Rekey Your Locks the Day You Move In
Keep the hardware. Change the pins. Old keys stop working.
Who still has a key to your new place?
Count them. The previous owners and everyone they ever gave a spare to. The last three tenants of that apartment off Mission Avenue. The listing agent's lockbox, which held a working key for every showing. The contractor who painted before closing, the dog walker, the cleaner, the brother-in-law. None of them are likely to walk in. All of them can.
A rekey ends that on day one. It is the one thing about a move that takes an hour and never needs to be thought about again.
Rekey vs. replace
Rekeying keeps the deadbolt and knob you already have and changes the pins inside the cylinder so a new key operates it. Your old keys and everyone else's stop working. The lock looks and feels the same from the outside because it is the same lock.
Replacing means new hardware in the door. It is the right call when a lock is worn out, corroded from the marine layer, damaged, or so cheap it should never have been there. It is also the way to get a smart lock or a higher security grade.
Most Oceanside move-ins only need a rekey. The tract homes in Rancho Del Oro and Ivey Ranch were built with ordinary Kwikset- and Schlage-style hardware that rekeys in minutes and has years of life left. We check every lock before we start and tell you if one is worth replacing instead. When new hardware makes more sense, and what we install.
What we rekey in one visit
- Front door, deadbolt and knob or handleset
- Back and side doors, including the door from the garage into the house, which is the one people forget
- Side gates with keyed locks or padlocks
- Sliding doors where the slider has a keyed lock; most do not, and we will suggest a bar or pin instead
- Private mailboxes mounted on the house (cluster boxes at the curb belong to the post office)
- Interior doors with keyed locks, such as an office or a room you rent out
We pin everything to a single new key, called keyed-alike, whenever the hardware allows it. One key for the front, back, garage entry, and gate. If two doors have different brands with different keyways, we tell you before we start and you choose between two keys or swapping one cylinder to match.
You get the number of keys you ask for, cut on the van, tested in every door before we leave.
Renting? What to know first
Most Oceanside leases say the tenant may not change the locks without the landlord's consent. So ask. Nearly every landlord and property manager says yes when you offer them a copy of the new key, because it protects their unit as much as your things. Some managers prefer to order the rekey themselves and bill it back; either way, we can meet them at the unit or drop the manager copy at their office.
If you are the one managing the building, the routine is different: scheduled rekeys at every turnover, a manager key, and invoices by unit. Turnover rekeys for landlords and property managers.
Moving out? Rekeying on the way out
Sellers rekey before handing over so the buyer gets keys nobody else holds; it is a small courtesy that avoids an awkward call later. Tenants leaving a rental sometimes need to return the exact number of keys the lease lists. If a key went missing during the tenancy, a rekey and a fresh set restores the count before the walkthrough. Leaving town before the landlord can meet you? We can mount a lockbox and leave the keys inside with a code only the manager gets.
How a move-in rekey visit works
- Book by move date. Use the form below or call. Tell us the address, the number of exterior doors, and the day the truck arrives. Summer fills first because of Camp Pendleton orders and lease turnovers, so book as soon as you have a date.
- We arrive in a window. You get a text when the van is on the way from the previous job.
- We check every lock and quote the total before touching anything. If a lock should be replaced instead, you hear it then, not on the invoice.
- About 10 to 15 minutes per lock. Cylinders come out, get repinned to the new key, and go back in.
- Every key in every door. Then we hand over the set, and the photo invoice arrives by text or email.
The numbers, in one line
Each additional lock is less, keys are cut on site, and the military discount applies to labor. The pricing page lists every line item.
Moving with the military?
Orders to or from Camp Pendleton come with a report date and not much slack. We book move-in rekeys around household-goods delivery, cut the key counts a move-out inspection asks for, and take 10% off labor with a military ID. On-base housing is handled by the housing office, so our work is off base: San Luis Rey, Eastside, and the rentals along Mission Avenue and SR-76. Discount terms and PCS timing.
Questions
How long does a move-in rekey take?
Plan on about 10 to 15 minutes per lock once we are at the door, so a typical Oceanside house with four or five exterior locks is done in about an hour. Keyed-alike setups add a few minutes because every cylinder is pinned to the same new key and then tested against each other.
Do I need to be home for the rekey?
Someone needs to let us in and take the new keys, but it does not have to be you. A spouse, a parent, or your property manager can meet us. We photograph the finished locks and the key count for the invoice so you can see the work even if you were not there.
Can you rekey a smart lock?
Usually. Most smart deadbolts keep a keyed cylinder as a backup, and that cylinder can be rekeyed like any other. We also help you clear the previous owner's codes and phone connections, which matter more than the key on a smart lock. A few models use a fixed cylinder and need a replacement instead.
Can you rekey a mailbox?
A private mailbox on your house, yes. Cluster mailboxes at the curb in Rancho Del Oro, Ivey Ranch, and Jeffries Ranch belong to the Postal Service, and only the post office can change those locks. We will tell you which one you have before you pay for a trip.
I rent. Do I need permission to rekey?
In most Oceanside leases, yes. Ask your landlord or property manager first; nearly all say yes when you offer them a copy of the new key. If they manage the lock themselves, we can bill them directly and drop the manager copy at their office.
Book your move-in rekey
Tell us the move date and the door count. We confirm a window by text and hold it.