Emergency rekeying in Vancouver
When a key is lost, stolen or not coming back.
A rekey changes the pins in your cylinders so a new key works and every old key stops. Most rekeys are planned. It turns urgent when you cannot say who holds a key to where you sleep.
Some rekeys can wait for a booking. These ones usually cannot.
Lost keys when you have no idea where the ring ended up
The deciding factor is what was on the ring with it. A key alone is anonymous. A key with a fob, parking pass, work badge or luggage tag tells the finder which door it opens.
An ex-partner or ex-roommate who still has a key after the break-up
Common, and reasonable to act on. Deciding who enters your home is reason enough. If the property is jointly owned or jointly leased, the legal position is more complicated. We will explain what we can and cannot do.
A tenant who moved out with the keys instead of handing them back
Standard turnover practice in any case, and urgent when keys are unaccounted for. As the owner or manager you authorize it directly.
A stolen bag holding your house keys and your address together
A wallet and keys taken together is the one that warrants tonight rather than the weekend. Report it, then rekey. In that order if you can, but do not wait on the police report to secure your door.
What gets repinned, and what gets swapped out.
Deadbolts and knobs rekeyed to a fresh key on the spot
The main event. On a pin-tumbler lock, the cylinder comes out, is repinned and goes back on the door. Brands with their own rekeying system are rekeyed to their procedure. Either way the old keys stop working.
Worn or damaged cylinders swapped instead of repinned
A chewed plug will not hold a rekey. A sheared tailpiece can sometimes be repaired, so we check first. Anything beyond saving is replaced and keyed to match, so you still leave with one key.
Smart locks and keypads where the code changes instead of the pins
Codes and app users are revoked rather than repinned. If the lock also has a key cylinder, rekey that too. It is the part people forget, and it is the part that still opens the door.
Patio door latches and padlocks that cannot be rekeyed at all
Many patio latches and most consumer padlocks have no rekeyable cylinder. Those get replaced rather than repinned, and we will tell you which of your hardware falls into this category before quoting.
One key for the front, back and garage once the rekey is done.
Which brands on your doors can share a single key
Locks can be keyed alike where the keyways are compatible. Mixed hardware sometimes needs one cylinder swapped, quoted before it happens. Planned work is on the rekey page.
Keeping a suite or office on its own key
Deliberately separate. A basement suite tenant should not hold the main house key, and an urgent rekey is exactly the moment to get that boundary right rather than repeat whatever the previous arrangement was.
Spare keys cut on the van so nobody is locked out tomorrow
An urgent rekey that leaves a household with one key between three people creates next week's lockout. Spares get cut on site.
Four things set an emergency rekey quote.
Starting figures are on the price guide.
See starting pricesHow many doors are rekeyed
Priced per cylinder, with the per-door figure dropping as the count rises. Front, back, garage and suite together is the efficient way.
Whether you still have a working key
With a key in hand the cylinders can often be decoded directly. Without one, each has to be picked or pulled before the rekey starts.
Whether the rekey runs tonight or waits for a morning booking
The single largest factor you control. If you are safe and the risk is low, morning costs less, and we will say so.
Cylinders too worn to rekey
Quoted as parts, separately from the rekey labour, and only where the cylinder genuinely will not hold.
What renters, owners and landlords ask about an urgent rekey.
Can you rekey tonight?
Evenings, weekends and holidays are by appointment. Call and you will hear honestly who is on and what the after-hours rate is before you commit to anything.
Do you check ID before a rekey?
Yes. Photo identification matching the address, or ownership or tenancy paperwork. Rekeying decides who can enter a building, which makes it precisely the job where that question has to be asked.
If my ex still has a key, is a rekey enough or do I need new locks?
A rekey is enough for the keys. If they know a keypad code, that changes too. Weak hardware or a badly closing door is a separate conversation we will not push while you deal with this.
Can you rekey locks the previous owner fitted decades ago?
Usually. Older cylinders rekey fine as long as the plug and pins are sound. Genuinely antique mortise locks sometimes need parts sourced, and you will hear that before we start rather than halfway through.
Can the mailbox and storage locker be done on the same visit?
Mailbox and locker locks are usually replaced rather than rekeyed, since most use low-security cams with no repinning. Worth doing at the same time, because a stolen key ring often included both. See mailbox locks.
Urgent rekeys are repinned by a licensed locksmith, not drilled out.
Nothing about urgency changes the method. Cylinders are rekeyed to a new key, by repinning or by the manufacturer's own rekey procedure, and go back into the hardware you already own.
Where no key survives, a cylinder is picked first where its type and condition allow. If it cannot be, you hear the alternative and its cost before anything is drilled.
Every rekeyed door is tested with the new key from both sides before we leave, and the spares are cut on the van.
The locksmith shows identification at your door. It is the same standard being applied to whoever else might have tried to use one of those old keys.
929 Drake Street, Vancouver.
The Vancouver Locksmith Ltd. · 929 Drake St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2P2 · 778-655-1957. The shop is not open yet. Until it is, the van comes to you, anywhere in the Lower Mainland. Evenings, weekends and holidays are by appointment.
Tell us what is going on, and we'll price it first.
Call, book online or ask for a callback. You will have the method and the number before any work begins.