1. Contractors- Selling a home usually means a scramble of last minute contractors of various sorts. With that comes sub-contractors. To be honest I’ve gotten the most emergency calls for rekeys and lock changes after a new home purchase and an old contractor, sub or their family being found on the premises at some point. The point is there are many temporary individuals whom end up with keys. Many go unreturned, and even if they are accounted for that doesn’t mean they weren’t duplicated.
2. Realtor Boxes- Realtor boxes are lock boxes realtors use to make showing the home between different realtors and companies easier. They can run the same risk as above in that they can be duplicated and its kind of hard to track who had access to the home.
3. Missing Keys- The majority of homes we are called to have at least a door or two without keys. In a home with only two doors in and out this can mean any malfunction of the one door you have access causes a lockout. Ensuring keys to multiple entrances means if an issue arises with the hardware on a door, you’ll still have access to your home via the secondary entrance.
4. The old owners- and their kids, and their friends, and their wacky cousin, and their babysitter, and their dog walker, and their house sitter, and the x husband or girlfriend, and the cleaning service… the point is many owners pass out many keys for many reasons. While sharing their home with these people at one point in their lives may have been safe, people get involved in bad situations and sometimes do stupid things as they see the opportunity. A family can deal with drug use with a member and suddenly that trust worthy member could be a bit of a high risk, and it only gets worse with new owners being so many degrees separated. Some former owners weren’t particularly happy to leave and couldn’t keep up with payments. Not worth the risk if someone may view your new home as either an opportunity or a way to get back at a bad circumstance.
5. Renters- If property has been rented, keys can be all over the place. Number 4’s “The Old Owners” applies but to each renter. Renters in and of themselves can have old keys as well.
6. A One Key Solution- Rekeying or replacing locks can often lead to a one key solution, or one key that opens everything. Imagine not having to identify the house key in the bundle of 53 you carry that works that particular door. Cutting down on keys can make utilizing the doors easier, ensure you aren’t putting undue stress on the keys and cylinders via using the wrong key and take that hefty brass paperweight of keys off your keyring, which in turn can help keep your car ignitions from being damaged over time.
7. Bad Duplicates- If it’s a new home it should work like a new home. Duplicated keys over the course of time make lock cylinders work less efficiently. The problem is duplicating a key is the equivalent of tracing your hand. It looks like your hand, but its slightly off. Compound that by making a copy of a copy of a copy and you end up with a lock that catches or doesn’t work at all. We typically cut keys by code, which is the equivalent of a factory cut key or exact measurement, not an imperfect trace of another key.
8. New Construction- Many new construction projects where a company is putting up multiple buildings include them currently being keyed alike to make it easier for the various crew. It’s a good idea to check that they are changed off a site master.
9. Extra Advantages- Doors that don’t latch or lineup, failing hinges, bad hardware, and all other repairs for things that are a problem or just annoy you. It’s new to you, ity should feel that way, and these are literally the gateways to your new home.
A final note, when you purchase a new home don’t throw out “junk” keys before you literally walk the entire property and touch each and every door. It sounds stupid, but people put locks on everything, including things the rest of us might consider silly. Bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, basement rooms, sheds, crawl spaces, service rooms for heater etc. locks are everywhere. It’s just a really good practice to take 45 minutes and be really thorough with all the doors and document where they go. It can save you aggravation and money for issues like a lockout.
JD Locksmith Solutions provides a quick turn around time to better get you settled in your new home. We can be reached at (508)535-5625 and cover Plymouth, Bristol, Norfolk and Barnstable county. We run normal hours from 9 to 5 Monday through Friday but are always available 24/7 to meet customers needs. Enjoy your new home.
