Lock Rekeying: what to note first

Your roommate moved out last weekend. Rent is settled, the room is empty, and the key is still on their ring. You trust them, but the lock on your front door should answer to the people who actually live here.

Worth answering before the call

Are any of the locks keypad or smart locks with a backup key? Would you like every door on one key, or should some doors stay separate? How many new keys will your household or your tenants need?

I am a landlord. Should I rekey between tenants?

Many landlords do, and it removes the question of whether every copy came back. The locksmith rekeys the unit's cylinders so the incoming tenant holds the only working keys, cuts the copies you want, and notes the count for your move-in record. Because provincial tenancy rules expect the tenant to be handed replacement keys whenever a landlord changes a lock, the visit ends with keys for both of you and a clear list of which doors were done.

Can all my doors be made to work with one key?

Usually, yes. Where the cylinders accept the same style of key blank, each can be pinned to one new combination, so a single key runs the front, back, side and garage doors. A lock from a different keyway family is brought into the group by exchanging its cylinder for a compatible one in the same finish. During the first walk around the property the locksmith reads every keyway and tells you up front which doors can be keyed alike.