Lock Change Company in Newmarket — Same-Day Lock Changes
New house, lost keys, a tenant moving out or a lock that has finally given up. We change locks across Newmarket and York Region, usually the same day, with a firm price on the phone.
We change and rekey locks across Newmarket, usually the same day. A full lock change replaces the hardware; a rekey keeps your existing locks and changes the pins so old keys stop working — often the better and cheaper choice. Call 1-866-820-1331 for a firm price.
Lock change or rekey? The honest answer is usually rekey
People ring a lock change company and ask for new locks. Most of the time what they actually need is a rekey, and a company worth calling will tell you so even though it earns less.
Rekeying changes the small spring-loaded pins inside the cylinder you already own, so every key that used to work stops working — permanently, regardless of who holds it or how many copies exist. The lock body, the finish and the handle stay exactly as they are. It takes ten to fifteen minutes per lock, which is why the price drops sharply as the count rises.
A full lock change is the right call in a narrower set of cases, and they are easy to recognise.
Rekey is right when
The locks work fine mechanically and the only problem is who might still have a key — a house purchase, a tenant leaving, a lost keyring, a relationship ending.
Change is right when
The lock is worn out, the grade is wrong, there is no deadbolt at all, or the lock has clearly been forced or drilled before.
Either way, keyed alike
Front, back, side and garage running on one key. It costs very little extra at the time and it is the change people notice every single day afterwards.
The five situations we get called for most
- You just bought the house. Nobody knows how many keys exist — previous owners, their family, cleaners, trades, the agent, and a lockbox a dozen buyer agents opened.
- A tenant moved out. Turnover rekeys between tenancies are basic property management, not paranoia, and they are cheap when several units are done in one visit.
- The keys are gone. Lost keyring, stolen bag, keys that never came back. If the key had an address tag on it, treat it as urgent.
- The lock has started failing. A key that needs jiggling, a bolt that binds, a cylinder that turns roughly. That is mechanical wear and a rekey will not fix it.
- There is no deadbolt. Especially on a side entry or the door from an attached garage — the one door nobody can see from the road.
What a lock change actually involves
We look at the door, not just the lock
Half the locks we are asked to replace are fine. The frame moved, the strike drifted, or the hinge dropped. That is a fifteen-minute fix, not a new lockset.
You choose the grade
Builder-grade, residential-grade, or high-security with a restricted keyway whose blanks cannot be copied at a kiosk. We explain what each one actually buys you.
Fitting and alignment
New hardware, strike plate anchored with three-inch screws that reach the stud behind the frame, and the bolt dropping cleanly with no resistance.
Keys and a check
Every lock tested with every key, and keyed alike if you asked for it. You leave with keys that work on the first try.
That third step is the one most companies skip. A standard strike plate is held by three-quarter-inch screws that reach only the door trim, which is nailed to the frame and shimmed off the structure. Long screws cost almost nothing and change what happens when somebody puts a shoulder to the door.
What it costs, roughly
| Job | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Rekey, per cylinder (rate falls with count) | $25 – $45 |
| Standard deadbolt supplied and fitted | $120 – $200 |
| High-security deadbolt, restricted keyway | $220 – $400 |
| Whole-house lock change, 4 exterior doors | $400 – $900 |
| Strike plate reinforcement per door | $25 – $60 |
Ranges, not quotes — the hardware grade and the state of the door decide where you land. What we will do is give you a firm number on the phone once we know what is on your doors, and that number does not change when we arrive.
How long it actually takes
People book a lock change around a work day, so the honest timings matter more than the reassuring ones. From the van door opening:
| The job | On site |
|---|---|
| One deadbolt swapped, same prep, same bore | 20–30 minutes |
| Front entry set plus deadbolt, keyed alike | 40–60 minutes |
| Whole house, three to five cylinders on one key | 1–2 hours |
| New bore in a door that never had a deadbolt | +30–45 minutes per door |
| Rekey rather than replace, per cylinder | 10–15 minutes |
| Office suite or retail unit, phased | Half a day, usually after close |
The variable that breaks those numbers is never the lock. It is the door. A slab that has dropped, a frame that was patched after a forced entry, a 1970s bore that is 2-1/8 inch in name only — any of those turns a twenty-minute job into an hour. We look before we quote, which is why the quote holds.
