Change or rekey · Lambeth
Lock Rekeying in Lambeth
The builder handed over your new home with a stack of identical keys, and you know the framing crew, the painters and the flooring installers all used a construction key during the build. The doors are brand new, but the key that opens them should be yours alone.
Call now · open 24/7(226) 785-2980In plain words
For landlords and tenants, rekeying is the tidy way to handle a change of occupancy. A departing tenant may have copied a key or simply forgotten to return one, and a fresh pinning means the incoming tenant is the only person holding a working key. Tenancy rules in this province expect a landlord who changes locks to give the tenant a replacement key and a tenant to have the landlord's consent before changing them, so a locksmith asks who is requesting the work and makes sure both sides end up with a key. A small record of the doors and key count keeps everyone clear.
How the visit goesThe builder handed over your new home with a stack of identical keys, and you know the framing crew, the painters and the flooring installers all used a construction key during the build. The doors are brand new, but the key that opens them should be yours alone.
Lock Rekeying · Lambeth
How the visit goes
- 1
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.
- 2
Proving the old keys are finished
The last operation at every door is the test that matters most. The locksmith turns the new key from outside and inside with the door open, then closed, and confirms the bolt throws fully and draws back cleanly. Then the old key is tried in the same cylinder and must turn nothing. This is repeated at every rekeyed door, because the door that gets skipped is the one an old key still opens. Spares cut from the new pinning are tried in every lock they are meant for. The old keys, now just shaped brass, are collected or handed back to you for the recycling bin.
- 3
Looking after a freshly pinned cylinder
A cylinder that has just been rekeyed turns as smoothly as it ever will, and a little care keeps it that way. Once or twice a year, a puff of whatever lubricant the cylinder maker specifies into the keyway and a few turns of the key is all it needs, since some current cylinders use oil while too much graphite can itself gum a cylinder. When you need more copies, cut them from one of the locksmith's originals rather than from a copy, because each generation drifts a little from the true depths. A key that starts to need a jiggle is the cylinder asking for a clean and a new key, not a sign of anything serious.
In the van
- Graded bottom pin kit
- Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
- Key blanks
- Replacement cylinder for odd keyways
- Key gauge
What affects the quote
- 1
Records, tags and labelled key sets
A homeowner needs a short note. A property manager may want a keying chart, tagged sets for each suite and a key-issuance log, which is more office work and is quoted as such.
- 2
Mailboxes, padlocks and cabinets
Small cam locks on mailboxes and cabinets are usually replaced rather than repinned, and padlocks vary in whether they can join the house key; each of these is priced as its own item.
- 3
Number of keys cut
Keys are cut and tested individually, so the total depends on how many the household or the tenants need. Say the number when you book and the quote reflects it from the start.
Same fees day, night or weekend.
Lock Rekeying: questions
How long does a rekeying visit take?
It scales with the number of cylinders and how many need attention beyond pinning. A single deadbolt is a short bench job; a whole house with five or six exterior cylinders, a couple of swaps for mismatched keyways and a set of spares to cut and test takes a good deal longer. Tell the locksmith how many doors you want included when you book, and the visit can be planned realistically rather than guessed at.
What is a restricted keyway, and does it change anything?
A restricted or patented keyway is one whose blanks are not sold to the public, so copies can only be cut by an authorized dealer from a record of who is allowed to have them. Rekeying such a cylinder is the same operation inside, but the new keys are cut from controlled blanks and the count is logged. The benefit is that a key cannot be duplicated at a kiosk without your knowledge, which makes the record of who holds one much easier to trust.
How is rekeying different from replacing the lock?
Rekeying keeps your existing deadbolt or handle set and gives it a new key, commonly by changing the pins inside, though some cylinders reset a different way. Replacing removes the whole lock or cylinder and fits new hardware. Rekeying suits locks that are in good condition and simply need a fresh key. Replacement is the better call for hardware that is worn or damaged, built to a low grade, on a keyway the other doors cannot share, or due for a change of style or a keypad.
Lock Rekeying near you
Middlesex, Ontario
Lambeth information
- Town
- Lambeth, Middlesex, Ontario
- In business
- 15 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (226) 785-2980
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
What the census means at the door
52%
Older homes. About 52% of homes in London were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
Established homes often have non-standard bores and backsets from an earlier generation of hardware. A locksmith working in such an area carries adapter plates and cylinders in the older sizes, so an upgrade fits the existing door instead of forcing a new one.
49%
A mix of homes. Single-detached houses make up about 49% of homes in London (2021 Census).
A mix of detached and attached housing means a mix of key habits: spare keys under pots at houses, fob-and-key combinations in buildings. A locksmith can improve both, with a proper key safe or keypad here and a tidy suite cylinder there.
Nearby
Open 24/7
Request a visit
The builder handed over your new home with a stack of identical keys, and you know the framing crew, the painters and the flooring installers all used a construction key during the build.
Call now · open 24/7(226) 785-2980- On-site assessment preferred
- Same fees day, night or weekend
- 15 years in business