Lock rekeying | Capital Sentinel, Washington DC

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Pins changed so the old key fails and the new keys match

Rekeying keeps the same plug and changes the pins. The keyway is confirmed. A plug follower holds the top stacks while the plug comes out. A key gauge reads the new depths. The pin kit fills the chambers. Every cylinder on the list is done. Old and new keys are tested. The new keys are counted. A missed garage, a SmartKey mistaken for a pin stack, wrong depths, and one untested key are how an old key still opens something the next day.

Call for a rekey when someone who had a working key should not have one, and the cylinders themselves are still sound. Extraction is the visit if a key snapped off in the plug. Replacement is the visit if the bolt grinds or the housing is cracked. Bring the current key if you have it and the list of doors.

A plug follower, a gauge, and the garage cylinder people forget

Pin changes, keys cut to the new bitting, a count, and the old-key test are included. A new deadbolt or a restricted keyway is a separate scope. A keying chart is written when more than one cylinder shares the work. We do not rekey a SmartKey with a pin kit. That product is reset or replaced.

Row houses often have a basement gate or a rear gate on the same bitting as the front, and condos may forbid rekeying the common entry. We change only openings you control. The side door and the garage personnel door are asked about out loud, because they are the ones left off the napkin list.

Frequent questions

Why will you not rekey SmartKey with a follower and a pin kit?

SmartKey uses a sidebar and a reset tool. Dumping bottom pins into it ruins the plug. If the sidebar is healthy we reset it the way that product allows. If it is worn, the cylinder is replaced and priced as a replacement.

How is the old key proven dead?

It is tried in every cylinder on the list after the new stacks are in. It must not turn. The new keys are counted against the number you asked to leave with. An untested cylinder is an unfinished rekey.

What belongs on the list before any plug comes out?

Front, back, office, basement, garage personnel door, storage. Anything missing keeps the old bitting. We do not wander a building looking for extra cylinders unless that walk is ordered.

When is a new cylinder more honest than new pins?

When the plug is sloppy, the keyway is chewed, or the bolt no longer throws. Fresh pins in a worn plug still feel bad and still accept a bad copy. The receipt then says replacement, not rekey.

Pins changed so the old key fails and the new keys match

A plug follower, a gauge, and the garage cylinder people forget

Frequent questions

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