Your house is as secure as the locks on your main doors. Your door locks make you feel safe when you are not at home and even when you are at home. But how frequently should you change your door locks? Depending on your security need and privacy, you can change your locks at any time.
There are two ways a locksmith can change your locks. One is rekeying, which involves realigning the inner workings of a lock to match a new key. It is the most common technique for many apartment complexes. The second method is replacing the door locks whereby the locksmith removes the existing lock, including the handle, and replaces it with a new one.
Read on to understand when it’s always essential to change your locks.
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When You Move
It is crucial to change your locks when you move into a new house. When a house is under construction, the contractor, real estate agent, inspectors, and even some workers may have the keys to the door. Whether you are moving into a previously inhabited house or a new one, you need to rekey the locks.
You never know who has the keys, so changing the locks is paramount for your family’s safety. If you move to a rented house, enquire from the landlord about rekeying or changing the locks beforehand.
You Lost Your Keys
It is unfortunate but losing keys is an incident almost everyone has encountered at some point. When you lose your keys, it is essential to rekey your locks. Even if you have a spare key, you don’t know who may find the lost keys and attempt to access your home. If your keys have been stolen, the more reason to change your locks. It gives you peace of mind knowing that no one can access your home with the old keys.
Old or Malfunctioned Locking Mechanisms
If your locks are malfunctioning or difficult to open and lock, it means that you need to change them. Malfunctioning could be because the locks are old. Burglars can easily open a faulty lock. If your locks are old, obsolete, or defective, it is time to change them.
You Encountered a Break-in.
It is quite obvious that if you encountered a break-in or an attempted break-in to your house, you should immediately change the locks. The burglars or criminals might have made copies of your keys and can control your residential locks. Also, during a burglary, the burglars might have interfered with your locks, causing a malfunction.
Someone Moved Out
If you were living with someone and they moved out, whether through a separation, divorce, or a roommate has moved out, you also need to change the locks. That prevents the person from coming back and letting themself into your house in your absence. Changing the locks is even more critical after a nasty separation.
To Feel Safe
You can change your locks to get peace of mind that your house is safe even when traveling. You can change an obsolete lock, a malfunctioning one, or change the locks to simplify your life; for example, get a similar key for every door.
