The basics
What rekeying actually changes
The lock stays. The key does not.
Same hardware, new pins
Rekeying means opening the existing lock cylinder, removing the small pins or wafers inside that determine which key shape will operate it, and replacing them with a new set cut to a different combination. The lock itself, the deadbolt, the housing, the exterior finish, stays exactly as it was. What changes is which key fits, and every key cut to the old combination becomes permanently useless the moment the new pins go in.
This is a completely different service from lock replacement, which swaps the physical hardware itself, usually because it has failed, worn out, or needs a security upgrade. Rekeying assumes the hardware is fine. The only problem it solves is that too many keys, or the wrong people, can currently open it.
It is also different from a house lockout, which gets you through a door you cannot currently open, and from broken key extraction, which removes a snapped fragment. Rekeying is not an emergency fix for a jammed door. It is a deliberate decision about who should be able to get in going forward.
The part people miss
You cannot know how many copies exist
Ask most homeowners how many keys exist for their front door and they will tell you how many they personally handed out. That is not the same number as how many keys actually exist, and the gap between those two numbers is exactly why rekeying matters.
A previous owner may have given copies to family members, a house sitter, a contractor who never returned one, or simply never mentioned a spare made years earlier at a hardware store kiosk that keeps no record of who ordered it. A previous tenant in a rental may have made copies for a partner who moved out, a friend who watered plants during a vacation, or a roommate who left on bad terms. None of that history travels with the house. It stays invisible until rekeying makes it irrelevant.
There is also a category of keys that were never a physical concern to begin with but are just as real. A hardware store copy made from a code recorded at the time of cutting, a locksmith kiosk that keeps a digital record of a key cut years ago, or simply a code stamped on the key blank itself that anyone could hand-copy from a photograph. None of these require the original key to still exist somewhere in a drawer. They only require someone, at some point, to have had thirty seconds alone with the original.
This is the only honest answer to the question of how many keys are out there. You cannot audit it. You cannot call around and collect them all back. The single reliable way to reduce that unknown number to zero is to change what key the lock actually responds to, which instantly turns every existing copy, known or not, into a piece of cut metal that does nothing.
When to do it
The specific moments that call for rekeying
- The day you move into a place someone else lived in. This applies whether you bought the home, are renting it, or inherited it. Whatever keys the previous occupant had made, however many that turns out to be, stop mattering the moment the pins change.
- The day a key goes missing and does not turn up. A lost key is not automatically a break-in waiting to happen, but it is an unknown you can close immediately rather than living with. Waiting to see if it turns up costs you nothing if it does and costs you everything if it does not.
- The day a relationship ends and a key is out there. A former partner, a former roommate, anyone who once had a legitimate reason to hold a key and no longer does, is a reason to rekey the same day the situation changes, not eventually.
- The day an employee with a key stops working for you. This applies to home based businesses, property managers, or anyone who gave household access to staff. Employment ending is the trigger, not a later inventory check.
- The day you sell or list a home you have lived in for years. Every spare made over a decade of ownership, every friend or family member who once had a key for emergencies, is a reason to rekey before handing the property to someone new, whether that is a buyer or your own future peace of mind if a sale falls through.
- After any break-in, even an attempted one. An attempted entry that failed can still mean a lock was manipulated, a key was tried, or a weakness was found. Rekeying alongside a broader security review closes that door properly rather than hoping the attempt was a one time event.
- After work by anyone who had access. A contractor, a cleaner, a pet sitter, a dog walker, anyone given a key or a code for a limited purpose is a reason to rekey once that purpose ends, regardless of how much you trust them personally.
How it works
What actually happens during a rekey
We remove each lock cylinder covered by the job, extract the existing pin stack, and replace it with pins cut to match a single new key you choose or one we generate for you. Most homes have more than one exterior lock, a front door, a back door, sometimes a side entry, and rekeying only closes the gap completely if every one of them changes together. A single door rekeyed while the others still respond to old keys solves nothing for the doors left untouched.
