Home Lock Rekeying
When you move into a new home in Markham — whether it's a townhouse near Main Street Unionville, a detached home in Cornell, or a condo off Highway 7 — you rarely know how many copies of your keys are floating around. Previous owners, contractors, real estate agents, neighbours who held a spare: the list can be longer than you'd expect. Home lock rekeying solves this problem without the cost or disruption of a full lock replacement. By reconfiguring the internal pin tumblers of your existing hardware, a skilled technician resets your locks to accept one new key — and renders every old copy permanently useless.
Open 24 hours, 7 days a week · Licensed, bonded & insured
Markham Locksmiths is a fully mobile, 24/7 locksmith service. Our trained, insured technicians come directly to your door across Markham and the surrounding area — no trip to a hardware store, no waiting for a contractor's schedule. Whether you need a single entry door rekeyed or want every lock in the house operating on one convenient master key, we arrive equipped to complete the work on-site, with as little disruption to your door hardware as possible.
What we do
Available 24/7
Day, night, weekends and holidays — a real local locksmith answers and rolls a fully-stocked van.
Fast local response
Based in Markham, we reach the Markham area in well under an hour.
Insured & background-checked
Vetted technicians, up-front pricing, and no surprise add-ons when we arrive.
Damage-free entry
We pick and bypass locks the right way, so most lockouts are solved without drilling anything.
What Home Lock Rekeying Actually Involves
Rekeying is a precise mechanical process. Inside every pin-tumbler lock — the kind found on most residential entry doors, deadbolts, door knob locks, and mortise locks — sits a column of spring-loaded pins cut to match your current key. A trained locksmith disassembles the lock cylinder, removes those pins, and replaces them with a new set whose heights correspond to a freshly cut key. The old key will no longer rotate the cylinder. Your existing lock body, strike plate, and door hardware stay exactly where they are. For homeowners with quality hardware already installed — Schlage deadbolts, Kwikset entry sets, or a heavier mortise lock set into a solid wood or steel door — rekeying preserves that investment entirely.
This is also why rekeying is the preferred first step after any change in occupancy. A home lockout situation caused by a lost key is one thing; an untracked key in someone else's hands is a different kind of risk entirely. Rekeying addresses the second scenario directly, quickly, and without damaging the door frame or the lock body. Our technicians perform the work damage-free wherever the existing hardware allows, and they'll tell you upfront if a lock's condition means a full replacement is the smarter call.
Home Lock Rekeying for Every Door and Lock Type
Not every door in a Markham home uses the same hardware. Front entry doors often carry a deadbolt plus a door knob lock or lever set. Side and back doors may have a mortise lock — a more complex, multi-component unit recessed into the door edge that combines a latch, deadbolt, and sometimes a chain mechanism in one housing. Our technicians are experienced with all of these formats. Rekeying a mortise lock requires a different disassembly sequence than a standard cylindrical lock, and getting it wrong can damage an expensive piece of hardware. We handle mortise lock rekeying routinely, including older brass and iron units common in Markham's heritage properties in Unionville Village.
The practical goal most homeowners ask for is keyed-alike service: after rekeying, every exterior lock on the property accepts a single key. No juggling three different keys for the front door, the back door, and the garage entry. We can also set up a master-key arrangement for homeowners who want one key to open everything while a secondary key opens only specific doors — useful for rental suites or properties where a cleaner or caregiver needs limited access. Whatever configuration you need, we confirm the exact scope and price before any work begins.
When to Call an Emergency Locksmith vs. Planning a Rekey
There's a meaningful difference between a planned rekeying appointment and an emergency locksmith call, though we handle both around the clock. A planned rekey typically happens after a move, after a break-in attempt, after handing keys to a contractor whose work is now done, or after a relationship change in the household. These are scheduled visits where our technician arrives, assesses all the locks, and works through the property systematically. If you're in Markham and want to book during business hours or on a weekend afternoon, we accommodate that. Call (289) 276-8431 and we'll arrange a time that works.
A home lockout is a different urgency level — you're outside your own door, often at night or in bad weather, and you need access restored safely and quickly. Our 24/7 mobile service means a technician is dispatched regardless of the hour. We verify ownership before any work begins, which is standard practice and something any legitimate locksmith will do. If you've experienced a home lockout and want to combine entry with a same-visit rekey so the lost key is immediately void, our technician can do both in one call. Home lockout service and rekeying together is one of the most common combined requests we receive, and it makes obvious sense: once you're back inside, reset the lock so the missing key is no longer a concern.
