Just Moved In? The Rochester Homeowner's Rekey Checklist

Rekeying means a locksmith changes the internal pin configuration of your existing lock cylinder so that all old keys stop working and only your new key operates the lock. Because the hardware shell stays in place, it is faster, involves fewer parts, and can be done on every door in a single visit. Lock replacement makes sense when the hardware itself is worn, damaged, outdated, or when you are upgrading security — for example, swapping a basic door knob lock for a heavy-duty deadbolt or a high-security mortise lock. For a typical Rochester home purchase, the honest answer is: rekey first, then evaluate upgrades door by door.

Here is the practical difference. A mortise lock — the rectangular body that sits inside a pocket mortised into the door edge, common on older Rochester homes and brownstones — requires a locksmith with hands-on experience with that specific mechanism. It is not the same as a standard cylindrical deadbolt, and it should never be forced or tampered with. A skilled locksmith can rekey the mortise lock cylinder cleanly, preserving the original hardware (which, in many historic Rochester properties, is genuinely beautiful and expensive to replicate). If the mortise lock itself is worn or the cam mechanism is failing, that is the right moment to discuss a full replacement with your locksmith Rochester technician.

Front door and back door are obvious. Here is the list people miss. Start with the side door into the garage — it is almost always keyed separately and is the door most burglars test first. Then check the door from the attached garage into the living space; if it has a door knob lock without a deadbolt above it, add one before you sleep there. Basement walk-out doors, often tucked behind shrubs or a fence, are another blind spot. Check any gate in a privacy fence that uses a keyed padlock — ask your locksmith to rekey or replace that cylinder too. If the home has a detached garage, workshop, or garden shed with a lock, those cylinders have almost certainly never been rekeyed in the property's history.

Inside the home, check whether the primary bedroom has a privacy lock (it should, for safety) and whether any internal doors with keyed locks — a home office, a finished basement, a rental suite — share the same key as the exterior. If you are moving into a property with a homeowner's association and a shared gate or amenity lock, notify the HOA immediately that you are the new owner and request that your fob or key card be re-registered to your name only. Finally, if a KeyMe kiosk key copy was ever made for this address — and it very likely was, given how many grocery and convenience locations in the Rochester area host those self-service machines — understand that copied keys are not registered or tracked. Any copy made before you took ownership works just as well as the original. Rekeying eliminates every copied key simultaneously, no matter where or how it was duplicated.

Walk every exterior door and note the hardware. A door knob lock alone — the kind where the key goes directly into the center of the knob — provides minimal security because the knob can be snapped or shimmed with basic tools. If that is all that stands between your family and the outside, your locksmith should install a proper single-cylinder deadbolt above it on the same visit. A mortise lock is a different story entirely: it is a multi-point mechanism set deep into the door, usually featuring both a latch and a deadbolt in one body, and it is significantly more resistant to forced entry. Many pre-war and mid-century homes in Rochester's 19th Ward and South Wedge neighborhoods have original mortise lock hardware that is still excellent — it just needs a cylinder rekey and possibly some lubrication. Newer construction more commonly uses cylindrical deadbolts, which are straightforward to rekey.

If any door has a smart lock or electronic keypad — a previous owner may have installed one — make sure you do two things: reset the electronic access code immediately using the manufacturer's instructions, and if the smart lock also has a physical key override (most do), have that cylinder rekeyed by a locksmith Rochester professional. An app reset alone does not help if someone has a physical backup key that still works.

A1 Rochester Locksmith operates as a 24/7 mobile service, meaning a trained locksmith comes directly to your address in the Rochester area with the tools and parts needed for your specific hardware. Before any work begins, you will receive an exact up-front price — confirmed at your door — so there are no surprises on the invoice. If you are asking how much should a locksmith charge to change a lock, or what is the average call out fee for a locksmith, the honest answer is that the final quote depends on several real factors: the type of lock (a standard cylindrical deadbolt differs significantly from a mortise lock or a high-security Schlage or Kwikset cylinder), the number of doors being serviced, the time of day (after-hours and emergency calls carry different rates than scheduled daytime visits), the travel distance within the Rochester service area, and whether any replacement parts or new cylinders are required. What does not change is the promise: the price is confirmed before a single pin is touched.

