Emergency Lockouts · Kawartha Lakes
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey
You let a part-time employee go on Friday. The shop key is on a ring in their apartment, or their car, or a friend's kitchen, and on Monday morning the register and the stock room open with it.
Call now · open 24/7(249) 488-0915In plain words
When a key disappears, cutting yourself another copy solves the wrong half of the problem. You can get in again, but so can whoever finds the original. A same-visit rekey turns that around: the locksmith works through each cylinder the missing key operated, fitting new bottom pins on a conventional lock or resetting a homeowner-rekeyable one through its own procedure, and refits the lock to the door. The lost key still slides into the keyway but no longer lifts the pins to the right height, so it turns nothing. You leave with fresh keys cut on site and the same locks you already had.
How the visit goesThe lawyer's envelope held two keys for the new house. The previous owners mention a cleaner, a dog walker and a brother who checked on the place, and the builder's paperwork shows six were cut originally. Four are unaccounted for.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey · Kawartha Lakes
How the visit goes
- 1
How many keys, and who gets them
Before pins are touched, the number of keys is agreed, because that number is the whole point of key control. The locksmith asks who in the household or business needs one: each adult, a teenager, a caregiver, the neighbour who feeds the cat, the landlord, the cleaner. Each name gets a key and the total is written down. Anyone who had a copy of the old key but is not on the new list is, from that moment, simply someone without a key. Knowing the count on day one is what makes it possible, years later, to say with confidence exactly how many keys to this property exist.
- 2
Bringing every door onto one key
When the household wants a single key, the locksmith pins each compatible cylinder to the same combination in turn, using the same cut key as the reference so nothing drifts between doors. A cylinder from a different keyway family is exchanged for one that matches, or the household keeps a second key for that door if they prefer. Where a home has a keyed garage entry, a shed and a gate on the same list, they follow the same process. The finished set is tried door by door with a single key, and the spare cylinders and old keys are gathered up so nothing that fits the old combination stays in circulation.
- 3
One key on the ring
If the house was keyed alike during the visit, the ring that goes back in your pocket is lighter. One key opens the front door, the back door, the garage entry and the gate. Each family member carries one thing instead of a jangle, and the question of which key goes to the dog walker has one answer. New doors added later, a shed or a workshop, can be pinned to the same code when they are installed. Guests and sitters find the arrangement easier too, and a single key is a good deal harder to lose than a bunch.
In the van
- Replacement cylinders
- Pin tweezers and shims
- Top pins and cylinder springs
- Key gauge and decoder
- Code key machine
What affects the quote
- 1
Upgrades chosen during the visit
Some people take the moment to move to a heavier deadbolt, a restricted keyway, a reinforced strike or a lockbox for the spare. None of it is required; each option is a separate line.
- 2
Homeowner-rekeyable cylinders without a working key
Resetting a homeowner-rekeyable cylinder when its key is gone uses that system's own reset fixture, where the installed lock supports one, and a few extra minutes per cylinder, which shows as a small line on the quote.
- 3
Restricted or high-security keyways
Patented and high-security cylinders carry more parts, need dedicated pin kits and issue keys through authorised channels. Rekeying them takes longer and the blanks cost more than common residential ones.
Same fees day, night or weekend.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey: questions
The car key was on the same ring. Can you deal with that too?
Vehicle keys are a separate branch of locksmith work because most carry a chip the car's immobiliser recognises. Retiring a lost car key means programming the car to forget it and to accept a new one, which an automotive locksmith does at the vehicle. Mention the car when you book; where the company offers that service it can be scheduled, and otherwise the household rekey proceeds and you are pointed to the right help.
What should I do before the locksmith arrives?
Walk the property and note every door the missing key opened, including the garage, shed and gate. Gather any keys you still have, since a working key helps in reading each cylinder. Have identification and, for tenants, something showing the tenancy. Decide roughly how many keys you want and whether you would like all doors on one key. If a garage remote or building fob was lost too, mention it when you book.
Does the locksmith need to see the actual lost key, or just look at the lock?
Just the lock, and the door it is fitted to. A rekey works on the cylinder itself: the locksmith opens it, fits a new set of pins matched to a fresh key, and the old key stops working the moment that is done, whether or not it ever turns up again. Knowing roughly how the old key looked, cut on both edges, a chip on the head, a certain brand, can still help identify which cylinders in the house shared that key.
Lockout Services
EmergencyHome Lockout ServiceYou reached the front step with the groceries, patted every pocket twice, and the house key is simply not there.
EmergencyBusiness Lockout ServiceYou signed the lease on the unit last week and the landlord handed over possession, but the previous tenant's locks are still on…
EmergencyBroken Key ExtractionThat key had been bending a little for years, and you kept straightening it.
EmergencyBreak-In Damage Lock RepairThere is a hole where the cylinder used to be.
EmergencySeized & Jammed Lock OpeningThe key turns a full circle without any resistance and the deadbolt stays exactly where it is.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey near you
Kawartha Lakes, Ontario
Kawartha Lakes information
- Town
- Kawartha Lakes, Ontario
- In business
- 32 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (249) 488-0915
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
What the census means at the door
56%
Older homes. About 56% of homes in Kawartha Lakes were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
Where housing is mostly older, many entries still have only a knob lock and no deadbolt at all. Adding one is a straightforward job on a solid wood door, and it is the single upgrade that changes most for a house of this kind.
84%
Mostly houses. Single-detached houses make up about 84% of homes in Kawartha Lakes (2021 Census).
Homeowners in houses often want a spare key that lives outside safely. A locksmith can fit a proper key safe or set up a keypad so a hidden key under a pot is no longer part of the plan.
Nearby
Open 24/7
Request a visit
You let a part-time employee go on Friday.
Call now · open 24/7(249) 488-0915- On-site assessment preferred
- Same fees day, night or weekend
- 32 years in business