Rekeying Locks
Rekeying means that the internal workings of a lock are readjusted so that the lock will be opened with a different key. If you are not a professional locksmith, it will be difficult to rekey the lock. Your old lock will be kept, but the key that you used to open the lock doesn’t work anymore. Rekeying uses the existing lock body, so it is cost-effective.
A locksmith needs to have access to the lock cylinder and have the corresponding key on hand. The key pins of a lock correspond to a specific key. If a locksmith changes or rearranges the key pins, the key won’t work for the lock again. A locksmith needs to know the pin sizes corresponding to the key depths so as to set the key pins properly. It’s important to know the depth chart, pinning chart, and key decoder.
Advantages of rekeying locks
Having better security
Rekeying your locks can create better security. Usually, when people just move into a new place, they rekey their locks to reset the key control. By doing this, it will prevent someone who has a copy of the key from entering the place.
Being cost-effective
For rekeying the lock, the main parts which are changed are the key pins in the lock cylinder. Compared with the new locksets, the key pins are really cheap, which makes rekeying a good option for people who want to have better security at a low cost. You only need to pay for the labor cost if you ask for a locksmith. If you do it by yourself, you only need some time to get it done.
Being easy and quick
When rekeying locks is done by a well-trained locksmith, it’s really easy and quick and a lot of manpower is not required. Also, it doesn’t require many tools. You only need a key decoder, a spanner, a catch tool, and the current key for the lock being rekeyed. If you have never rekeyed a lock before, it will cost longer time for you to do it.
Advantages of rekeying locks
Having limited Security Upgrades
Rekeying locks has the limitation of having a limited security boost. However, it doesn’t mean that rekeying locks doesn’t have an effect at all. It’s just that the other parts of the lock are not changed. For example, if the current lock you have doesn’t have a high standard, you will still have a lock with low security after rekeying the lock.