A typical same-day rekey visit for a newly purchased home covers all exterior doors in one appointment. The locksmith will inspect each lock, identify any that are damaged or insufficient, rekey the functional cylinders, and cut new keys on-site. If you want all exterior doors on a single master key — so you only carry one key for everything — that can be arranged during the same visit. This is also a good moment to ask about rekeyable lock systems like the Kwikset SmartKey line, which let you rekey yourself in the future with a small tool, without calling a locksmith each time.

Moving day is chaotic, and lockouts happen more often on moving day than almost any other time of year. If you find yourself locked out of your new Rochester home — check every window and secondary entrance first, and see if a trusted person has a spare key — but if no safe option exists, an emergency locksmith call is the right move. A1 Rochester Locksmith is available around the clock, including weekends and holidays, specifically for situations like this. For non-emergency municipal questions — such as reporting a neighborhood concern or reaching a city department — the non-emergency number in Rochester, NY is (585) 428-7011, the Rochester Police non-emergency line, which handles non-urgent community matters. For your lock and key emergencies, call us directly at (631) 380-4138 and a technician will be dispatched to your location.

Beyond home rekeying, new homeowners in the Rochester area often discover they need additional services as they settle in. If you purchased a home with a detached structure used as a commercial space or rental unit, a commercial locksmith visit may be appropriate to assess higher-security hardware and access control options. Vehicle locksmith services are equally important during a move: if you have just acquired a new vehicle or need a replacement key or fob for your existing car, a qualified locksmith can cut and program keys for most makes and models. A common question is: can a locksmith program my key fob? The answer for most modern vehicles is yes — a skilled locksmith with the right diagnostic equipment can program transponder keys and fobs on-site, without the cost and wait time of a dealership visit. Key fob programming, like lock work, is priced based on vehicle make, key type, and parts required, and the exact amount is confirmed before work begins. Our full range of services includes: residential rekeying, mortise lock service and repair, deadbolt installation, door knob lock replacement, smart lock installation and programming, master key system setup, high-security lock installation, lock-out service for homes, lock-out service for vehicles, transponder key cutting, key fob programming, ignition repair and replacement, car key duplication, broken key extraction from locks, broken key extraction from ignitions, safe opening, safe combination changes, gate lock rekeying, padlock rekeying and replacement, access control installation, keypad lock installation, window lock installation, sliding door lock reinforcement, commercial lock installation, and emergency after-hours locksmith response throughout the Rochester area.

Self-service key copying kiosks — including the KeyMe-branded machines found inside Price Rite and other local retailers in the Rochester area — are genuinely useful for making convenient everyday spare copies. But they are not a security solution when you move into a home, for one simple reason: they copy whatever key is inserted, with no identity check and no record tied to an address. If the previous owner, their contractor, or anyone else made a copy at one of those kiosks before you closed on the home, that copy exists somewhere and works perfectly. Kiosks can duplicate home, office, and padlock keys, and some handle fobs and access cards as well — which means the scope of potential untracked copies is broad. The only way to make every previous key useless — kiosk copy or original — is a professional rekey. Rekeying does not care how a key was made or where. Once the pins are changed, the old cut is obsolete. That is the guarantee rekeying provides that no key-copy service can.

Rochester is a genuinely livable mid-size city — affordable compared to most northeast metros, with real neighborhoods that have distinct characters: the walkable energy of the South Wedge, the historic architecture of the 19th Ward, the family-friendly suburbs of Webster, Irondequoit, and Greece, and the quieter stretches along Lakeshore Boulevard near the Lake Ontario shoreline. Is Rochester, New York a good area? For most buyers, the answer is yes — but like any city, the quality of your experience starts with the basics, and secure locks are among the most basic. The most common locksmith task, industry-wide, is rekeying after a property changes hands — which tells you something important: most homeowners who learn about this step wish they had done it on day one. Do not be the homeowner who learns that lesson the hard way.

You have a lot to manage during a move. Rekeying does not have to be one of the complicated parts. A1 Rochester Locksmith is a mobile, 24/7 locksmith Rochester service covering the city and surrounding Monroe County communities. A trained technician comes to you, inspects your locks, gives you a confirmed price before any work begins, and has your home secured — typically in a single visit. Call (631) 380-4138 any time of day or night. We answer 24/7, including weekends and holidays, because move-in day does not wait for business hours.