Lock rekeying
 

Just wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations on places that did rekeying of locks for relatively cheap.

I just bought a townhouse and wanted to get the locks changed and figured a rekey would be the cheapest option. If anyone has any recommended people who do this, please pass on their information. (and their pricing if you happen to have it)

It would be cheaper to bring the lock or cylinder to a locksmith than the locksmith to come to you.

I think it's about $12/15 per cylinder if you bring it to them and if they come out it's $50/75 + cylinder charge.

Oh yeah, for sure I'd take it to them. (or can they do it without me bringing the lock to them if I just tell them what brand it is?) If I took the lock out, I'd end up with a door with no lock during the time I'd be rekeying it :D

I figured the cost should be under $20. A new lock from Walmart was about $25 so I figure if it costs any more than $20, then I'd go buy a new lock. However, I wanted to preserve the current look of the lock set in case the strata decides to throw a hissy fit because my lock looks different.

Hey, I know you! Congrats on your purchase!

Depending on what brand of lock, you might be able to buy a lock rekeying kit from Home Depot and do it yourself. IIRC it's about $15 for the kit and it can re-key upto 6 locks, it also comes with 3 keys. I think HD sells kits for Weiser, Schlage and Kwik-set.

Do not buy some no-name brand lock from Walmart.

Did you buy the Xsi from me? Trying to remember who you are. :)

The Walmart one was a Schlage or Master lock. (they had both brands and were within $1 of each other around the $25 mark) It's a Taymor lock that they used on all the doors in the townhouse complex.

I'll check out Home Depot tomorrow and see if they have some there. Thanks for the suggestion!

Personally, I do not recommend the locks from Home Depot or any of the big box stores. We've had poor experiences with them in terms of build quality and durability. The materials used are what you pay for and they chew up our keys often. Mind you, this is a house of 5 people, myself included who are in and out all day.

If I could do it again, I would have purchased a proper lock/key set from a locksmith who provided me with a steel key as opposed to brass.

I went to Broadway Locksmith and they were pretty helpful, although I did not buy from them. Only had a key cut by them. Oh, and congrats on the purchase! :)

Yep, that was me!

I believe Schlage is a good lock brand, although they do have different grades too! I didn't know Master made door locks.

For the Taymor locks, I'm not sure if you can buy a rekeying kit; you may need to take that to a locksmith.

If you are going to be replacing the entire door knob, definately don't skimp and get something decent.

What brand locks did you buy from HD? Afaik, they do sell some decent stuff (not everything they sell though), probably better than some of the contractor grade stuff that goes onto new homes.

Yeah, I'll probably do a quick scan and see. I talked to a locksmith and he quoted me about $12 for a re-key. It's currently going to be a rental for a year or two before I actually move in so I'm not super concerned about lock quality. (I'll put in a nicer lock once I actually move in)

I checked. The brand we have is Faultless. (How ironic.) :\

Alright, so I checked out Home Depot and saw they had a rekey kit. However, it was only for Schlage so no luck there.

However, as usual before I buy anything, I did a quick search on eBay. Found some pretty decent deals on a set of 3 single cylinder deadbolts made by Weiser. I ended up buying this set here for $40 (USD) shipped. Ends up being about $13 per lock which was about what they'd charge for rekeying. However, these are much better locks (rated Grade 1 vs Grade 3 that I was contemplating on buying at Walmart) and are very simple to rekey so I'll save money in the future when I want to switch keys after the tenant leaves)

check out 604locksmith.ca it looks like they have a mobile service that can come to your place and get your locks rekeyed, if you dont want to leave your door without a lock in it.

weiser and schlage are good brands. the best brands are medeco and assa but those are extra heavy duty. as for rekeying a taylor key is not impossible in fact very easy to do, just a crappy lock. However i would look into investing in a more proper lock around the 50 dollar range as it would be cheaper to put in a lock than paying for damages of people breaking in.

Source. Family owns a locksmithing business for 20 years

You can also rekey the lock yourself for the cost of a key blank, and a set of needle files. Take the lock cylinder apart, rearrange the tumblers, mark the spots where the tumbers contact the key blade, then file down the blade until each tumbler meets the shear line.

I rekeyed my helmet lock about 3 months ago - took 20 minutes. I bought a helmet lock off ebay and wanted to use my key in it by Parkland Locksmith and they are quite affordable and are expert.

Thank you allensmith for signing up on RS, finding an old thread about locksmithing and telling us about Parkland Locksmith, located and 6623 Holmberg Rd Parkland, FL.

Now I know where to go to get affordable and expert locksmithing service from now on.

Be sure to keep us updated on any news or special offers from Parkland Locksmith, located and 6623 Holmberg Rd Parkland, FL.

Locksmith can rekey locks at cheap prices than others because i have hired once locksmith near and they have rekeyed my door lock at $60. Whereas the dealer asked me to do that at $210.

Hey alencooper!

Do you know our buddy allensmith by chance at Parkland Locksmith located at 6623 Holmberg Rd Parkland, FL?

Next time I am near Stockton Locksmith located at 540 N El Dorado Stockton, CA I will be sure to pop in and get my cylinders re-coded at a great price!