Lock grades, without the brochure language
Every deadbolt sold in Canada carries an ANSI/BHMA grade. It is a real test standard, not marketing, and it is worth ten seconds of your attention when you choose.
Grade 3
The builder-grade cylinder that came with most new subdivisions. It locks. It will not survive a determined boot or a decade of Ontario winters, and its keyway is the easiest to copy at any hardware counter.
Grade 2
The sensible default for a house. Heavier bolt, better cylinder, tested to far more cycles. This is what we fit on most front door installations unless there is a reason to go further.
Grade 1
Commercial specification. Storefronts, offices, anything with a door that gets used two hundred times a day. On a house it is rarely wasted money but it is often the wrong place to spend it.
Here is the part the brochures leave out: on a typical Newmarket home, the grade of the deadbolt is not what fails. The frame is. A Grade 1 lock in a pine jamb held by three-quarter-inch screws will come out of the wall with the strike plate still attached to it. If the budget only stretches to one upgrade, reinforcing the frame beats upgrading the lock nearly every time. We will tell you that even when it is the smaller invoice. More on the hardware itself on the deadbolt page.
Landlords, tenants and who is allowed to change what
A good share of our lock change calls come from rental property, and the rules in Ontario are narrower than people expect.
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, a landlord may not alter the locking system on a door giving entry to a rental unit during a tenancy unless the tenant is given replacement keys. A tenant, equally, may not alter it without the landlord’s consent. That cuts both ways and it catches people out in both directions.
Between tenancies is the straightforward case. One tenant has moved out, the next has not moved in, and the locks should be changed or rekeyed as a matter of routine. Nobody needs permission and nobody is in dispute. That is the work we do most of — see rental property lock changes.
Mid-tenancy, we will ask. Not to be difficult, but because a locksmith who changes a lock on the wrong person’s say-so has created a problem for everybody including themselves. Bring the situation to us honestly and we will tell you what we can and cannot do.
If there is a live dispute, the Landlord and Tenant Board is where that gets settled, not a locksmith’s van. We change locks; we do not adjudicate tenancies.
After a break-in, or after keys go missing
Two situations where a lock change is not really about the lock.
After a forced entry, insurers generally want to see that the property was secured, and they want a date on it. Get the invoice, keep the invoice. The same visit is usually when the frame gets dealt with, because a door that has been kicked has almost always damaged the jamb whether or not it looks like it — burglary damage repair covers what that involves.
After a lost set of keys, the question is whether the keys can be tied to the address. A fob on the same ring as a car key with your plate on the registration is a different risk from a bare house key dropped in a parking lot. If they can be tied to the door, change or rekey it. If they cannot, you may still want to, and there is no wrong answer — lost house keys walks through how we think about it.
In both cases, keyed alike is worth asking for while somebody is already there. Getting the front, back and garage man-door onto a single key costs very little extra at the time and saves the fumbling forever after.
Frequently asked questions
Can you change my locks the same day?
Usually yes, across Newmarket and the surrounding towns. Call in the morning and it is normally done the same day.
Should I change the locks or rekey them?
Rekey, unless the locks are worn out, the grade is wrong, there is no deadbolt, or the lock has been forced. Rekeying stops every old key working for far less money.
What does keyed alike mean?
Every exterior door runs on the same key. It costs very little extra during a lock change or rekey and removes the daily nuisance of sorting keys at the door.
Do you change locks for landlords between tenants?
Yes, priced per cylinder with the rate falling as the count rises, and documented with a written key schedule if you want one.
Will you supply the locks or should I buy them?
Either. We carry standard and high-security hardware; if you have already bought locks we will fit them and tell you honestly whether they are worth fitting.
Do you fit high-security locks?
Yes — pick and drill resistant cylinders on restricted keyways, so keys cannot be copied without documented authorisation.
Need the locks changed today?
A firm price on the phone, same-day service across Newmarket, and an honest answer about whether you need a change or just a rekey.
