Sound familiar?Fenwick
- The call
- The previous owners left a coffee tin of keys on the counter, some labelled, most not. The house is yours now, but you have no idea how many copies were cut over the years or who still has one in a drawer somewhere.
The previous owners left a coffee tin of keys on the counter, some labelled, most not. The house is yours now, but you have no idea how many copies were cut over the years or who still has one in a drawer somewhere.
In plain words
A rekeying visit follows a straightforward order. First the locksmith confirms you are entitled to change the locks, which for an owner is identification and for a tenant includes the landlord's agreement. Next comes a walk around the house to list every door to include, read the keyway on each cylinder and check its condition. The cylinders come out one at a time, are pinned to the new key and go back in. Every door is then tested with the new key and with the old one, spares are cut and tried in each lock, and you receive a note of what was done.
Lock Rekeying · Fenwick
How the visit goes
Scene 1
Counting the keys that are already out there
Part of planning a rekey is understanding why it is happening. The locksmith asks how many keys exist as far as you know, who has held one, and whether any went missing with something identifying the address. The answers do not change the pinning, but they shape the advice: whether a padlock or mailbox shares the same risk, whether a garage keypad code should change on the same visit, and how many new keys make sense to cut. It also helps to know whether any key is a restricted or patented type, since those are cut from a record rather than duplicated and may involve the original supplier.
Scene 2
Proving the old keys are finished
The last operation at every door is the test that matters most. The locksmith turns the new key from outside and inside with the door open, then closed, and confirms the bolt throws fully and draws back cleanly. Then the old key is tried in the same cylinder and must turn nothing. This is repeated at every rekeyed door, because the door that gets skipped is the one an old key still opens. Spares cut from the new pinning are tried in every lock they are meant for. The old keys, now just shaped brass, are collected or handed back to you for the recycling bin.
Scene 3
For landlords: the tenant's copies and the paperwork
After a rental unit is rekeyed, the incoming tenant receives their keys, the landlord keeps a copy as the tenancy rules expect, and the number issued is written on the move-in record so the count at move-out is easy to check. The former tenant's keys are retired. Where a building has several suites, the locksmith can keep each on its own key while the shared entry stays on a common one, and the note of which key belongs to which door becomes the start of a keying chart. That chart is what makes the next turnover a matter of one cylinder rather than a guessing game about who has what.
In the van
- Retaining clip tool
- Replacement cylinder for odd keyways
- Key blanks
- Key gauge
- Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
What shapes the quoteMaple Park Locksmith Co.
- Travel to the property
- Every visit includes the drive. A home across town and a rural property at the end of a long road involve different travel time, and the quote reflects the trip as well as the bench work.
- Mismatched keyways needing a cylinder swap
- Where one door's cylinder cannot take the key the other doors share, a compatible replacement cylinder is fitted and pinned to match, and that hardware appears as its own line in the quote.
- One key group or several
- Keying every door alike is the simplest plan. Setting up separate keys for a basement suite, an office or a shed adds a group to pin and label, and the quote shows that as separate work.
FeesSame any hour
Good questions about locks
Will my door hardware look any different afterwards?
No. The work happens inside the cylinder, so the bolt, handle, finish and strike plate stay exactly as they are, and nothing new is cut into the door. The only visible change is the key in your hand. If a cylinder does have to be replaced, because its keyway is incompatible with the others or it has worn out, the locksmith picks one in a matching finish so the door keeps a consistent look.
I rent. Can I have my locks rekeyed?
Yes, with your landlord's agreement, which is what the tenancy rules here expect before a tenant changes a lock. Most landlords are glad to consent when a key has gone missing or a former roommate has moved out, and the locksmith will want to hear that the landlord knows and will be holding one of the new keys. The rekey itself runs the same as for an owner, and a short note listing the doors done is handy to pass to the landlord.
How is rekeying different from replacing the lock?
Rekeying keeps your existing deadbolt or handle set and gives it a new key, commonly by changing the pins inside, though some cylinders reset a different way. Replacing removes the whole lock or cylinder and fits new hardware. Rekeying suits locks that are in good condition and simply need a fresh key. Replacement is the better call for hardware that is worn or damaged, built to a low grade, on a keyway the other doors cannot share, or due for a change of style or a keypad.
Change or Rekey Locks
- Lock Replacement & UpgradeSomeone tried the back door while you were away.
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceThe interior bedroom doors on the second floor have the original mortise latches, and none of them close any more.
- Smart Lock InstallationThe deadbolt is a stiff double-cylinder model that needs a key from both sides, and in the dark hallway finding it is a nuisance.
- Gate & Building Entry LocksThe gate to the side yard used to close with a satisfying click.
- Mailbox Lock ReplacementThe little brass key for your curbside mailbox was on the same ring as the one you lost at the gym last week.
Fenwickinformation
NiagaraOntario
Lock Rekeying · Welland, Pelham, Crowland, Maple Park, Stop 19, Welland South, Fonthill, Kunda Park, Ridgeville
- Town
- Fenwick, Niagara
- In business
- 35 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7
- Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (365) 364-0824
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
2021 census: what it means at the door
Every square is one home in a hundred.
- 47 in 100 homes · mixed ages
- 83 in 100 homes · mostly houses
- About 47% of homes in Pelham were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.In an area of varied housing ages, rekeying is the one job that fits every door. Old cylinders and new ones both take fresh pins, so a household moving into either kind of home can start with keys that nobody else holds.
- Single-detached houses make up about 83% of homes in Pelham (2021 Census).Where homes are mostly detached, patio and sliding doors deserve attention alongside the hinged ones. Auxiliary locks, pin locks and better latches for sliders are routine additions that a locksmith brings on the same visit as the front door work.
On-site assessment
Request a visit.
The previous owners left a coffee tin of keys on the counter, some labelled, most not.
(365) 364-0824, open 24/7.