Rekey service in Richmond Hill

Rekeying changes the internal pins of a lock so a new key works and every previous key stops. The lock itself stays in place. Most quality residential and commercial cylinders are designed to be rekeyed many times over their life.

When a rekey makes sense

• You just bought a house. You don't know who has copies of the old key. A rekey kills every floating copy.
• Tenant just moved out. Standard turnover practice for landlords and property managers.
• Lost a key and you don't know where. If it's gone, treat it as compromised and rekey the door.
• Roommate moved out and you'd rather not have an awkward conversation about returning keys.
• Staff turnover at a business. Rekey the building rather than collecting keys you can't be sure no one copied.
• You want all your locks to take the same key. We can rekey three or four mismatched locks to a single key.

Rekey vs lock change

How a rekey actually works

Inside every pin-tumbler lock are stacks of small pins of different heights. The right key pushes them into a flat line so the cylinder turns. To rekey, we remove the cylinder, swap out the bottom pins for a different combination of heights, and cut a new key to match. Old keys no longer line up the pins, so they stop working. The lock body, the deadbolt, and the door hardware all stay exactly as they were.

What we charge for

Rekey pricing scales with the number of cylinders. A typical home has 2–4 exterior cylinders (front deadbolt, back door, garage side door, sometimes a knob). A typical small office has more. We quote based on the count, not by the hour. You'll hear the number on the phone before we drive out.

What we'll bring

Our van carries pins, springs, key blanks, and basic replacement cylinders for the most common brands — Kwikset, Schlage, Defiant, Master, Weiser, and a handful of commercial lines. If your locks need parts we don't usually stock (high-security cylinders, older European brands), we'll tell you on the call so we can pick them up before the appointment.