwhelming majority of residential deadbolts and knob sets, works on the same basic principle: a stack of spring-loaded pins inside the cylinder that must all line up at exactly the shear line before the plug can rotate and the bolt can move. Rekeying means taking that cylinder apart, pulling the existing pin stacks, and replacing them with a new set cut to match a new key. The housing, the bolt, the strike plate, the faceplate, and the exterior appearance of the lock stay exactly the same. Only the internal pins and the key that operates them change. That is why rekeying costs less than full hardware replacement: the expensive, durable part of the lock is reused, and only the comparatively cheap internal components are swapped.
A technician arriving for a rekey job typically removes the interior half of each lock, extracts the cylinder, decodes or replaces the pin stack using a pinning kit matched to that manufacturer's system, tests the new key against the freshly pinned cylinder on a bench or in hand before reinstalling, and then reassembles the lock on the door. For a single door this is usually a fifteen to thirty minute process once the technician is on-site; a whole house with several exterior doors takes longer simply because each cylinder is handled individually, even when all of them end up keyed alike.
Most households want every exterior door to open with the same single key, which locksmiths call keying alike. This is done by pinning every cylinder to the identical key code, so one key on your ring opens the front door, the back door, and any side or garage entry door with a standard deadbolt. Some households prefer keying different, where each door takes its own distinct key, which is less convenient day to day but can make sense for a detached rental unit, a workshop, or a door you want to hand a separate key to a specific person without giving them access to the rest of the property. Either approach is a request you make before the work starts, since it changes how the technician approaches the pinning, not something decided after the fact.
Rekeying makes sense whenever the hardware itself is sound but you no longer trust who might be holding a working key. Moving into a previously owned or previously rented home is the most common trigger, since there is no realistic way to know how many copies a past owner, tenant, contractor, cleaner, or dog walker might still be carrying. A breakup or a roommate moving out is another common reason, along with losing a key with no idea where it ended up, or handing keys to a contractor for a renovation and wanting a clean slate once the work wraps up. In every one of these situations the locks themselves are usually fine; what changed is who might still have access, and rekeying solves exactly that problem without spending money on new hardware you do not need.
Rekeying only helps if the lock itself is in good working order. A cylinder that is worn smooth from years of use, pins that have been damaged by a broken key extraction, a bolt that binds or drags in the frame, or a knob that has gone loose and wobbly on its spindle are all signs that the hardware has reached the end of its useful life. In those cases a technician will say so plainly rather than pin a key into a lock that is going to keep giving you trouble regardless. Replacement is also the better option if you want to upgrade to a higher security grade, add a smart lock, match new hardware finishes across a renovated home, or consolidate several different lock brands down to one manufacturer's keying system for easier future rekeying.
Most American residential hardware comes from a small handful of major manufacturers, and each has its own pinning system, key blank shape, and tooling. Schlage cylinders use a six-pin system and a distinctive keyway; Kwikset uses a five-pin system that is generally quicker to rekey and is extremely common in newer production homes; Baldwin, Yale, and Weiser each have their own variations as well. A technician arriving with a well-stocked van carries pinning kits and key blanks for the common brands, so mixed hardware across a single house, one Schlage front door and a Kwikset back door for instance, is not a problem. It does mean the technician needs to identify each lock's manufacturer on-site rather than assume they all match, which is one reason a quick look at the actual doors matters more than a description over the phone.
Some households and most commercial properties use restricted or high-security cylinders, brands like Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, or Schlage Primus, specifically because the key blanks are controlled and cannot be duplicated at a hardware store kiosk. Rekeying these systems is still possible but requires manufacturer-specific tooling and, in some cases, documentation proving you are authorized to have new keys cut, since the entire point of a restricted keyway is preventing unauthorized duplication. If your property uses one of these systems, mention it when you call, since it changes which technician and which equipment gets sent.
Electronic and smart locks complicate the traditional idea of rekeying because many of them use a code, an app, or a fob rather than a physical key as the primary access method. Some smart locks retain a physical key cylinder as a backup, and that cylinder can be rekeyed exactly like a traditional lock. Others are entirely keyless, in which case the equivalent of rekeying is simply changing the access code or removing old user credentials from the app, which takes minutes and requires no hardware work at all. A technician can walk you through whichever situation applies to your specific lock model.
Rekeying is priced per cylinder in most cases, so the number of doors involved is the single biggest factor. A single door is naturally cheaper than a whole house. Whether every lock is keyed alike or kept separate does not usually change the labor much, but it does change how many distinct key codes need to be cut and issued at the end. High-security or restricted cylinders typically cost more to rekey than standard residential hardware because of the specialized parts and tooling involved. And, as with any locksmith call, the time of day the work happens can affect the rate, which is always stated up front before the technician starts.