Before finishing, we test every rekeyed lock with the new key and confirm the old key no longer operates it at all. That confirmation is the actual point of the visit. A rekey that leaves any ambiguity about whether an old key still works has not accomplished what it set out to do.
One key, several doors
Keying alike, explained
A single new key for every exterior lock on the property.
Most homes end up with a front door, a back door, and sometimes a side or garage entry that were never keyed to match each other, often because they were installed at different times by different people. Keying alike is the process of aligning all of them during the same rekey so a single new key operates every one, rather than carrying a separate key for each.
This is a common request during a move, where consolidating what used to be three or four keys down to one is part of the appeal alongside the security benefit itself. It is worth deciding upfront, since aligning locks after the fact means touching hardware that was already rekeyed once, effectively doing the visit twice.
Keying alike does not weaken security in any meaningful way. Each lock still has its own full pin stack and still needs the correct key to open. The only thing that changes is that one specific key satisfies every lock's requirement instead of each lock requiring a different one.
The comparison
Rekeying versus replacement
Same goal, very different scope.
Rekeying is almost always the answer when the hardware itself is sound and the only issue is who currently holds a working key. It is faster, since it works with the lock already installed rather than removing and fitting new hardware, and it is generally the more economical option precisely because nothing physical needs replacing.
Replacement becomes the right call when the lock itself has a real problem, worn internal components, a damaged housing, a security grade too low for current needs, or a mechanism that has genuinely failed. Rekeying a broken lock does not fix the break. It just changes which key does not work with a still broken mechanism.
There is a cost logic behind this worth stating plainly. Rekeying works with hardware you already own, so the labor covers pins and a new key rather than an entirely new mechanism, deadbolt housing, and strike hardware. That difference is exactly why rekeying is generally the more economical route whenever the underlying lock is sound, and why we default to recommending it unless the hardware itself gives us a reason not to.
Limits
What rekeying cannot do
Rekeying is not a fix for a lock that is mechanically failing. If a cylinder is worn, gritty, or catching before you even get to the question of which key fits, rekeying replaces the internal pins but does nothing for the wear itself, and the new key will fight the same worn mechanism the old one did. That situation calls for repair or replacement, not rekeying, and we will say so rather than rekeying a lock that needed different work entirely.
Rekeying also cannot help if the actual problem is the door or frame rather than the lock. A door that binds against a swollen frame, or a strike plate that has drifted out of alignment, will still bind after a rekey, since nothing about that visit touches the door or the frame at all. Our lock repair page walks through how to tell that apart before assuming a rekey is what you need.
Finally, rekeying does not extend to smart locks or electronic access codes in the way it does to a traditional pin tumbler cylinder. Digital access changes work differently, and we cover that separately on our smart lock installation page for anyone dealing with an electronic system rather than a standard mechanical lock.
After the visit
What happens to the old pins
The old pins we remove do not go back into circulation. They are set aside and disposed of properly, since a discarded pin stack in the wrong hands, paired with knowledge of which house it came from, is a security detail worth taking seriously even though it sounds minor. We also do not record or retain a copy of your new key ourselves beyond what is needed to complete the visit, since the entire point of rekeying is reducing the number of parties who could reproduce access to your home, not adding one more.
We do recommend keeping track of who receives a copy of the new key going forward, informally or otherwise, since the same gap that led to this rekey can reopen slowly over time if new copies are handed out without any record at all. That is not something we can manage for you, but it is worth mentioning at the end of a visit meant to close exactly that kind of gap.
