Why You Should Rekey Your New Home

Buying a new house is exciting, and you’re probably wondering if rekeying your home is necessary. Yes, so much so that First American Home Warranty says that you should change your locks when you buy a new house after closing, but before spending your first night.

Rekeying means changing the key pins inside the locking mechanism, which renders an old key or set of keys from previous tenants or owners unusable. If you’ve moved into a new home, call a locksmith for rekeying services to rekey or change the locks.

Previous owners could have had multiple tenants, and who knows who had access to keys or copied them without the owner’s knowledge—always rekey a lock or install a smart system for peace of mind, knowing your family is safe. Having a different key than previous owners for your home’s security is essential.

According to SafeHome, residences accounted for 2 in 3 burglaries, with stores, offices, churches, schools, and other buildings making up the other third. More than 6 in 10 burglaries occurred during the day, and burglaries tend to draw the lowest arrest rates among all property crimes. This blog will show you why you should change your locks or rekey to ensure your home is secure.

Security Risks From Previous Owners or Tenants

One of the main reasons that you rekey your locks when buying a home, even a newly constructed house, is to control who has access to your new home. Rekeying means using rekeying services to rearrange the pins in the lock’s cylinder, making old keys unusable. 

This means that previous owners or tenants can no longer access your home. A professional locksmith from Locksmith United will do the following if they are rekeying. 

• A complete security audit checking all entry points and advising on updated home security.
• Replace or rekey all entry doors, including sliding doors, gate locks, and garage locks.

• Discuss the cost of rekeying locks with different lock brands and door hardware.
• Verify home security by checking door frames, strike plates, and windows.

Rekeying vs. Lock Replacement

If you’re about to purchase a new house, it’s essential to understand that replacing the locks and rekeying a lock are two different things. Rekeying your locks means a professional locksmith changes the pins and springs inside the lock to work with a new key.

The existing hardware is kept intact using the rekey kit, which contains precision pins and tools to reset the lock’s key plug (the cylinder where the key enters). The takeaway here is that the lock assembly itself remains inside the door. 

However, replacing the locks means a locksmith changes the complete lock mechanism with a new one. (including the cylinder, bolt, doorknob, and so on) Lock rekeying is much cheaper and faster; you can keep your current locks.

Reasons to Rekey Your Locks After Moving

You’re probably wondering if you should learn how to rekey locks yourself or whether to get locks professionally re-keyed. Let’s say you’ve just purchased your dream American home and need locks on a new house or locks changed on a newly purchased home. “The expert skills of a professional not only boost security and your peace of mind but also let you spend your time on other tasks,” says First American Home Warranty. 

Here’s why professional rekeying is a good choice:

• If you have locks rekeyed, it’s much cheaper than replacing locks.
• You’ve moved into a new home that someone else has loved and only want to ensure that only family members have access. You don’t know who else has your keys!
• Rekeying can match more than one lock with the same key, making it more convenient to maintain home security.
• Using rekeying services saves you time and money compared to DIY rekeying, where a rekeying kit may be problematic if you’re not a pro.

Lost Keys and You Need a New Key

If you’ve lost your keys to your new home and need to rekey, rekeying your locks is essential to home safety. This Old House suggests that you could also consider it as an opportunity to upgrade to advanced locking systems like smart locks, which offer remote access and provide alerts for unauthorized entry attempts. 

“High-security deadbolts offer increased resistance to forced entry and are an excellent deterrent against burglaries. These options can significantly enhance the security of your home or property.”

Different Brands of Door Locks

You’ve just moved into your new home and realized that the differing door locks from multiple brands are an eye sore or that there’s an old lock that you really dislike. You also have to use different keys to open different doors and prefer to work with the same key. First, American Warranty says replacing the locks is the way to go if you want to use the same key for all your doors.

“Before you start replacing locks, make sure that each door does indeed have a different lock brand. If the doors in your home have the same hardware brand, but each door uses a different key for some reason, then you can save some money by simply learning how to rekey locks so that they all work with the same key.”

Cost of Rekeying

The most cost-effective way of rekeying is with Locksmith’s United rekeying services. In most cases, it makes more sense to rekey than to change a lock. If you want to change or upgrade your home security with new locks, First American Home Warranty says that when you rekey locks yourself, you spend between $10 and $50, depending on the branded rekey kit you purchase.

This is the cheapest way to change locks on a house. Locksmith rekeying services help maintain home security with a new home purchase. “The costs will vary depending on local labor rates and how long the job takes (based on how many and the type of locks your home has). You might pay from $50 to $200 or more,” explains First American Home.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’ve recently moved into a newly constructed home or an older home, the real estate process is never complete unless you choose to rekey your home’s locks to ensure one key home security. 

If you want a way to change your locks immediately to change the look, rekeying is much cheaper than replacing the entire lock and gives new homeowners a new set of keys. This means that you ensure that no one else, like a house cleaner or dog walker, has copies of the keys.

 Rekeying services with Locksmith United give new homeowners a way to change a lock with a new one or to rekey when they buy a new house and maintain optimal home security. Call us if you need to rekey the lock, secure the garage door, or find a way to keep security in your home at its best 24/7!