What does rekeying actually do?
Rekeying keeps your locks and retires their keys. A locksmith takes each cylinder apart, swaps the small pins inside for a new set at new heights, and hands you fresh keys that match the new arrangement. Every key that fit the old pinning, wherever it lives and whoever is holding it, quietly stops working. That includes the copies you don't know about, which are the entire point.
Your hardware stays put, which is the beauty of the thing. Same deadbolts on the doors, same finish you picked the house for. If the locks are decent quality, rekeying buys you a complete security reset at a fraction of replacement cost, and each cylinder takes only minutes once it's in hand.
People mix up rekeying and changing locks constantly, and the confusion costs them money. Changing locks means new hardware on every door. Rekeying means the same hardware with a new secret. For a just-moved-in house with good locks, the second one is almost always the right buy.
Who might still have a key to your house?
At closing you received a small pile of keys and every possible assurance. What no seller can hand over is an accurate count of the copies made during all the years they lived there. A contractor from a kitchen remodel a decade ago. The neighbor who watered plants every vacation since. Nobody remembers the full list, and that's exactly the problem.
The house has a social history beyond the sellers, too. Real estate agents held a lockbox key while the place sat on the market, inspectors came through, and if it was ever a rental you can add every past tenant to the ledger.
None of this requires suspecting anyone of anything. Most old keyholders are perfectly decent people who will never think about your door again. Rekeying doesn't accuse anybody. It just makes the question permanently irrelevant, which beats lying awake trying to answer it.
What does rekeying cost?
Real numbers below, ours and the national picture, and every figure of ours becomes an exact quote before we drive over.
Count your cylinders before you call. A front door with a keyed knob and a deadbolt is two, not one, and most houses hold more locks than their owners guess. Give us the count over the phone at (916) 969-8748 and you'll have the exact total in a couple of minutes, with nothing added later.
- KeyPoint: from $30 per cylinder, plus a $39 service call credited toward the job
- National on-site range: roughly $20 to $50 per cylinder, before the trip fee
- A typical three-door home, nationally: commonly $100 to $300 all-in
- Replacing locks instead: from $65 per lock plus the hardware itself
- Smart lock installed: priced by model, quoted exactly like everything else
Should you rekey or replace the locks?
Rekey when the hardware is sound. Replace when it isn't. A lock that sticks in cold weather or wobbles on loose screws has troubles no rekey will cure, and bottom-shelf builder hardware from decades past may simply not deserve saving. Age alone isn't the test. A quality deadbolt can outlive the roof.
Plenty of moves land on a mix, a new deadbolt up front where it matters most and rekeys on the good locks everywhere else. We'll look at what's actually on your doors and tell you plainly which locks are worth keeping, since selling you hardware you don't need is a lousy way to earn a neighbor's trust.
Can every door work on one key?
Usually, and moving week is the perfect moment to set it up. Keying alike requires the locks to share a keyway, which roughly means the same brand family, and when they do, one key runs the whole house. No more porch-light fumbling through a fistful of brass to find the one that fits the back door. It's a small quality-of-life upgrade that costs almost nothing extra when it's done during a rekey visit.
When one lock doesn't match the others, we'll point out the holdout and quote what swapping it would cost before touching anything. Some folks deliberately keep the detached garage or a shed on its own key, and that's easy to arrange too.
When should you schedule the rekey?
The ideal window sits between closing and moving in, while the house stands empty and every door is easy to reach. Second best is your first week. What you don't want is to file it under someday, because someday has a way of lasting the whole time you own the house. Locks are the kind of chore that never announces itself until the night it matters.
Renters, the advice holds for you too, with one extra step. Get your landlord's OK first and hand over a copy of the new key, since most leases require it. Some landlords will pick up the cost entirely once you ask, especially between tenants.
And if you've just landed in New Hartford or one of the Utica neighborhoods, welcome, you picked a good corner of the state. We're based a few minutes down NY-8 in Chadwicks, and we answer evenings and weekends when most shops around here have gone home. A whole-house rekey usually fits within days of your call, not weeks. Dial (916) 969-8748 for an exact quote and a time slot that works around the moving truck.
The short version
Rekeying a new home is among the cheapest security decisions you'll ever make, from $30 per cylinder here with the full total quoted before we head out. Do it your first week and have the doors keyed alike while the truck is already parked outside. The old keys can retire to the junk drawer where they belong.
Related questions
People also ask
Can smart locks be rekeyed?
Most smart deadbolts keep a mechanical key cylinder as a backup, and on many models that cylinder rekeys like any other lock. While you're at it, clear the previous owner's door codes and reset the lock's app pairings. Digital keys linger in old phones exactly the way brass ones linger in old junk drawers.
How long does a whole-house rekey take?
Each cylinder needs only minutes once it's in hand, so a typical single-family home fits comfortably inside one visit. The lock count you give on the phone sets both the exact quote and an honest time estimate before we commit to either.
Does rekeying make my locks stronger?
No, and anyone who implies otherwise is selling something. Rekeying changes who holds working keys, while the lock's physical strength stays whatever it was. If you want stronger doors, that's a hardware upgrade, from $65 per lock plus hardware with us, quoted exactly before work starts.