Once new pins are set and new keys are cut, test every key on every door before the technician leaves, including any spares you plan to hand out to family members or hide for emergencies. It is worth labeling old keys clearly as void and either discarding them or storing them away from the property, since a mislabeled old key sitting in a kitchen drawer defeats part of the purpose of rekeying in the first place. If you plan to distribute new keys to several people, a written note of who received one is a small habit that saves confusion the next time keys change hands.
Freshly pinned locks tend to operate smoothly right away, but general lock maintenance still applies over time. A dry, graphite-based or PTFE lock lubricant applied occasionally keeps pins moving freely; avoid petroleum-based oils and sprays, which can attract dust and gum up the internal pins over months of use. A key that has started to require extra jiggling is usually an early sign worth addressing before it becomes a full lockout, and a quick call can often diagnose whether the issue is the key itself wearing down or the cylinder pins beginning to stick.
Closing day gets all the attention, but the locks on a newly purchased home rarely get the same scrutiny, even though they are one of the few things you truly cannot verify from a title report or an inspection. A seller's real estate agent may have a lockbox key, past contractors may have had copies cut for a renovation years ago, and previous tenants in a home that was once rented out may never have returned every key. None of that shows up in any paperwork. Scheduling a rekey in the first day or two after closing, before moving furniture in and before anyone else has a reason to visit, is a simple way to close that gap without having to track down every person who may have once had a copy.
Tenant turnover is the most common reason a rental unit gets rekeyed, and many local landlord-tenant regulations expect it as basic practice between leases, though the exact rules vary by state and city. From the landlord's side, rekeying between tenants protects the next occupant and reduces liability if an old key is ever used to gain unauthorized entry. From a current tenant's side, if you notice maintenance staff, a prior tenant, or unknown parties possibly still holding keys to your unit, it is worth raising the question with your landlord about whether a rekey has ever been done. A locksmith working on a rental typically confirms who is authorized to request the change, since the property itself belongs to the landlord even while a tenant is living in it.
A lock that shows scratch marks around the keyway, feels gritty or different when the key turns, or simply behaves differently than it used to may have been picked, bumped, or otherwise tampered with. Even an unsuccessful attempt can leave a cylinder slightly out of alignment or can indicate that someone was testing the lock for weaknesses. Rekeying in this situation resets the internal pins to a fresh, unknown configuration, and it is a reasonable response even without proof that entry was actually gained, simply because the alternative is living with uncertainty about a lock you can no longer fully trust.
Rekeying is not limited to the main entry doors of a house. Side doors on an attached garage, a walk-in door on a detached workshop or shed, a gate lock on a side yard, and even some mailbox and storage locker locks use standard pin tumbler cylinders that can be rekeyed the same way as a front door deadbolt. These secondary points are easy to overlook when thinking about home security, but they are frequently the doors people forget existed when handing out keys to contractors, house sitters, or extended family, which makes them worth including in the same rekey visit rather than addressing separately later.
A rekey visit goes faster if you already know, or can quickly figure out, exactly which doors need new keys and whether you want them all keyed alike. If you know the manufacturer of your locks, mentioning it helps, though it is not required since the technician can identify the hardware on-site. If you are a renter, having a way to reach your landlord or property manager on short notice, in case verification is needed, avoids a delay once the technician is already there. And if you plan to hand out several new keys immediately afterward, having a rough list of who needs one saves a second trip back to the hardware store for extra copies.
Occasionally a lock needs internal work for reasons unrelated to security, such as a spring that has weakened over years of use, causing the key to feel loose or the bolt to retract sluggishly. A technician addressing that kind of mechanical wear may re-pin the cylinder as part of the repair even if the goal was never to change who has access. It is worth clarifying with the technician whether a given visit is meant to invalidate old keys or simply restore smooth operation to the existing key, since the two goals sometimes overlap but are not automatically the same thing.
A few misunderstandings come up often enough to address directly. Rekeying does not require replacing the door or the frame; only the lock cylinder itself is involved. Rekeying does not mean the lock becomes more or less secure than it was before, since the underlying hardware grade does not change, only the specific key that operates it. And rekeying is not the same as re-programming a smart lock's electronic code, even though the end goal, invalidating old access, sounds similar; smart lock code changes are handled through the device's app or keypad, not through a physical pinning kit.
Some rekey requests are urgent, following a lost key or a breakup, and some are simply routine maintenance that can be scheduled for a convenient time. Both are handled the same way once a technician is on-site, but mentioning the urgency level on the phone helps dispatch prioritize appropriately against other calls. A routine rekey with no time pressure can usually be scheduled for a specific window that fits your day, while an urgent one following a lost key gets treated with the same priority as other pressing lock and key situations.
Whatever the reason behind the request, the same standard applies to every rekey visit: honest advice about repair versus rekey versus full replacement, quality parts matched to the existing hardware, careful reassembly so nothing binds or drags afterward, and a firm price agreed before work begins rather than a surprise at the end.
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