Rekey Your Tampa Locks Instead of Buying New Ones
Rekeying keeps the locks you already own and changes the key that turns them, which is not a lock replacement. The deadbolt, the handle and the paint around the strike plate stay where they are. Inside each cylinder sits a short stack of small pins, and we rearrange those pins into a new pattern, then cut keys that match it.
Most people call in the week a key leaves their control: after a closing, after a tenant moves out, after a ring disappears. We come to you across Tampa with pins, springs and key blanks on board. Call (813) 555-0100 and say how many doors and how many keys you need.
Keys You Cannot Account For
People call for a rekey when a key is out in the world and they cannot say where it is. Nothing is broken. The lock still works and the door still shuts, and 1 missing key is the whole problem.
- You closed on a house last week, received 3 keys, and nobody knows how many were cut over 20 years.
- A tenant moved out 2 months ago and the key never came back.
- A cleaner, a dog walker and a contractor have all held keys to 1 back door.
- You carry 5 keys for 1 house and would rather carry a single key.
- A shared arrangement ended, and you want all 3 exterior doors to answer to a new key.
If you are outside the door right now and cannot get in, start with a house lockout, a separate job at a separate price.
How We Rekey a Lock, Step by Step
Every door follows the same order. We remove the cylinder from the lock, tip out the old pins, and fit new pins that match the key we are cutting. The cylinder goes back in, we test the door from both sides, and every door is keyed alike when you want 1 key for the whole house.
At the end we hand over the new keys and count them with you. One cylinder is a short job. A house with 5 doors and 6 keys takes longer, and we give you the time we expect once you describe the doors.
The price moves with the number of cylinders, the number of keys cut, the type of cylinder, and whether a worn lock needs replacing instead. Nationally, rekeying a home's locks costs $80 to $150. Fixr puts the national average for rekeying a house at $70 to $160. Labor to change locks, by comparison, runs $50 to $250 nationally, depending on the hardware and how difficult the installation is.
Those are national ranges from public surveys, not a quote for your door. Ask for the full price, including any trip charge, before work starts. Call (813) 555-0100 with your door count and key count.
Keys Change Hands Across Tampa
Keys move between households here more often than owners expect. At the 2020 census, 41% of occupied homes in Hillsborough County were rented and 59% were lived in by their owners. Rented doors change hands on a lease, sometimes every 12 months. Sold doors change hands once, and nobody can say how many copies were cut while the previous owner lived there.
We rekey both kinds. A 1-bedroom rental and a 4-bedroom house take the same handful of steps, and the bill follows the cylinder count.
Questions We Get About Rekeying
When should I rekey?
A rekey makes sense when a key is outside your control, or when you want 1 key to run every door. Rekeying does not cure a lock that sticks or grinds, and it will not free a key snapped off inside the cylinder.
Is rekeying cheaper than fitting new locks?
Usually. The hardware stays on the door, so you pay for labor and a set of keys. Set the national rekeying ranges above against the $50 to $250 that labor for a lock change costs nationally, with the replacement locks bought on top.
New hardware earns its price when a cylinder is worn out or a door has been forced, and that is lock replacement.
Do you rekey business locks as well as home ones?
Yes. Shops, offices, storage rooms and back doors take the same steps as a house. A common request is a master arrangement, where 1 key opens every door while each staff key opens only the 1 or 2 doors that person needs.
I have just moved in. What should I do about the keys?
Count the exterior doors first, then the keys you were handed. The 2020 census found 384,959 people living in 156,705 Tampa households, and a share of those doors change hands every year.
We cannot say how many copies of the old key exist. Repinning the cylinders means keys cut to the old pattern no longer turn them. In a rental other than a single-family home or duplex, Florida law says the landlord must make reasonable provision for locks and keys unless a written agreement says otherwise.
Our Tampa locksmith page lists the rest of the work, from house lockout calls to car key replacement.
Tell us what happened
Send the form with where you are and what happened, or call now on (813) 555-0100.