This saves you having to research good brands as well as the hassle of running around buying locks and having them match. If you are buying new locks for a house you just bought, you can just have the locks rekeyed, instead of buying new. You can also buy the locks directly from the locksmith and they can just come keyed the same to begin with, as long as you remember to specify they should. A good locksmith can do it quickly, for under $10 a lock, and may come to you. This locksmith said to buy whatever you wanted, then have it rekeyed immediately. Thieves know this and likely have a key ring to try. This means that you likely have the same keys as several other people in your city. He also said that they all rotate their key numbers every so often, so if you wait a year, you can get the same numbers for the same brands. I don't remember what they were, but you generally get a better brand when you pay more. He talked about the various big-box stores that sell locks and the brands they sell, saying most of them are junk, with some exceptions. I've recently talked to a high-end, experienced locksmith about this exact topic.

But the second and subsequent locks took me only 15-20 minutes each. Put the cylinder back into the lock housing.Insert the new pins that will match your key.Remove the cylinder from the lock and dump the old pins.

Measure your key (with a tool from the kit) to learn the pin sizes you'll need.

There are many online videos of step-by-step re-keying demonstrations for each of the major brands. The kits come with the specialty tools and a supply of pins in all the various lengths. You can buy rekeying kits for any of the major brands. It's not hard to learn how conceptually, but it takes a bit of dexterity and patience. I re-keyed my existing locks so doors that were updated at different times all worked with the same key. If you already have differently-keyed locks, you could try re-keying them yourself. If you're buying new locks, then the other answers will be more efficient. You can also find them in 10-year-old phone books. Going to their well-worn location removes all doubt. So when calling around, if they pressure you to come to you, hang up the phone: they are either a) an 'outbound only, with truck' locksmith who will charge unnecessary on-site fees or b) a scammer collecting your data to sell as 'leads' to other locksmiths, or to criminals to take advantage of you. They cheerfully handle routine requirements at sensible cost (for locksmiths). They are happy for you to come to them, and can make anything since they have a well-equipped shop.

Shop-based locksmiths (it need not be neat).

They have a truck, not a shop, and their business is the urgent call and collecting that service charge for coming to you, which is a service you do not need. They collect your contact info and sell it to shady 'outbound only' locksmiths who come to you, overcharge you, and/or case your house for a later break-in. They can cheerfully build any lock-set (even a padlock!) to match your key. But the price will be nosebleed compared to the other options. Your friendly neighborhood locksmith can do anything I'm not a fan, honestly the mechanism seems flimsy given the price point. These are compatible with certain keyways. You unlock it, insert a special tool, and then insert the new desired key. But they're cheap.Ĭertain low-midline brands of lock allow you to 're-key' the lock to any arbitrary key. He could never figure out how I did it! Some brands of locks are self-rekeyable. I noted the model, went to the local hardware store and bought one of each key number. He drilled out ours and fit his own knob-lock. Once we demoted someone in a club and changed the knob/lock to his office. Buy your lock-sets far away, at places you don't normally shop. So if you need 3 knobs + 2 deadbolts, you must buy 3 knob+deadbolt sets, not 2 and a loose knob. Do not turn the store upside down looking for the same key number on a different SKU, you won't find it. This only works within the same SKU (barcode number). (This is the one time I'll recommend big-box they buy whole cartons). If not enough match, see if they have an unopened carton on the racks, or hit another big-box store. Search the packages with the same SKU until you find your matches. Every package in the carton will have the same key number. Generally there are 3-8 lock packages in a carton (all with the same style/color/SKU). So if you have 3 knobs and 2 deadbolts you all want keyed alike, buy 3 knob+deadbolt sets of the same number. All packages with the same key number use the same key. Look at the packages for 'Key Numbers'Įvery lock package will have a prominent 3-5 digit 'Key Number' somewhere on the outside of the package, typically the back.

Kwikset master key set