Rekey vs Replace

People often call to change out locks in apartments, houses, and businesses throughout the area. They are often surprised when we offer them the option of rekeying a lock instead of replacing it. Most customers are not aware of this option which is usually much cheaper than purchasing and replacing an old lock with a brand new one. So what is the real difference between rekeying a lock and changing it out and which option is right for you?

Rekey service and lock replacement services are two different options available to consumers looking to change the keys that are able to open up a lock. These situations can arise when tenants move out of an apartment and may still have a key, employees that may have recently left a job and may still own keys to the office location etc. While replacing a lock completely involved a locksmith removing the entire mechanism of your lock and replacing it with a new one, a rekey only involves altering the inside of an existing lock so that the old keys that used to work on that lock no longer do and new keys are rendered to the customer to use with the old lock.

If your apartment or house has been recently broken into it is recommended to change out the lock completely and install a brand new one it it’s place. In most cases when a lock has been tempered with it will no longer work and therefore a locksmith may not be able to rekey it at all. If you have recently purchased a new home or moved into a rented one it is highly recommended to replace the lock to a completely new one to ensure it’s proper functionality. If you are a property owner that rents out apartments to tenants it is important that you keep your locks up to date. While most property owners require tenants to return their keys once they vacate the premises you can never be 100% sure that additional copies of a key weren’t made and aren’t available to them even after they vacate their apartment.

Lastly we always recommend changing out a lock completely if a lock has been installed on a door for a long period of time since after years of locking and unlocking the security level of a lock is naturally compromised due to normal wear and tear and continued usage.

In most other situations we would recommend rekeying a lock as it’s a cheaper option that allows customers to maintain their home or business’ security. It is important to note that on some types of locks it is not possible to rekey them and therefore a lock change may be required.