Change or rekey · Ajax

Lock Rekeying

Your roommate moved out last weekend. Rent is settled, the room is empty, and the key is still on their ring.

In plain words

Moving into a home is the moment most people first hear about rekeying, and it is the most sensible time to do it. A resale house has usually passed through owners, real estate agents, home inspectors, cleaners and trades, each of whom may have held a key at some point. Rekeying every exterior cylinder on move-in day means the only keys that work are the ones cut for you, and the same visit is a chance to put every door on one key so the coffee tin of mystery keys can go in the recycling.

Sound familiar?

Every copy of your house key seems to work a little differently. One needs a jiggle, another sticks halfway, and the original wore down years ago. The lock itself is fine; the keys have drifted so far from each other that none fits cleanly.

How the visit goes

Lock Rekeying · Ajax

How the visit goes

1
Deciding the key groups
Not every door in a home needs to answer to the same key, and the plan is written down before work starts. Most households want the exterior doors keyed alike so one key does everything. Some want exceptions: a basement suite on its own key, a home office or a storage room that visitors should not enter, a shed on a separate key that can be lent out without exposing the house. The locksmith sketches the groups with you, notes how many keys each group needs and who will hold them, and only then begins removing cylinders. Getting this straight first means no cylinder is pinned twice.
2
Cutting the new key and gauging the depths
On this cylinder type, the new key comes first, then the pins to match it. The locksmith cuts a fresh key from a blank on a code cutter or duplicator, choosing a combination that is not close to the old one, and reads each cut with a key gauge to find its depth on the manufacturer's scale. Bottom pins of the matching lengths are picked from a graded pin kit and dropped into the plug chamber by chamber, so that when the new key is inserted every pin top sits exactly at the shear line. A key cut from a clean blank and pins matched to it by gauge is what gives a rekeyed lock that crisp, new feel.
3
Living with one key for the house
If the visit brought your doors onto a single key, daily life gets a little simpler: one key opens the front door, the back, the garage's side entry and the shed, and the ring in your pocket shrinks to the car key and one for the house. Anyone you give a key to gets the same freedom, which is convenient for family and worth thinking about for anyone who should only reach one door; that is what a separate group is for. Keypads and smart locks keep their codes, and their override cylinder now takes the same key. If you add a door later, its cylinder can be pinned to match.

In the van

Cylinder shim
Replacement cylinder for odd keyways
Code cutter or key duplicator
Pinning tweezers and tray
Graded bottom pin kit

What affects the quote

1
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.
2
Upgrades chosen during the visit
Some people take the opportunity to replace a double-cylinder deadbolt with a thumb-turn model, add a reinforced strike or move to a heavier deadbolt. None of it is needed to rekey; each is a separate line.
3
Number of keys cut
Keys are cut and tested individually, so the total depends on how many the household or the tenants need. Say the number when you book and the quote reflects it from the start.

Same fees day, night or weekend.

Have it ready

Before you call · 0 / 3

Is the home a condo or in a building with shared entrance doors?
How many new keys will your household or your tenants need?
Do you know the age of the locks or whether any is a restricted type?

(289) 275-3289

Lock Rekeying: questions

Advice · (289) 275-3289

My deadbolt says I can rekey it myself with a little tool. Should I?

You can, given a key that currently operates the lock, the maker's reset tool, the new key and the steps followed in order. Trouble tends to arrive when the old key is missing, when the new key belongs to a different keyway, or when a reset stalls halfway and the cylinder then accepts neither key. A locksmith carries the tool and the procedure, can check that the new key suits the rest of your doors, and can fit a standard cylinder if a forced reset has broken the mechanism.

Do the old keys really stop working?

Yes, at every cylinder that was rekeyed. Once the bottom pins are changed, a key cut to the old combination lifts them to the wrong heights and the plug will not turn. The locksmith proves this at each door by trying the old key after the new one, because any door missed from the list would still answer to the old key. That is also why the walk around the property at the start matters: every door meant to be included has to be on the list.

My house is older and has a mortise lock. Can that be rekeyed?

Yes. A mortise lock, the kind with a large case set into the edge of the door, uses a threaded cylinder held by a set screw reached from the door's edge. The cylinder unthreads, is pinned like any other and screws back in. Where a very old lock uses a bit key or a lever mechanism instead of a pin cylinder, the locksmith will explain the options, which may include fitting a modern cylinder into the existing case so the door keeps its original hardware.

Change or Rekey Locks

Lock Rekeying near you

Pickering Beach

Durham, Ontario

Ajax information

Town: Ajax, Durham, Ontario
In business: 29 years
Hours: Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
Phone: (289) 275-3289
Work: lockouts, change or rekey, high security, commercial
Visits: On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.

What the census means at the door

23%

Newer homes. About 23% of homes in Ajax were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.

New homes frequently come with strikes held by short screws into soft framing. Replacing them with longer screws that reach the stud is inexpensive work that adds real strength, and it is one of the first things a locksmith checks in a newer area.

65%

Mostly houses. Single-detached houses make up about 65% of homes in Ajax (2021 Census).

Families in houses hand keys to children, cleaners, dog walkers and neighbours. A locksmith can set up a keypad on the side door for the household and keep the front door on a conventional key, so access matches how the family actually comes and goes.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population