If you can’t make a decision about whether you should rekey your locks or replace them then this article will help. For starters, it’s great that you are concerned about your locks as they are your first line of defense that helps you secure your premises. When making a decision, you need to understand that both rekeying or changing locks have their own pros and cons. Most importantly, it depends on you and your situation.

For example, if you are moving to a new house or just bought one then the general rule is that you are supposed to change the locks as you don’t know who still has access to the keys. On the other hand, if you’ve been living in your house for quite a while now or if your roommate just moved out then it’s better to change the locks completely for security reasons. 

In a nutshell, it all depends on your situation but to help you land on a clear decision, today we’ll be discussing both rekeying and changing of locks in detail. 

When Should You Rekey Your Locks? 

First of all, rekeying means that you’ll be changing the entire mechanism of your locks so that the old keys don’t work. Instead, you’ll have a new mechanism inside the lock and only your new key can open it. There’s no set rule here to follow but people generally opt for rekeying when they’ve just moved to a new house and they are concerned if someone else has the copies of the keys too. Rekeying here is the wiser pick because it’s more affordable than changing the entire lock so that’s what people usually go for. Secondly, you can opt for lock rekeying if you just lost one of the copies of your keys and now you are worried if someone else has it. Again, rekeying will be a much more affordable option here than just changing the locks. 

Another unique situation where rekeying makes more sense is when you have different keys for different locks and you wish to have just one key that can work on all the locks. 

When Should You Change Your Locks? 

Changing locks can be a bit more expensive than rekeying but if it’s required and if it makes sense to you then you should definitely go for it. Some of the most common situations where people often change their locks entirely are; when they want different designs and colours of locks and they are tired of the old ones. The second situation when you should definitely change the locks is when they are all old and worn out. This is the kind of situation where you should hire a locksmith immediately and get it all changed because again, there’s nothing more important than securing your premises. 

Moreover, changing locks will even make sense if you want to upgrade your security system and put new locks with modern locking mechanisms. 

ALSO READ: Important Questions to Ask Before Replacing a Deadbolt

The Right Pick 

We’ve explained both the situations in detail and the fact is that the whole rekeying vs changing locks decision depends on your situation. What you must keep in mind is that changing the locks can be a bit expensive. Especially if it’s a high-quality lock then it’s better if you just rekey it because that’ll be cheaper. 

Made up your mind? Call AFA Locksmith in Birmingham and let us help you improve your security. Our professional locksmiths have years of experience in changing and rekeying locks and we provide the best service in town. Try Now!