You have new keys. Other people may still have old ones. The good news: you usually don’t need new locks to fix that.

Congratulations on the new home. Before the boxes are unpacked, it’s worth asking one quiet question: who else still has a key? In this post we explain the two honest choices, rekey or replace, and how to tell which one your doors need.

Who may still have a key?

Think about everyone who got into the house before you:

• The seller and their family, plus spare keys given to neighbors, kids, and friends.
• Past tenants, if the home was rented. They may have made copies.
• The lockbox. It comes off, but the key inside may have been copied before.
• Painters, inspectors, stagers, and cleaners, who often get a key or a code.
• Smart-lock apps, where the seller may still be an admin, and old garage remotes and keypad codes.
• Hidden spares under mats, in fake rocks, above the door frame, or in the meter box.

You can’t know where every old key is. So the simple answer is: make the old keys stop working.

What a rekey does

A rekey changes the inside of the lock so it works with a new key. The lock stays on the door. Old keys stop working, and new keys work. No old keys? That’s okay. We can rekey your locks without them.

A rekey makes sense when:

• The locks work well and you like how they look.
• You want one key for all your exterior doors.
• You want the lower-cost option.

When replacing makes more sense

Replace means a new lock and new keys. It makes sense when:

• The lock is worn, loose, or hard to turn, even after the door is adjusted.
• The lock is cheap or damaged.
• You want a different style, a smart lock, or a stronger deadbolt.
• Parts for that lock are hard to find.

Some smart locks can’t be reset if the previous owner changed the admin code. In that case we can set up a new smart lock for you, or change it to a regular deadbolt if you’d rather go classic.

A door that sticks is usually the door, not the lock

If you have to lift, push, or slam a door before it latches, a rekey won’t fix that on its own. A loose hinge screw can make the door drop. A latch that misses the strike plate needs a small adjustment. Wood doors swell in Atlanta’s humid summer, so a door that sticks in July may be fine in January. We check and adjust these when we rekey.

Don’t forget the door from the garage

The door from the garage into the house should always have a deadbolt. Garages are easy to get into in several ways, and a doorknob alone opens with a slight kick or a credit card. We can add that deadbolt during the same visit.

Your first-week checklist

• Ask the seller for all keys, remotes, and codes.
• Make the old keys stop working: rekey or replace the outside locks.
• Make sure the door from the garage into the house has a deadbolt.
• Check that each door closes and locks without a push.

We can do all of this in one appointment. We explain what we did and why, tell you the cost before we start, and test every new key in every lock before we leave. Read more on our New Home Rekey page, or see everything we do for homeowners on our Residential page.

Aegis Locksmith Services is based in Dunwoody and serves the North Atlanta corridor, by appointment only. No call center. You reach Dalia directly, and she answers your emails personally.