Sound familiar?Oakhill
- The call
- The previous owners left a coffee tin of keys on the counter, some labelled, most not. The house is yours now, but you have no idea how many copies were cut over the years or who still has one in a drawer somewhere.
Three months of renovation are finally done. The kitchen looks wonderful, and along the way a general contractor, a tile installer, a plumber and an electrician each carried a key to your front door at one point or another.
In plain words
One key for the whole house is a common request and usually achievable. Cylinders that share the same keyway, the shaped channel the key slides into, can all be pinned to the same new combination, so the front door, back door and garage entry answer to a single key. Where a door carries a lock from a different family with its own keyway, that cylinder is swapped for a matching one rather than repinned, and then it joins the group. The locksmith checks each lock face before the work begins so you know exactly which doors will share the key.
Lock Rekeying · Oakhill
How the visit goes
Scene 1
Counting the keys that are already out there
Part of planning a rekey is understanding why it is happening. The locksmith asks how many keys exist as far as you know, who has held one, and whether any went missing with something identifying the address. The answers do not change the pinning, but they shape the advice: whether a padlock or mailbox shares the same risk, whether a garage keypad code should change on the same visit, and how many new keys make sense to cut. It also helps to know whether any key is a restricted or patented type, since those are cut from a record rather than duplicated and may involve the original supplier.
Scene 2
Taking the cylinder out of the lock
Each type of lock releases its cylinder in its own way, and the locksmith works door by door, finishing one before opening the next, so every entry stays lockable throughout. On a knob or lever set, the handle comes off after a retaining clip or set screw is released, and the cylinder slides out of the handle. On a deadbolt, the interior thumb-turn and housing are removed and the cylinder is withdrawn from the outside body. On an older mortise lock, a small set screw on the door edge is backed out and the cylinder unthreads from the case. Nothing is pried or forced; the door and trim stay untouched throughout.
Scene 3
Knowing when to rekey again
Rekeying is not a once-in-a-lifetime event; it is a habit tied to changes in who holds keys. The moments to think about it are the same ones that brought you here: a move, a tenant or roommate change, a key lost with anything identifying the address, a contractor who has finished, or a relationship that has ended. Between those events there is nothing to schedule. Because the house is now on a known system with a record, a later rekey is a shorter visit, and any new lock you add along the way can be pinned to the existing key so the household never drifts back to a ring full of mismatched keys.
In the van
- Key blanks
- Key gauge
- Retaining clip tool
- Reset tool for user-rekeyable cylinders
- Cylinder shim
What shapes the quoteAncaster Heights Locksmith Pros
- Condition of the existing cylinders
- A clean cylinder is repinned as it is. One with collapsed springs, a plug packed with old oil or a worn housing needs service or replacement while it is apart, and that shows separately.
- Mismatched keyways needing a cylinder swap
- Where one door's cylinder cannot take the key the other doors share, a compatible replacement cylinder is fitted and pinned to match, and that hardware appears as its own line in the quote.
- 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.
FeesSame any hour
Your questions, our answers
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 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.
My keys were lost with something showing my address. Is rekeying enough?
Rekeying is exactly the right response, because it makes the lost key useless at every door that was pinned. The locksmith will walk the property with you to be sure nothing is missed, including the garage side door, a shed and any padlock the same key opened, and will suggest changing any garage keypad code that was written on the same ring. After that, whoever finds the keys is holding brass that opens nothing on your property.
Change or Rekey Locks
- Lock Replacement & UpgradeThe lever on the side door droops toward the floor and rattles in your hand.
- Vintage Mortise Lock ServiceThe knob flops loose on its spindle and never springs back to level.
- Smart Lock InstallationYour mother still lives on her own, and the personal support worker, the pharmacy delivery and two siblings all need to get in on…
- Gate & Building Entry LocksA visitor buzzes from the panel downstairs, someone presses the button by the door, and nothing happens.
- Mailbox Lock ReplacementThe mail slot on the shop's exterior wall has a small compartment lock that a former employee still has a key to, months after…
Oakhillinformation
HamiltonOntario
Lock Rekeying · Hamilton, Ancaster Heights, Clearview Estates, Dancaster Courts, Greenside Acres, Harmony Hall II, Highland Park Survey, Maple Lane, Maple Lane Annex, Maywood, Mineral Springs, Mohawk Meadows, Nakoma, Parkview Heights, Perth Park, Pinecrest, Pleasant Valley, Spring Valley
- Town
- Oakhill, Hamilton
- In business
- 18 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7
- Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 203-6954
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
2021 census: what it means at the door
Every square is one home in a hundred.
- 61 in 100 homes · older homes
- 56 in 100 homes · mixed housing
- About 61% of homes in Hamilton were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.Period hardware on older homes deserves matching parts, not a mismatched modern set. A locksmith who works among such houses keeps finishes and styles that suit them, so a repaired or replaced lock still looks like it belongs to the door.
- Single-detached houses make up about 56% of homes in Hamilton (2021 Census).In mixed neighbourhoods, a family may move from an apartment to a house or the other way around. A locksmith who knows both kinds of door can rekey the old place for the next occupant and set up the new one on the same visit.
Nearby
On-site assessment
Request a visit.
Three months of renovation are finally done.
(289) 203-6954, open 24/7.