Place that can re-key my house in SA. (renters, buying)

[SA Greed]

Okay, I have noticed this happening more within the recent years as opposed to many years ago. I had to have some keys made for my house about 2 years ago and they gave me a pain when trying to unlock the doors but eventually worked however the original keys because useless as they did not turn any longer. (Frustrating) Since the keys I had made now work and through time worked better I left it at that. I recently went to Home Depot to get a key made because the ones I bought 2 years ago broke. (plastic handle with light broke off) When I went home, I tried the new key on one of the doors and not only did it not work (even after some time) now my broken keys don't turn just like the originals 2 years ago! Because of this, I just want someone to come out and rekay all knobs and locks so that they are all working with just one key. I remember back in the day, you'd get a key made and it worked just like the original! Anyone have any experience with this? I had thought of buying new locks and knobs but I figured rekeying would cost less.

[justiciability]

Sounds like your problem is the door knob, not the keys. Time for a replacement. They are extremely cheap.

[Me007gold]

Do you own a phillips head screw driver? can you turn it? If you you can replace the knobs your self. It is incredibility easy.

Go to your favorite home supply store, buy as many knobs as you need(make sure the codes match if you want the same key on every door) and install.

[SA Greed]

If I change the door handle, we'd more than likely go with something nice that runs about 140 for the front. I was hoping to avoid it all together. Do locksmiths do this kind of thing? I would imagine people who have renters know this sort of thing.

[jmckay331]

it would be more expensive to have a locksmith do the job. You can easily install a new lock or knob yourself for much cheaper. There are a ton of options now and many that allow you to have keyless entry. We have changed out a number of locks on our homes and it takes all of about 15 min to do it. I recommend checking out those options from Home Depot or Lowes

[pobre]

Many times, you can change out the core itself. We were having trouble with locks that were sticking or keys not turning properly. After graphite would no longer solve the problem we bought new cores at Lowes, and the cores re-keyed to our existing locks (Kwikset).

[KM1174]

Originally Posted by justiciability

Sounds like your problem is the door knob, not the keys. Time for a replacement. They are extremely cheap.

this.

go get a new door handle and dead bolt (they usually sell in pairs). installation is a cakewalk (undo some screws, line up some things, screw in some screws, profit).

[ged_782]

Unless your locksets are something high-end, or non-standard or unique in some way, I would just do as other posters have suggested, and get new locksets. They are pretty simple to install, for someone who is reasonably handy with a screwdriver.

A locksmith should be able to re-key what you have, but it is usually more labor-intensive than just changing out the whole lock, plus you have a charge for a house call ($$$).

[SA Greed]

Thanks!

[Labamigo]

If you go the locksmith route, and if you want to know who not to use, send me a private message.