Rekey Service in
Memorial, Houston, TX

Move-in rekeys are usually scheduled, and we work around moving days.

A Moving Truck at Noon and Keys Nobody Could Count

Moving day has a way of compressing everything. Here's a typical example of a rekey with a deadline.

A family closed on a house in Memorial on a Friday afternoon. The moving truck was due at noon on Saturday. Around nine in the morning, the father stood in the empty living room with the sellers' key ring: four keys, two of them unlabeled, and a garage remote. The sellers' agent had mentioned that "a few people" had keys over the years. He wanted every lock changed to new keys before a single box came off the truck.

He called us. The dispatcher asked how many exterior doors (front, back, garage entry and a side door to the yard), what the locks were, whether any were keypads, and whether he had the closing papers. One was a keypad deadbolt on the garage entry. She asked whether he knew its codes. He didn't. She noted that the codes would need resetting as well as the key cylinder, and promised a technician before the truck.

The technician got there in uniform and held up his ID. He checked the closing statement against the father's license. Then he got moving. He pulled the front deadbolt cylinder first, pushed out the old pins with a plug follower, loaded new pins from his pinning kit, and reassembled it. Same for the front handle set, the back door and the side door.

The keypad was the snag. It still opened with the sellers' code, and its master code wasn't the factory default. He couldn't log in to change it. He reset the lock to factory settings, following the maker's procedure, then set a new master code with the father, added a code for each family member, and rekeyed its backup cylinder to match the other doors.

He cut five new keys and had the father try each in every lock. Then he tried the sellers' four old keys. Not one turned. The moving truck pulled up and the movers found the doors unlocked with keys only the family held.

The technician's advice: reset the garage door opener and any gate remotes today, because rekeying doesn't touch those.

How Rekeying Works and Why It's Usually Enough

Inside the Cylinder

Every standard lock has a row of spring-loaded pins. Your key lifts them to the exact height where the cylinder can turn. Rekeying replaces those pins with a new set matched to a new key. Old keys lift them to the wrong heights and the lock stays shut.

Choosing Between a Rekey and New Locks

If your locks work well and you like how they look, rekeying is usually the better value. Choose new locks when they're worn, rusted, damaged, low grade or the wrong style. That's the short answer to rekey vs change locks; see lock change for the other route.

Moving Day Rekeys

The best time to rekey after moving is before the boxes come in. If you can't, do it the first week. Ask for every lock: front, back, side, garage entry, any gate locks and the backup cylinders on keypads.

One Key for the Whole House

To key all locks the same, they need to share a keyway, which usually means the same brand family. If one lock doesn't match, its cylinder can be replaced with a compatible one.

Keypads and Smart Locks Need a Code Reset

Rekeying the backup cylinder doesn't change the codes. Delete old users, change the master code, or reset the lock to factory settings if you don't know the codes. For new installs, see smart lock installation.

Garage Openers and Gate Remotes

Rekeying doesn't affect garage door openers, keypads on the garage frame or gate remotes. Reset those on day one.

Between Tenants

Texas landlords must rekey or change security devices within a set period after a tenant moves out. A landlord rekey between tenants is quick when it's planned into the turnover.

Contractors, Cleaners and House Sitters

Kitchen remodels, roof repairs, weekly cleaners and summer house sitters all mean keys leaving the house. Lend a single construction key on one door, or a code on a keypad, and rekey that door when the job ends.

Sellers' Spare Keys Turn Up Later

It's common for sellers to find another key in a drawer months after closing and mail it to the new owners, which tells you how many copies were floating around. A move-in rekey means it doesn't matter what turns up later.

Lost Keys and Address Tags

Permission to Rekey

Owners, or tenants with written landlord approval. We check ID against a deed, closing statement, tax notice or lease.

Getting to You on Moving Day

From driveways to parking lots, we meet you at your location in Memorial. Weekend mornings are usually quick. Weekday school runs on Memorial Drive and rush hour on the Katy Freeway are slower, and the light cycles at Dairy Ashford, Kirkwood and Wilcrest near the freeway add time. Planned rekeys are booked around your closing and your movers.

Neighborly Technicians Who Test Everything

Our people arrive in uniform and show company ID first. They confirm you own the house, look at every lock before changing anything, and tell you plainly when a lock should be replaced instead of rekeyed. They handle your hardware with care, test every lock with every new key, and try the old keys to prove they're dead.

Fast Locksmith 24/7 is licensed and insured, with a 5-star rating on Google from Houston customers.

Rekey Service Around Memorial

Memorial's houses turn over steadily: older ranch homes sold to new families, rebuilt lots in Nottingham Forest and Fonn Villas, mid-century homes in Memorial Bend, and rental townhomes near the freeway and the Beltway. Every sale and every lease leaves keys in circulation. Rekey service in Memorial is the simplest way to start fresh without replacing good hardware, and it's usually finished in about an hour.

Rekeying is a good fit for Memorial, where many homes have solid brass hardware that is worth keeping. The locks stay on the doors, the keys change and the old ones stop working.

Make a list of the locks you want rekeyed. Front door, back door, garage entry, side gate, pool gate and any padlocks all count. We can set several to the same key so you carry fewer.

Gather the keys you have, and think about who else holds one. Past owners, tenants, contractors, cleaners and relatives all count.

If a lock is worn or damaged, the technician will tell you. Rekeying is not the answer for every lock, and a replacement is sometimes the better route.

Hand the new keys out before the old ones stop working, so nobody ends up locked out.

Memorial rentals and second homes need the same care as main residences. A tenant who moves out in a hurry, a house sitter or a relative who stayed over all leave extra keys behind, and a rekey ends the question.

After the rekey, keep the old keys in a labeled envelope for a short while, in case a door was missed. Once everything has been tested, discard them.

Ask about key-in-knob locks on interior doors, such as a home office or a wine closet. We can key those to the same key or a separate one.

We also offer rekey service in Spring Branch, Spring Valley Village and Memorial City.

Start With Keys Only You Hold

Call Fast Locksmith 24/7. Tell us how many locks, whether any are keypads, and when your movers arrive.