Change or rekey · Manilla
Lock Rekeying in Manilla
Your basement tenant has given notice, and a new one arrives on the first.
In plain words
Moving into a home is the moment most people first hear about rekeying, and it is the most sensible time to do it. A resale house has usually passed through owners, real estate agents, home inspectors, cleaners and trades, each of whom may have held a key at some point. Rekeying every exterior cylinder on move-in day means the only keys that work are the ones cut for you, and the same visit is a chance to put every door on one key so the coffee tin of mystery keys can go in the recycling.
How the visit goesThe whole key ring went missing somewhere between the grocery store and the bus. You got back in with the spare, but a set of keys is out there, and you would sleep better knowing they open nothing.
Inside the lock
What a rekey changes
01
The lock you already have
02
Inside the cylinder
03
Pins, springs and the shear line
04
A new key, new pins
Lock Rekeying
How the visit goes
Reading the keyway on each lock
Whether several doors can share one key depends on the cylinders, not the number of doors. Each lock has a keyway, the profile a key must match to enter the plug, and only cylinders with the same keyway can be pinned to the same key. The locksmith looks at the face of each cylinder and the profile of each existing key to sort the house into families. Most homes carry one or two of the common residential keyways, sometimes with an odd one on a side door or a padlock. Anything from a different family is noted so you can decide whether to swap that cylinder for a matching one and bring the door onto the house key.
Cutting the new key and gauging the depths
On this cylinder type, the new key comes first, then the pins to match it. The locksmith cuts a fresh key from a blank on a code cutter or duplicator, choosing a combination that is not close to the old one, and reads each cut with a key gauge to find its depth on the manufacturer's scale. Bottom pins of the matching lengths are picked from a graded pin kit and dropped into the plug chamber by chamber, so that when the new key is inserted every pin top sits exactly at the shear line. A key cut from a clean blank and pins matched to it by gauge is what gives a rekeyed lock that crisp, new feel.
The old keys are just metal now
Whatever was out in the world before today, the copy the contractor kept, the key the former roommate never returned, the ring that went missing on the bus, none of it turns a lock on your property any more. That is the whole point of the visit, and it is worth saying plainly because people sometimes keep worrying afterwards. If you still hold old keys, they can go in the metal recycling. There is no need to change the door hardware or your routine, but any keypad code known to someone whose access is ending should be deleted or changed separately, since rekeying the mechanical cylinder does not touch those codes.
Lock Rekeying
In the van
Reset tool for user-rekeyable cylinders
Key gauge
Plug follower
Key tags and keying record
Retaining clip tool
Lock Rekeying
What affects the quote
Upgrades chosen during the visit
Some people take the opportunity to replace a double-cylinder deadbolt with a thumb-turn model, add a reinforced strike or move to a heavier deadbolt. None of it is needed to rekey; each is a separate line.
No working key for a door
When a cylinder must be shimmed, decoded or picked open before it can be repinned because no key exists for it, that extra step is included in the quote for that door.
Mismatched keyways needing a cylinder swap
Where one door's cylinder cannot take the key the other doors share, a compatible replacement cylinder is fitted and pinned to match, and that hardware appears as its own line in the quote.
What to have ready
- Are any of the locks keypad or smart locks with a backup key?
- Do you own the home, rent it, or manage it for someone else?
- Is there a shed, gate, mailbox or padlock you would like on the same key?
Lock Rekeying: questions
QuestionsCan all my doors be made to work with one key?
Usually, yes. Where the cylinders accept the same style of key blank, each can be pinned to one new combination, so a single key runs the front, back, side and garage doors. A lock from a different keyway family is brought into the group by exchanging its cylinder for a compatible one in the same finish. During the first walk around the property the locksmith reads every keyway and tells you up front which doors can be keyed alike.
Can a smart lock or keypad deadbolt be rekeyed?
The mechanical part of it can. Many keypad or app-controlled deadbolts hide a small keyed cylinder under a cap for the day the batteries fail, and that cylinder can be pinned to your house key so the backup key on your ring is the same one that opens the other doors; some models are key-free and rely on an external battery backup instead. Codes are a separate matter: the locksmith will suggest deleting any code belonging to someone who no longer needs access at the same time.
Should I rekey when I move into a new home?
It is the single most common reason to rekey, and a sensible one. A resale home has typically passed through owners, agents, inspectors, cleaners and trades, any of whom may have had a key cut. A newly built home has been opened by construction crews using a builder's key. Rekeying on move-in means the only working keys are yours, and the same visit can bring every exterior door onto a single key, retiring the assorted keys you inherited.
Related services
- Lock Replacement & UpgradeThree teenagers, a dog walker, a cleaner and one house key that keeps going missing.
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceYou bought a house with its original hardware and a bag of loose keys.
- Smart Lock InstallationYour mother still lives on her own, and the personal support worker, the pharmacy delivery and two siblings all need to get in on different days.