Emergency Lockouts · Pickering
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey in Pickering
The spare under the planter by the side door is gone. Everyone in the family swears they did not take it, the planter has clearly been shifted, and you have no idea how long ago that happened.
Call now · open 24/7(289) 275-9650In plain words
A missing key is also the moment a household can stop carrying four. Because a rekey sets a fresh combination in every cylinder anyway, the locksmith can set the same combination in all of them, provided they share a keyway family, so the front door, back door, garage entry and side gate open with one key. Where a cylinder belongs to a different family, it can be swapped for one that matches during the same visit. The result is a single key on each ring, fewer copies to keep track of, and the certainty that the lost one operates none of them.
How the visit goesYou were shovelling the driveway after dark and the ring must have slid out of your coat pocket somewhere under a metre of snow. You have raked the whole bank with a flashlight. It will turn up in April, and you would rather not wait.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey · Pickering
How the visit goes
- 1
How many keys, and who gets them
Before pins are touched, the number of keys is agreed, because that number is the whole point of key control. The locksmith asks who in the household or business needs one: each adult, a teenager, a caregiver, the neighbour who feeds the cat, the landlord, the cleaner. Each name gets a key and the total is written down. Anyone who had a copy of the old key but is not on the new list is, from that moment, simply someone without a key. Knowing the count on day one is what makes it possible, years later, to say with confidence exactly how many keys to this property exist.
- 2
Testing every key in every lock before leaving
The last part of the work is deliberate repetition. Each new key is tried in each cylinder it should open, with the door open and again with it closed and bolted, so a pin that feels fine on the bench is proven on the door. The old key is tried too and shown turning nothing. Cylinders that were dry or gritty get the lubricant their maker specifies, a puff of graphite, PTFE or a specified liquid product, and a few cycles to spread it. Screws are checked snug, covers seated, and the pile of old keys and any swapped cylinders is handed to you or taken away as you prefer. Only then is the key count confirmed and written down.
- 3
A note for the landlord or building manager
Where a tenancy, a condominium or a commercial lease is involved, the visit ends with a plain written note: which cylinders were rekeyed, how many keys were cut, who received them, and the key code if the property keeps a register. Tenants pass it to the landlord along with the landlord's set of new keys, keeping the paper trail on both sides current. Condominium managers can update the building's key record. A small business can file it with the lease. It is a few lines that save a long conversation later.
In the van
- Key blanks in common keyways
- Cylinder retaining-clip and cap tools
- Key gauge and decoder
- Rekeyable-cylinder reset tool
- Code key machine
What affects the quote
- 1
Electronic credentials on the same ring
Clearing a garage opener's memory and re-pairing remotes, changing keypad codes or helping report a building fob are small tasks the quote names separately.
- 2
Whether the doors can share one key as they are
Cylinders from the same keyway family are pinned alike with no extra parts. A door from a different family needs a compatible cylinder swapped in if you want a single key, and that part is quoted separately.
- 3
Master-keyed building cylinders
A condominium or apartment suite cylinder on a building master system is pinned so the master still works, which takes coordination with management and a little more time than a stand-alone house door.
Same fees day, night or weekend.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey: questions
Does the locksmith need to see the actual lost key, or just look at the lock?
Just the lock, and the door it is fitted to. A rekey works on the cylinder itself: the locksmith opens it, fits a new set of pins matched to a fresh key, and the old key stops working the moment that is done, whether or not it ever turns up again. Knowing roughly how the old key looked, cut on both edges, a chip on the head, a certain brand, can still help identify which cylinders in the house shared that key.
When is replacing a lock better than rekeying it?
When the hardware itself is the weak point: a plug worn oval, a cylinder eaten by salt from a driveway-facing door, a light knob lock on an exterior door, a keyway with no blanks left in supply, or when you want a different style, a heavier deadbolt or a keypad. In those cases a new lock keyed to match the rest of the house is fitted in the same visit. Everything else is rekeyed.
My key fell in the snow in my own yard. Do I still need to rekey?
It is your call, and it is a reasonable one either way. A key lost on your own property is unlikely to be picked up by a stranger, but it will surface in the spring thaw, and until then you are trusting a guess about where it lies. Many households rekey anyway for the certainty, and because the visit also lets them put every door on one key while the locksmith is there.
Lockout Services
EmergencyHome Lockout ServiceAfter a week of humid weather the back door has swollen in its frame.
EmergencyBusiness Lockout ServiceA cook stepped into the alley with the recycling and the rear door swung shut behind him.
EmergencyBroken Key ExtractionIn the parking lot your car key snapped in the driver's door.
EmergencyBreak-In Damage Lock RepairSomeone smashed the little window beside the door, reached in and turned the thumb-turn.
EmergencySeized & Jammed Lock OpeningIt is the coldest morning of the winter and the key goes halfway into the side door and stops.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey near you
Durham, Ontario
Pickering information
- Town
- Pickering, Durham, Ontario
- In business
- 11 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 275-9650
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
What the census means at the door
31%
Newer homes. About 31% of homes in Pickering were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
In areas of recent construction, doors mostly carry builder-grade locks that were chosen for the whole development at once. They work, but a household that wants more can upgrade the cylinder or the whole set without any surprises about fit.
60%
A mix of homes. Single-detached houses make up about 60% of homes in Pickering (2021 Census).
In an area with both houses and attached homes, the work varies by the door. A detached house wants all its exterior doors on one key; a suite door wants a cylinder that suits a metal frame and respects building rules. A locksmith carries parts for both.
Open 24/7
Request a visit
The spare under the planter by the side door is gone.
Call now · open 24/7(289) 275-9650- On-site assessment preferred
- Same fees day, night or weekend
- 11 years in business