Factors That Shape Your Rekeying Quote — and How We Price It
We don't publish flat-rate figures because several real variables affect the final cost of any lock rekeying job. The number of locks being rekeyed matters most. The type of lock hardware matters too — rekeying a standard cylindrical door knob lock takes less time and fewer parts than rekeying a multi-point mortise lock or a high-security restricted-keyway cylinder. Time of day is a factor: a call at 2 a.m. involves after-hours dispatch, and that is reflected honestly in the quote. Travel distance within the Markham area also plays a role. If any locks are worn, damaged, or need parts sourced before rekeying can be completed, we include that in the assessment. What we commit to is this: before a single screw is turned, you receive a specific, confirmed price. No surprises on the invoice. For a precise quote on your home, call (289) 276-8431 — we answer 24/7.
Our Full Range of Residential and Mobile Locksmith Services
Markham Locksmiths handles far more than rekeying. Below is a representative list of what our trained, insured technicians provide across Markham and the surrounding communities: residential lock rekeying, mortise lock rekeying and repair, door knob lock replacement, deadbolt installation, high-security cylinder upgrades, master-key system setup, keyed-alike configuration for multi-door properties, lock repair for damaged or stiff mechanisms, lock replacement after a break-in, emergency home lockout service, spare key cutting on-site, smart lock installation and programming, keypad lock installation, mailbox lock rekeying, garage side door lock service, basement entry lock assessment, door reinforcement hardware installation, sliding door lock service, window lock installation, lock re-pinning for rental units between tenants, commercial locksmith services for small businesses, office lock rekeying, commercial mortise lock service, access control system consultation, and after-hours emergency locksmith dispatch. Every one of these services is available on a mobile basis — we come to your Markham property fully equipped.
Frequently asked questions
How is rekeying different from changing my locks entirely?
A lock change means removing the existing hardware and installing a new lock body, knob, lever, or mortise unit. Rekeying leaves all of that hardware in place and only changes the internal pin configuration so your old keys stop working and a new key takes over. If your current locks are in good working condition — no stiffness, no visible wear, no damage to the cylinder — rekeying achieves the same security outcome as a lock change at a fraction of the disruption. If the hardware is worn, damaged, or simply outdated, our technician will recommend a full replacement and explain why.
Can you rekey all my doors to one key during a single visit?
Yes, and that is one of the most common requests we receive. The process is called keyed-alike rekeying. Our technician disassembles each lock cylinder in sequence, re-pins them all to accept an identical key cut, then tests every door before leaving. It works across different lock brands and styles — deadbolts, door knob locks, and mortise locks can all be set to the same key as long as they use compatible keyways. In cases where the keyways differ significantly, a cylinder swap may be needed, and we'll tell you that before starting.
I just had a home lockout — should I also have the lock rekeyed on the same visit?
If the lockout happened because a key was lost or stolen rather than simply forgotten inside, then yes, rekeying on the same visit is a practical decision. Once our technician restores your access, they can immediately rekey the cylinder so the missing key becomes permanently useless. It adds very little time to the visit and eliminates the lingering concern about who might have the key. We offer combined home lockout service and rekeying as a single appointment, and we'll confirm the full price for both before any work begins.
Do you rekey mortise locks? They seem more complicated than standard deadbolts.
Mortise locks are more involved than cylindrical locks — they sit inside a cavity in the door edge and contain multiple components including a latch bolt, a deadbolt, and often additional hardware — but our technicians rekey them routinely. Markham has a good number of older homes and heritage properties, particularly in Unionville, where heavy-duty mortise lock hardware is common. We carry the pin kits and tools specific to mortise cylinders and handle the disassembly and reassembly carefully to avoid damaging the lock body or the door.
How do you confirm I actually own the property before rekeying?
Ownership or occupancy verification is a standard step for any legitimate locksmith before performing any lock work. We typically ask for a combination of identifying documents: a photo ID plus something that connects you to the address, such as a lease agreement, a utility bill, or a property tax notice. For home lockout calls where you may not have documents on hand, we use common sense alongside whatever documentation is available and may contact a property manager or building contact if needed. This step protects you as much as it protects us — it ensures no lock on your property is ever changed without your knowledge or consent.
What determines the final price for rekeying my home locks?
Several factors shape the quote: the number of locks being rekeyed, the type of lock hardware involved (a basic door knob lock differs from a mortise lock in time and components), the time of day the work is requested, the distance our technician travels within the Markham area, and whether any locks require parts or a cylinder swap before rekeying can proceed. We do not use vague or estimated pricing. Before any work starts, you receive a specific confirmed quote that accounts for all of these variables. You decide whether to proceed — no pressure, no surprise charges afterward.