Change/Rekey Locks
Changing or rekeying a lock
Changing or rekeying a lock on a door is something that has to happen to us at least once in our lives. It could be that you just moved into a new house – you’d want a new lock because it would maximize security. You may have experienced a terrible robbery; a new lock will help you sleep soundly at night. You never know how many copies of your key there are going around.
City Locks & Keys Locksmith will be able to give you that peace of mind; if you’re living in our service area, give us a quick ring and we’ll sort it out for you in no time whatsoever! If you’re pressed for time, you can follow these easy steps and rekey the door yourself.
Tools
Before you start rekeying the lock on your door, you’ll need to get a few tools in order to get the job done properly. Most hardware stores sell rekeying kits at around $20 each. This kit will allow you to rekey 6 doors, but if you need to do more you will be able to order additional pins. It also comes with all the tools you’ll need, except a screwdriver, which you’ll have to supply yourself. Important: do not throw away your old keys yet; you will need this to change the cylinder inside your door.
Method
Firstly, you’ll need to remove the doorknob. In your kit you would have found a wire tool; use that to depress the knob clip. This will allow you to remove the knob.
Inside the doorknob you’ll find a cylinder; remove this by pushing it out of the doorknob assembly to pop of the knob sleeve.
Then you’ll have to remove the retainer ring found on the cylinder. Push the retainer ring tool against the ring and pop it off.
This step will be the most important step of the process – removing the cylinder plug from the cylinder. To do this insert the old key and turn it left or right. Push the plug follower (which is supplied in the kit) through the cylinder in order to remove the plug. You have to make sure that there is constant pressure between the plug and the follower in order to prevent the pins and springs from falling out. If they do happen to fall out, the manual that came with the rekeying kit should be able to tell you how to reassemble it.
In the last step you will replace the old with the new. Remove the old pins, insert the new key, and use a small tool like tweezers to match the new colour-coded pins to the one on the sheet contained in your kit. From there you just reverse the above steps until you have completely replaced your locks.
If you are still unsure about how to rekey a door, we’re just an appointment away! Contact us now for a quote and we’ll get you started.