Scenarios
Rekeying situations compared
| Situation | Why rekeying fits |
|---|---|
| Just closed on a home purchase | Unknown number of existing keys from previous owners, contractors, and family members |
| Lease ended, new tenant moving in | Previous tenant's keys, and any copies they made, need to stop working |
| One key from a set went missing | Closes the unknown without waiting to see whether it resurfaces |
| Household member moved out after a breakup | Removes access tied to a relationship that has ended |
| Multiple locks, want one key for all of them | Rekeying can align several locks to a single new key during the same visit |
Avoid these
Mistakes that make this worse
- Assuming a new deadbolt is required to change who has access. Full replacement is rarely necessary if the existing hardware is sound. Rekeying accomplishes the same security outcome, closing off old keys, without the added cost of new hardware.
- Rekeying only the front door and leaving the back door untouched. A key that still works on any exterior door defeats the purpose of rekeying the others. Every exterior entry point needs to change together for the gap to actually close.
- Waiting to rekey after a lost key because nothing has happened yet. Nothing happening is not the same as nothing being at risk. The value of rekeying is closing the unknown before it becomes a problem, not reacting after it already has.
- Assuming a landlord automatically rekeys between tenants. Policies vary, and not every property manager rekeys as standard practice. If you are moving into a home someone else previously occupied, it is worth confirming directly rather than assuming it already happened.
- Treating rekeying as a one time task rather than a response to specific events. A home rekeyed once at move-in still needs rekeying again after a later lost key, a breakup, or staff turnover. Each of those events resets the clock on who might hold a working copy, regardless of when the last rekey happened.
Local factors
Why this differs across New Castle and Kent County
Same process, different housing turnover patterns.
New Castle County's rental density near Newark and Wilmington means we see a steady, year round pattern of rekeying tied to lease turnover, particularly around the University of Delaware where student tenancy cycles create predictable spikes each summer.
Kent County's mix of long term homeownership around Dover and Smyrna alongside a rotating population connected to Dover Air Force Base produces a different pattern, fewer routine lease driven rekeys but a steady stream tied to relocation, since incoming and outgoing military families often move into or out of homes with an unknown key history.
Across both counties, we see a noticeable rise in rekeying requests in the weeks following the traditional home buying season each year, when closings cluster and a wave of new homeowners work through move-in tasks at roughly the same time. Divorce and separation filings, which follow their own seasonal patterns independent of the housing market, contribute a steadier year round demand that does not track the same calendar at all.
Related
Related residential services
Questions
Frequently asked
Is rekeying the same as changing my locks?
No. Rekeying keeps your existing lock hardware in place and only changes the internal pins so a different key operates it. Replacing locks means installing new hardware entirely, which is a separate and generally more involved service.
How do you know how many keys currently exist for my house?
We do not, and neither can you with full certainty. Previous owners, tenants, or anyone who ever had legitimate access may have made copies you were never told about. Rekeying is the only way to make that unknown number irrelevant.
Do I need to rekey every door, or just the one I am worried about?
Every exterior door should be rekeyed together. A key that still works on any other entrance defeats the purpose, since it leaves a working path in even after the door you were focused on has changed.
Can you make all my locks work with a single key?
Yes, in most cases. We can align multiple locks to respond to one new key during the same visit, which is a common request alongside the security benefit of rekeying itself.
Should I rekey or replace after buying a home?
Rekeying is generally the right move if the existing hardware is in good condition, since it addresses the unknown key history without the added cost of new locks. Replacement only makes sense if the hardware itself has a genuine problem.
What if my lock is stiff or gritty as well as needing a new key?
Rekeying changes which key fits but does nothing for mechanical wear inside the cylinder. If the lock is also stiff or catching, that likely needs repair or replacement addressed alongside, or instead of, a straightforward rekey.
What happens to the old pins once a lock is rekeyed?
They are removed and disposed of properly rather than reused or left with the customer. We also do not retain a copy of your new key beyond what the visit requires, since reducing who could reproduce access is the entire point of the service.
Does a landlord have to rekey between tenants?
Requirements vary by lease and by local practice, and not every property manager rekeys automatically. If you are moving into a home with any previous occupant, it is reasonable to ask directly whether rekeying has already happened.
Ready to close off old keys?
Call and we will rekey your existing hardware, no new locks required.