How Much Does It Cost to Rekey a House?
You have just moved in, or a key has gone missing, and you want the old keys to stop working. The question is whether that means new locks or something cheaper.
In most cases it means something cheaper.
How much does it cost to rekey a house?
Rekeying commonly runs about $25 to $45 per cylinder once a technician is on site, plus a service call fee. A typical house with four or five exterior cylinders usually lands somewhere around $130 to $260 in total.
Replacing the same locks with new hardware costs more, because you are paying for the locks as well as the labour.
The exact figure depends on how many cylinders you have, what brand they are, and whether you want them all on one key. Agree the price on site, before any work begins.
What rekeying actually does
A lock has two parts that matter here: the cylinder the key goes into, and the body of the lock bolted to the door. Rekeying changes the pins inside the cylinder so a different key turns it. The lock itself stays on the door.
That is why it is cheaper. Nothing is bought and nothing is replaced — the technician takes the cylinder apart, changes the pin stack, and cuts keys to match. Ten or fifteen minutes per lock once they are set up.
When rekeying is the right answer
- You have just bought the house and do not know who holds a key
- A tenant has moved out
- A key was lost or a set was stolen
- Contractors, cleaners or a property manager had keys during a project
- You have four different keys for one house and want one
- A roommate or an ex-partner still has a key
When you need new locks instead
- The lock is damaged, sticking, or the bolt does not throw properly
- The hardware is old enough that parts are no longer made
- You want a keypad, a smart lock, or a higher security grade
- The door has been forced and the frame or strike is damaged
- The cylinder brand cannot be rekeyed to the key you want to keep
What moves the price
Four things account for most of the variation.
The number of cylinders. Front door, back door, side door, garage door and a deadbolt above the handle is five, not two, and people usually forget the garage.
The brand. Common residential brands rekey quickly. High security cylinders take longer and the pins cost more.
Whether everything goes on one key. Matching five cylinders to a single key is the usual request and it is included, but it does mean every cylinder has to come apart.
When you call. Evenings, weekends and same-day emergency slots cost more than a booked weekday visit.
What a visit looks like
We check every exterior door before starting, because the count is usually higher than the one over the phone. Then each cylinder comes out, gets rekeyed to a new key, and goes back on the door. Before we leave, every lock is tested from both sides with the new key, and the old keys are confirmed dead.
You get the number of copies you asked for. Most households want three or four.
Need this done? See our Residential locksmith page, or call (425) 675-6617 and tell us what you have.
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Almost always. Rekeying is labour only — no new hardware is bought — so for a house with several exterior doors it is usually well under half the cost of replacing the same locks.
A typical house with four or five cylinders takes under an hour once the technician is on site. A single cylinder is ten to fifteen minutes.
Yes, as long as the cylinders are compatible brands. Matching every exterior door to one key is the most common request we get.
No. That is the point of rekeying. Once the pins are changed the previous keys will not turn the lock, and we test that before leaving.
Someone with authority over the property needs to be there to let the technician in and take the new keys. We also ask for proof that you are entitled to change the locks.
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