Just Moved In? Rekey or Replace Your Locks

The keys you get at closing or on move-in day are rarely the only ones. Over the years a house collects copies: the previous owners, their family, a dog walker, a contractor, a cleaner, a neighbor who watered the plants. Most of those keys are forgotten in a drawer, but you have no way of knowing which. Changing what the locks answer to is one of the first jobs worth doing in a new home.

Why the locks come first

New paint and furniture can wait. Unknown keys are the one thing on the move-in list that affects your safety from the first night, and it's also the easiest time to deal with them: the house is empty, you're there to let us in, and you get to decide how many keys exist from day one.

The same goes for renters moving between homes and for landlords between tenants. There's more on both below.

Rekey or replace?

Both stop the old keys from working. The difference is what happens to the hardware.

• Rekeying changes the inside of each lock cylinder to work with a new key. The lock stays on the door, the old keys stop working, and it's the simpler job when the locks are in good shape.
• Replacing means new locks. It's the answer when a lock is worn, sticking, damaged or a style you don't like, or when you want something different, like a keypad or smart lock.

The move-in checklist

Walk around the house and note what's on every door that leads outside or into an attached space:

• The front door: the knob or lever, and the deadbolt.
• The back door and any side doors.
• The door between the garage and the house. It's easy to forget, and it's often the one left unlocked.
• Sliding patio doors, and whether they have a second lock.
• A keypad or smart lock left by the previous owners. Change the codes, and remove any users or phones still set up in its app.
• Gates and outbuildings with keyed locks, if you want them on the same key.
• Windows with key locks, if the house has them.

Take a photo of each lock as you go. It makes the call with us, or the trip to buy new hardware, much easier.

Look at the strikes while you're at it

A lock is only as strong as what it locks into. On many doors the strike plate in the frame is held by short screws that only reach the soft trim. When the locks are being rekeyed or replaced, it's the moment to check the strikes too.

• Longer screws that reach the framing behind the trim hold the strike far better.
• A reinforcement plate spreads the load around the lock and the strike.
• A deadbolt whose bolt doesn't go all the way into the frame isn't doing its job; the strike or the door needs adjusting.
• Each deadbolt should lock with the door shut without pushing, pulling or lifting it.

Landlords and renters

For landlords, changing what the locks answer to between tenants is the simplest way to be sure the last tenant's copies, and anyone they lent a key to, no longer work. Keep a short record of which key fits which door and how many copies exist, so the next change is easy.

For renters, check the lease and ask your landlord before changing or rekeying anything. The landlord may need a key to the new lock, and the lease may say who arranges the work.

• Hand out keys by count, and write the count down.
• Collect every key at move-out, and change the locks anyway if one is missing.

Smart locks and keypads

If you're replacing a lock anyway, a keypad or app-controlled lock means no keys to copy at all: codes can be added and removed as people come and go. Our smart lock installation page covers what's involved, and our guide to a smart lock with a dead battery explains the one thing every owner should plan for.

If you'd rather measure the door yourself before choosing a new lock, our guide on measuring a door for a new lock shows what to check.