Why rekey your locks when you move
Closing day ends with a handful of keys. Copies of them are almost certainly out there too. Rekeying is the inexpensive way to make those copies useless.
- Dispatch across Chicago's 77 community areas
- Published price list
- All major credit cards
Who else has a key
Assume copies exist. Agents and lockboxes. The sellers and their relatives. A cleaner, a dog walker, a contractor who redid the bathroom. Tenants from years ago, if the place was a rental.
Most of these people are harmless. You still can't check, and you can't collect keys you don't know about.
What rekeying does
A pin-tumbler lock turns when the right key lifts its pins to one line. Rekeying replaces the pins with a new set cut for a new key. The lock, the handle and the bolt stay on the door. You pay for labour and pins, not new hardware.
Starting prices are on the price list. With five locks, the rekey coupon makes the fifth one free.
Rekey or replace
Rekey when the locks work and you only want control of the keys. Replace when a lock is worn, loose or flimsy, when you want a stronger deadbolt, or when a door has no deadbolt at all. Back porch doors are the usual suspects.
Two-flats and condos
In a two-flat or three-flat, think in layers: the shared front door, the back stair, the basement and the garage, then each unit. Owners who rent out a unit should keep shared doors on one key and give each tenant their own unit key. In a condo, the association controls common doors and fobs; your unit door is yours to rekey.