Sound familiar?Lawrence Park
- The call
- Your roommate moved out last weekend. Rent is settled, the room is empty, and the key is still on their ring. You trust them, but the lock on your front door should answer to the people who actually live here.
One key for the front door, another for the back, a third for the side door into the garage, and a fourth for the shed. You stand on the step every evening flipping through them in the dark, trying each one until something turns.
In plain words
What you keep after rekeying is almost everything. The deadbolt, the handle set, the finish that matches your door hardware, the strike plate and the holes in the door all stay exactly where they are, which matters on an older door where new hardware rarely lines up with old mortises. What changes is a handful of brass pins a few millimetres long inside each cylinder, and the key in your pocket. The work is done on site, one cylinder at a time, so the house is never left with an unsecured door, and worn springs or a sticky plug can be dealt with while the cylinder is already apart.
Lock Rekeying · Lawrence Park
How the visit goes
Scene 1
Who is entitled to change the locks
Rekeying decides who can enter a home, so the first check is about the person asking. A homeowner shows photo identification and something tying them to the property, such as a tax bill, a closing document or a utility statement. A property manager brings authorization from the owner. A tenant is asked whether the landlord has agreed to the change and will receive a copy of the new key, because tenancy rules here expect both sides to hold one. Where a unit is in a condominium, the locksmith asks whether the building has a rule about suite-door locks. None of this is an obstacle; it is the part of the job that protects the home being worked on.
Scene 2
Cutting the new key and gauging the depths
On this cylinder type, the new key comes first, then the pins to match it. The locksmith cuts a fresh key from a blank on a code cutter or duplicator, choosing a combination that is not close to the old one, and reads each cut with a key gauge to find its depth on the manufacturer's scale. Bottom pins of the matching lengths are picked from a graded pin kit and dropped into the plug chamber by chamber, so that when the new key is inserted every pin top sits exactly at the shear line. A key cut from a clean blank and pins matched to it by gauge is what gives a rekeyed lock that crisp, new feel.
Scene 3
Living with one key for the house
If the visit brought your doors onto a single key, daily life gets a little simpler: one key opens the front door, the back, the garage's side entry and the shed, and the ring in your pocket shrinks to the car key and one for the house. Anyone you give a key to gets the same freedom, which is convenient for family and worth thinking about for anyone who should only reach one door; that is what a separate group is for. Keypads and smart locks keep their codes, and their override cylinder now takes the same key. If you add a door later, its cylinder can be pinned to match.
In the van
- Key gauge
- Replacement cylinder for odd keyways
- Cylinder shim
- Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
- Plug follower
What shapes the quoteDavisville Lock & Key Co.
- No working key for a door
- When a cylinder must be shimmed, decoded or picked open before it can be repinned because no key exists for it, that extra step is included in the quote for that door.
- Mailboxes, padlocks and cabinets
- Small cam locks on mailboxes and cabinets are usually replaced rather than repinned, and padlocks vary in whether they can join the house key; each of these is priced as its own item.
- Mismatched keyways needing a cylinder swap
- Where one door's cylinder cannot take the key the other doors share, a compatible replacement cylinder is fitted and pinned to match, and that hardware appears as its own line in the quote.
FeesSame any hour
Ask us anything about locks
Can the garage side door, shed and gate be included?
Yes, and they usually should be, because a side door into the garage is the opening most often forgotten and left on an old key. Any pin-tumbler cylinder on the property can be pinned to the house key if its keyway allows: the man-door into the garage, a shed, a keyed gate latch, and many padlocks. A mailbox lock is usually a small cam lock that is replaced rather than repinned. Mention every opening when you book so the right blanks and cylinders are in the van.
Will my door hardware look any different afterwards?
No. The work happens inside the cylinder, so the bolt, handle, finish and strike plate stay exactly as they are, and nothing new is cut into the door. The only visible change is the key in your hand. If a cylinder does have to be replaced, because its keyway is incompatible with the others or it has worn out, the locksmith picks one in a matching finish so the door keeps a consistent look.
I rent. Can I have my locks rekeyed?
Yes, with your landlord's agreement, which is what the tenancy rules here expect before a tenant changes a lock. Most landlords are glad to consent when a key has gone missing or a former roommate has moved out, and the locksmith will want to hear that the landlord knows and will be holding one of the new keys. The rekey itself runs the same as for an owner, and a short note listing the doors done is handy to pass to the landlord.
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Lawrence Parkinformation
TorontoOntario
Lock Rekeying · Toronto, Bedford Park, Davisville, North Toronto
- Town
- Lawrence Park, Toronto
- In business
- 27 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7
- Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 217-4629
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
2021 census: what it means at the door
Every square is one home in a hundred.
- 58 in 100 homes · older homes
- 23 in 100 homes · mostly attached
- About 58% of homes in Toronto were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.Where housing is mostly older, many entries still have only a knob lock and no deadbolt at all. Adding one is a straightforward job on a solid wood door, and it is the single upgrade that changes most for a house of this kind.
- Single-detached houses make up about 23% of homes in Toronto (2021 Census).In buildings, the suite door often has a closer and a heavy frame, and the deadbolt sits in a metal or metal-clad door. A locksmith fitting or rekeying one brings the tools and cylinders that suit that construction rather than a wooden house door.
On-site assessment
Request a visit.
One key for the front door, another for the back, a third for the side door into the garage, and a fourth for the shed.
(289) 217-4629, open 24/7.