Moving to a new home, losing your keys or firing an employee can put you in a dilemma whether to change locks or simply rekey them. You may then decide to call a locksmith with your problem, at least to use his counsel on the matter. Pray your locksmith is a person of high integrity for otherwise they might choose an expensive option for you, which is replacing locks when you could do well with rekeying. Some unscrupulous locksmiths may take advantage of their customer’s ignorance. But thank heavens you are reading this- read on and, by the end of the article, you can make a wiser decision. And if you’re in need of more information, feel free to check out atllocksmithpros.com.
Rekeying Locks
When a locksmith rekeys your locks, he removes the springs and pins inside the cylinder and inserts new pins & springs so that the lock will hence work with new and different keys. A majority of locks may be rekeyed and continue to operate as good as before- sometimes even better than before.
One of the commonest reason people opt to rekey their locks is so as maintain key control in case there is change in ownership of property or when keys are given out, or you fear an untrustworthy person could be having a spare key to your house. Key control means knowing or accounting for every key that can operate your house. With a home previously owned by another person, you can’t tell who had access to any of the keys. For new homes, there is fear the contractor has access to copies of the keys.
Besides, in virtually all single-builder communities, the locks are construction master-keyed. And though the current homeowner can prevent future use of contractor’s key, there could be master pins still left inside the lock. There are cases where as many as sixteen different keys can open a single home’s locks. In this case, rekeying is important so as to remove the master pins and cancel the likelihood of a different key operating your locks.
For the locksmith to rekey any lock, it is important they have the present matching key. If there is no matching key, he can pick the lock open, but that will cost you more than what it might cost to change the locks altogether.
It is worth noting that rekeying the lock does not reduce the security of a lock. It doesn’t make it secure than before either. What makes a lock more secure or not is the number of pins inside of it. If there are five old pins, and the locksmith replaces them with five newer ones, that lock will remain secure just as before.
If what you wish to do is upgrade your lock’s security, replacing them with new and more secure ones is appropriate.
Changing Locks
There are instances where changing the locks is the ideal option. Locks are also susceptible to tear and wear to a point where rekeying can’t restore their efficiency. Or, if your security concerns increase, the best idea is to upgrade your locks to new, more secure locks. Considering what you stand to lose should an evil-meaning person breach your home’s security, upgrading your locks to more secure ones is such a small price to pay for your peace of mind.
Some folks may opt to change locks for only aesthetic reasons or in response to disabilities. For example, one may replace knobs with lever handle locks which are more attractive as well as easier to operate. Likewise, deadbolts come with an inside thumb turn that you can operate easily without grasping. You might have noted that electronic locks are becoming very popular- but they don’t offer more security, only more convenience.
You may also want to change locks if the locks in your house come from different brands, and you want all of them to function on one key. In that case, you’ll have to change the locks and get ones of a similar brand. Note that when changing your locks, the locksmith should give you at least some locks together with the matching key. There are hardware stores that match the locks for free after purchase.
Always consult a professional locksmith so that you may know what the ideal option for you is. While rekeying is always a cheaper option, changing the locks, especially if the old locks look worn, or if you intend to upgrade your locks, is safer and better for your security.