Rekey or Change Your Locks? How to Decide (and What Each Costs)

What's the actual difference between rekeying and replacing?

Rekeying keeps your existing lock on the door and changes which key operates it. The locksmith pulls the cylinder, swaps the little pins inside to match a fresh key, and hands you that key. Every old copy floating around out there stops working the moment the pins change.

Replacing means the old lock comes off the door entirely and new hardware goes on in its place. The costs follow from that difference: rekeying is mostly labor, which is why it starts at $30 per cylinder plus our $39 service call, while replacement starts at $65 per lock plus whatever hardware you pick. Both get quoted exactly before any work starts.

When is rekeying the right call?

The classic case is buying a home. When you close on a house, you get the keys the sellers chose to hand over, and you have no idea how many copies exist beyond those. An old contractor here, a former dog-sitter there. Rekeying makes every stray copy useless in a single visit.

It also fits when a key goes missing or a tenant moves out. And if your locks share a brand, we can usually key the whole house alike, so one key runs every door you own instead of the fat keyring you've been carrying.

Renters, loop in your landlord first. In most leases the locks belong to the building, and plenty of landlords will cover or split a rekey when a roommate situation changes. We work directly with property managers across the service area.

When does replacement make more sense?

Replace when the hardware itself is the problem. A key that needs a wiggle and a prayer, or a deadbolt that has spent twenty upstate winters seizing and thawing, won't be cured by new pins. Worn metal is worn metal, and our freeze-thaw season finds every tired spring in a lock eventually.

Replacement is also the move when you want something better on the door, like a heavier deadbolt or a keypad so nobody hides a key under the mat. We install smart locks as well. Installation starts at $65 per lock plus the hardware you choose, and you'll have the full price, hardware included, before we come out.

What does each option cost?

Here are the numbers side by side, ours against typical national figures for 2026, with the exact quote settled before the work begins.

Rekeying a whole house often costs less than replacing the hardware on one door. The right choice still depends on which problem you have: worn metal calls for replacement, wandering keys call for a rekey.

• Rekeying with KeyPoint: from $30 per cylinder, plus the $39 service call, which is credited toward the job
• Example: front and back deadbolts rekeyed to one new key runs $60 plus the $39 call, $99 all in
• Rekeying nationally: most guides put a professional visit between $80 and $160, with a typical three-door house landing around $150 to $250
• Lock replacement with KeyPoint: from $65 per lock, plus hardware
• Lock replacement nationally: common hardware installed usually runs $100 to $300 per door, and high-security or smart hardware climbs from there

Can you rekey a lock yourself?

You can buy rekeying kits, and a patient person with the right brand of lock can make one work. The catch: each kit fits a single brand, and the pins are the size of rice grains. Get one pin out of order and you own a lock that no key on earth will turn.

At $30 per cylinder, the professional version of this job is one of the cheaper trades you can hire, and it comes with someone accountable if anything goes in wrong. If you're weighing it, call (916) 969-8748, tell me how many doors you've got, and I'll give you the exact all-in price to compare against the kit.

What makes sense for homes around Utica?

The housing around here skews old, from village houses in Clinton and New Hartford to older homes in Cornhill and East Utica, and old houses collect locks the way they collect paint layers. It's common to find three brands on one house, none keyed alike. One visit can usually sort that out: rekey what matches and replace the odd one out, and you leave with a single key on the ring.

If you've just closed on a place anywhere from Waterville to Whitesboro, put rekeying near the top of the move-in list, ahead of the paint. It's the cheapest moment you'll ever have to know exactly who holds keys to your house: you, and nobody else. Call (916) 969-8748 and we'll count up your doors over the phone and set the full price before the truck moves.