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Changing the door locks on your home may not always be the only alternative to consider when looking to enhance protection on your home. Lock re-keying is oftentimes a faster, more affordable solution that allows you to achieve similar results while saving you a lot of money for brand new door locks. If you are not familiar with the differences between changing a home lock and having a lock re-keyed, these next few lines should shed more light on the topic.
If you are a landlord managing one or several rental homes, you are dealing with dozens of tenants who come and go several times a year. This automatically means changing the locks will force you to dig deep into your pockets every time. Did you know that you could opt for having the locks re-keyed instead of installing new sets of locks every time? Most locksmiths will fail to explain the differences between the two procedures because they are either in a hurry to get to their next job or they are looking to charge you for the more expensive service. Here are the main differences between the two:
Old Keys VS New Keys
Rekeying a lock is the process of changing the mechanism of the lock so that the current working key can be switched with a different key, without the locksmith having to remove the old lock and install a new one instead. This means you will be able to hold on to the current lock on your front or back door, which is advantageous provided you have already invested a lot of money in an expensive, high-security lock that you would like to continue to use.
At the same time, re-keying a lock also means the old keys will be rendered useless, so they can no longer be used by any of the old homeowners or tenants that might have kept a spare. To do this, a locksmith will use special tools to disassemble the lock and proceed to replace the lock cylinder, i.e. replace some of the parts known as the tumblers or the pins of the lock. Each set of pins inside a lock only matches a certain key, so once the old pins will be replaced with fresh ones, a new key can be set and used together with the lock. Or a locksmith can remove the existing lock cylinder and replace it with a new one. This is a relatively simple procedure that should normally take an authorized locksmith with experience in the field no more than a few minutes to complete. However, depending on the type of lock you own, the process can be lengthier and it may require the use of some additional tools to adjust the door lock and frame which should, again, only be handled by expert locksmiths who know exactly which tools to use.
Our locksmiths will rely on the current key that matches the lock to complete the lock rekeying as fast and smoothly as possible. Without this key, they will need to pick the lock open, which means you will be charged extra on the final bill. At times, the costs of having a lock with a missing key re-keyed are higher than the cost of having a new lock installed altogether.
Lock Security
Nonetheless, having a lock rekeyed will not affect the integrity and protection provided by the respective lock. One determining element that decides how safe a lock is would be the number of pins inside the cylinder. Swapping an old 6 pins cylinder with a new 6 pins cylinder means effectively preserving the security of the lock.
On the other hand, in case you are interested in beefing up security on your property, you should consider changing the old lock cylinders with new, high-security alternatives such as a double deadbolt lock cylinder or a new keypad locks. These are some of the most common types of sturdy locks that our experts are hired to install. The excellent results they have proven over the years, as well as during industry tests make them good choices for lots of people.
Pricing
Key cylinders are affordable, which makes rekeying costs cheaper than having new locks installed. If you will choose to have the locks on your home re-keyed, you can expect to only be charged for the labor and the new cylinders. Should you decide to have the locks replaced, you will pay for both the labor and the new door locks, unless you provide them yourself.
If you are not sure whether the locks on your newly bought house or apartment can be rekeyed, you should know that all locks feature a built-in rekeying option aka the locks cylinder. In other words, all locks can be rekeyed, but they will normally require different types of tools for it. Medco locks need a special set of tools and key pins in order to be rekeyed.
You can also consider rekeying a lock in order to have several locks match a single key. If you have moved into a household with a few different locks that feature different keys, the inconvenience can be eliminated by rekeying all the locks so they can all be compatible with just one key. A professional locksmith will determine whether the locks belong to the same brand or if they have the same keyways, or else the matching process will fail.
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