Rekeying After Moving
You cannot know how many keys exist to a house you have just taken on. That is the whole argument.
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The keys handed over at a move are the keys somebody could find, not the keys that exist. Across the life of a house, copies go to cleaners, contractors, dog walkers, neighbours, relatives, letting agents, previous tenants and the seller's own family, and none of that is recorded anywhere. The previous occupant's honesty is not the point; their record keeping was never designed to answer this question.
Rekeying settles it in a single visit without replacing anything. The cylinders stay on the doors, the pins inside them change, and every key cut before that moment stops working. It is the least expensive genuinely useful security step available to anyone who has just moved, and the reason it gets skipped is nearly always that the first week is busy rather than that anybody decided against it.
What to include in the first visit
- Every exterior door, not just the front one. The back door and the door between the garage and the house are the two most commonly forgotten.
- The garage side door out to the yard, which on a great many houses is the oldest and lightest lock on the property.
- Gates and outbuildings — side gates, sheds and stores frequently hold ladders and tools, which is a route into the house rather than a separate problem.
- Whether everything can go onto one key, which is usually achievable even across mismatched brands and is the moment a house stops being irritating to live in.
- Any lock that is already failing, because rekeying a worn cylinder hands you a fresh key for a lock that will still stick.
Before the visit
- Count the exterior doors, including the ones you have not used yet.
- Gather every key that came with the property, including any nobody can identify.
- Decide whether you want a single key for everything or a couple of separate ones.
- If you rent, check with the landlord first, since the hardware belongs to them.
- Note any door that sticks, drags, or has to be pulled towards you before the bolt will throw.
If this is a rental portfolio with tenants coming and going rather than a single move, the same work is planned as a cycle. see property management rekeying.
Common questions
How soon after moving should this happen?
Within the first week is a sensible standard, and sooner if the property stood empty, was a rental, or was recently on the market with a lockbox on the door. A lockbox in particular means agents and viewers had access to a key for as long as the listing ran.
Do I need new locks or just new keys?
New keys, in the great majority of cases. Rekeying changes what the old keys open while keeping hardware that is doing its job. New locks are the answer when the existing ones are worn out, damaged, or lighter than the door deserves.
The house came with five different keys. Can that be sorted at the same time?
Usually, and it is the right moment to do it. Where the keyways are compatible the cylinders get pinned to a single key; where one is the odd one out, swapping that single cylinder costs far less than changing everything.
I am renting. Can I rekey?
Ask the landlord first, because the hardware is theirs and many leases require the change to be authorised and a key handed over. Most are receptive when the request is put as a security measure rather than as a lock change, and some will pay for it.
Related locksmith services
Describe the lock or key problem
A short description of what happened gets the right tools on the vehicle.
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