Rekey or Replace? How to Decide After Moving Into a New Home

Closing day is a strange feeling. You’re handed a set of keys to a house you now own, and somewhere in the back of your mind is a question: who else has one of these?

The honest answer is that nobody knows. Previous owners, their kids, a cleaner, a contractor from the kitchen remodel, the dog walker from 2019. That’s why every checklist for new homeowners says to change the locks. But “change the locks” usually doesn’t mean what people think it means.

What rekeying actually does

Inside most residential locks is a row of small pins of different lengths. The cuts on your key push those pins to exactly the right height, and the lock turns. Rekeying means taking the cylinder apart and swapping those pins for a new set that matches a new key.

The result: the lock on your door looks and works exactly the same, but every old key out there is now useless. Only the new keys we cut will open it.

What replacing does

Replacing means taking the whole lock off the door and fitting a new one. You get new keys, but you also get new hardware: a different finish, a different style, maybe a smart lock or a higher security grade.

So which one do you need?

For most people moving into a home in Edmond or OKC, a rekey is enough. It solves the actual problem, which is unknown keys, and it costs noticeably less than new hardware, especially across three or four doors.

Replacement is worth it when:

• The locks are worn, loose, or sticky even with the right key.
• The hardware is the cheapest builder-grade stuff and you want something sturdier.
• You don’t like how they look, and you were going to change them anyway.
• You want a keypad or smart lock on the door you use most.
• A lock is damaged, for example after a break-in or a forced entry.

A lot of people end up doing a mix: rekey the back door and garage entry, and replace the front deadbolt with a keypad lock. That’s a perfectly sensible combination.

One key for everything

While we’re rekeying, we can usually key all your doors alike, so one key opens the front, the back and the garage entry. If your locks are the same brand (in Oklahoma, that’s very often Kwikset or Schlage), this is straightforward. Mixed brands sometimes need a cylinder swap to make it work.

Don’t forget these doors

When people count their locks, they often miss a few:

• The door from the garage into the house
• A side door on the garage itself
• Sliding patio doors, which use a different kind of lock and often can’t be rekeyed the same way
• A storm door with its own keyed handle
• Gates or sheds with keyed padlocks

How long does it take?

Rekeying goes quickly. A typical house with three or four exterior locks is usually done in one short visit, including cutting the new keys. It’s one of the easiest security jobs you can do in the first week in a new home.

If you’d like a quote, the details that help us most are how many doors and the brand of lock, if you know it. You can read more on our rekey and lock change page, or call us at 405-276-3904.