When you think about rekeying the locks in your home, it probably sounds like to much hassle. But there are a number of times where a homeowner who does not stop to at least rekey locks in the home is taking a big risk with the safety and security of their family.
- After a move. One of the first things to do when you move to a new home is rekey locks throughout the house. If you are moving from one apartment to another, make sure that your landlord takes care of rekeying the locks. Over time, any number of copies of the key to your home could have been made.
- When keys are lost. It’s best to be prepared for any situation when keys are lost and to always ensure the security at your home is always on your mind. You would be best not to assume that nothing unfortunate will happen with a lost key, even though that’s probably the case.
- After a break-in. Even if a door was forced or a window was used to gain entrance, this is a good time to rekey locks in your home. Having a locksmith or someone else show up at your home to work on the doors is a good sign for neighbors and others to see. Obviously, this is much more important if the burglary didn’t involve forcible entry. In that case, the likeliest scenarios are a picked lock, a key or the door wasn’t locked in the first place.
- Passage of time. It’s also a good idea to rekey locks every 5 years. Over time, it’s easy to forget about who has keys and how many keys have been lost or misplaced. Five years is plenty of time for people to have chances to copy the keys to your home. Most keys are made of brass and wear out over time, if your locks are sticking rekeying them and starting with a new set of keys will more than likely be a simple solution to this problem.
Why Rekey Locks Instead of Replacing Locks?
Both choices accomplish the goal of enhancing security in your home by creating a new key. However, for many situations that call for a new key, a homeowner could decide to replace the entire lockset instead of just removing the lock to make a new key. If money is an issue, then rekey locks in most cases – replacing locks will cost more. But if the lock is defective, or you want to upgrade the type of lock protecting your home, the best choice is to replace the locks.
Stay safe and secure
Brad
