A rekey call often starts with a lock that is working perfectly well.
The door opens. The deadbolt feels fine. Nothing is broken. The problem is the key - more specifically, somebody may still have one that you no longer want working.
That comes up after a move, between tenants, when a key goes missing, or simply after years of handing copies to family, workers, neighbors and whoever else needed one at the time.
At Fern Rock Hardware - Locksmith Services, we have been working with locks, keys and door hardware in Philadelphia for more than 20 years. Rekeying is one of those jobs where keeping good hardware often makes more sense than starting over. If the lock is solid and doing its job, we can usually concentrate on the part you actually want changed - who has access.
The lock normally stays on the door.
Inside the cylinder are small parts that correspond to the cuts on your key. We change that combination and make a new key to match it. Once the work is done, the previous key no longer operates that lock.
For a homeowner, that means you can keep a deadbolt you already like without wondering whether the old owner's spare is still sitting in a neighbor's kitchen drawer.
For a landlord, it means a good lock does not necessarily have to be replaced every time a tenant changes.
For a business, it may be the easiest way to deal with an employee key that was never returned.
There are times when we take a lock apart and decide rekeying is not where the money should go. A badly worn cylinder, damaged latch or loose piece of hardware still needs attention. New keys will not make tired hardware young again.
That is where having the hardware side of the business in the background is useful. We are used to looking at the lock, the door and the pieces around it instead of treating the cylinder as the whole story.
People get some interesting key rings when they buy a house.
Two clean new keys for the front door. An old brass key for the back. Another one marked "basement" that does not seem to work anywhere. Maybe three copies of something nobody can identify.
That is not unusual in Philadelphia, especially in homes that have had several owners and several rounds of new hardware over the years.
If you have just moved in, start by counting the exterior locks rather than the keys. Front door, back door, side entrance, basement - whatever gives access to the house.
Then we can see what you actually have.
If the locks are compatible and in decent shape, more than one may be able to work from the same new key. That can clean up a key ring quickly. Instead of finding the right key for each door every time you come home, one key may handle the entrances you use most.
It does depend on the hardware. A newer deadbolt on the front door and an older mortise lock on another entrance may not belong to the same key family. Philadelphia houses are full of combinations like that.
We would rather see the locks first and tell you what can reasonably be matched.
Where did it go?
If a loose house key disappeared somewhere with nothing connecting it to you or your address, the situation may not bother you much.
If your keys vanished together with a wallet, ID or bag that identifies where you live, that feels different. Same if somebody who used to have legitimate access still has a copy and should not anymore.
That is when rekeying the locks can give you a clean break from the old key.
There is no need to make it more dramatic than it is. We just need enough information to understand which doors are involved and whether the existing locks are worth keeping.
If one key is missing but you still have another working copy, keep it. It can be useful when we are checking the locks. Once the rekey is finished, both old copies will stop working anyway.
Rental properties are where this service makes a lot of practical sense.
A tenant moves out and the deadbolt is only a few years old. It turns smoothly, the latch is fine and there is nothing wrong with the hardware. The access needs to change, not the door.
That is a straightforward rekey job.
Philadelphia landlords and property managers may also have more than one door to think about. There can be the apartment entrance, a shared front entrance, basement access, utility doors and sometimes a rear entrance used by more than one unit.
We need to know which locks you control and which keys are supposed to work where.
That becomes especially important in apartment or condo buildings around Center City and Logan Square. A unit owner may be able to rekey the apartment door but have no control over the building's main entrance or another managed access system.
Sorting that out first saves everybody time.
We get asked this a lot.
Often it can be done, provided the locks are compatible.
And if you are already rekeying the house, it is the right time to ask.
Imagine the front deadbolt and rear deadbolt are the same type but currently use different keys. There may be no good reason to keep them that way. Rekeying both alike can leave you with one key for the entrances instead of two.
Where it gets less tidy is on houses that have collected hardware over time.
A place in North Philadelphia or West Oak Lane may have a relatively new front deadbolt, an older knob lock on the rear and a basement door that has been repaired more than once. Manayunk and Roxborough homes can bring older frames and doors into the mix too. Around Chestnut Hill, we sometimes see older residential hardware that is well made and worth keeping rather than automatically replacing.
Different does not mean bad.
It just means we have to look before deciding whether everything can sensibly share one key.
This is something we talked about with residential lock work in general, and it matters here too.
If your deadbolt has been hard to turn, try it while the door is open.
Works smoothly now?
Then tell us that.
The cylinder may be completely fine while the bolt is rubbing against the strike when the door closes. Rekeying can still change the access if that is what you need, but it would be silly to ignore the door problem while we are standing there.
Older wood doors move. Hinges loosen. A frame can settle a little. Paint gets added over the years. Sometimes somebody installed a replacement lock without changing the old strike position quite enough.
This is common, ordinary hardware work. It is also why "I want my locks rekeyed" can occasionally turn into "and can you look at why this back door only locks if I pull on it?"
Yes. Show us.
Before you call, walk around once and count them.
Do not just count doors. Count keyed locks.
A front door might have a keyed knob and a separate deadbolt, which gives us two cylinders on one door. Another entrance may have only a deadbolt. If you want all of them changed, that distinction helps when we talk about the job.
A photo helps too, particularly when the locks do not all look alike.
If you want several compatible doors to use one key, mention that from the beginning. If there is one lock you want left alone, tell us. If one of the locks already feels loose or difficult, point that out too.
You do not need to know the manufacturer or cylinder type.
We can figure that part out.
We handle residential, rental and business rekeying around Philadelphia and nearby communities. The work can be as small as changing one front-door key or involve several entrances that need a little sorting out first.
Our North 5th Street roots also mean Fern Rock, Olney, North Philadelphia and West Oak Lane are familiar territory. Other days take us across the city to older homes, apartments, rentals and businesses with completely different hardware.
If you are outside our immediate area and searching for a local locksmith, our service-area pages cover the Philadelphia neighborhoods and surrounding communities we regularly work in.
The useful starting point is simple: tell us why the keys need to change and how many locks are involved.
Moving into a new house? Tenant changed? Lost a key somewhere you would rather not have lost it? Or maybe you finally counted the spare keys and realized you have no clue where half of them went.
Call Fern Rock Hardware - Locksmith Services and tell us what you have. If the existing locks are good, we'll work with them. If one of them needs more than a rekey, we'll show you why.
For lock rekeying in Philadelphia, give us a call and let's get you a fresh set of working keys - without replacing good hardware just for the sake of it.
