Change Locks After a Break-In: A Westchester Checklist

Call the police first. If the intruder might still be inside, do not go in: walk to a neighbour's house or your car and call 911. Once the police have seen the scene, secure any door that no longer locks, replace the hardware that was damaged, and rekey every lock whose key could have been taken or copied. Then do a spare-key audit, so you know exactly who can open your doors from today on.

First: police, photos, then your insurer

If you come home to a door standing open or a frame split at the lock, stay outside. You do not know whether anyone is still in the house, and it is not worth finding out yourself. Call 911 from somewhere safe.

If it is clear the break-in happened hours ago, still report it to your local police department. A police report gives you a record of what happened and when, and it is usually the first thing anyone asks for afterwards.

While you wait:

Do not touch the door, the lock or the frame until the police have looked. Marks on the strike plate and the cylinder tell them how the person got in.
Take photos of every damaged door, lock, window and frame, close up and from a few steps back.
Keep the broken parts. Put the old cylinder, the bent bolt and the cracked strike plate in a bag.
Ask your insurer what they need before you throw anything away or start repairs. Policies differ, so let them tell you.
Write down what is missing, and pay special attention to keys, garage door remotes, car keys, mail with your address and anything with your ID on it. Those items decide which locks need work.

Work out how they got in

The way the intruder got in tells you what to fix. Most break-ins at a house fall into a few patterns.

The door was kicked or pried. Look for a split frame beside the lock, a strike plate torn out, or a bent bolt. The lock may be fine. The frame is what failed.
The lock itself was attacked. A drilled, snapped or twisted cylinder, or one that now spins freely.
A door or window was left unlocked. No damage anywhere. Common with back doors, side doors and the door from an attached garage into the house.
There is no sign of force at all. This is the one to take most seriously. It can mean someone used a key. Rekey everything.

Sliding patio doors deserve a look of their own. Many can be lifted off their track from outside when the latch is weak. A bar in the track or a secondary lock at the top or bottom of the door helps.

Which locks to replace and which to rekey

The short rule is simple. Replace what was damaged. Rekey what was not damaged but might now open to someone else's key. Our guide to rekeying versus replacing goes through the decision in full, so here is only what is specific to a break-in.

Replace:

Any lock with a bent bolt, a cracked housing or a cylinder that spins or wobbles.
Any lock the intruder beat quickly because it was weak to begin with.
Any strike plate that tore out. Put back a heavier one held by long screws that reach the wall stud behind the frame, not just the thin door jamb. A kicked door usually fails at the frame, and this is the fix that holds.

Rekey:

Every lock that a stolen key could open. If a bag, a coat or a key ring went missing, assume the keys are in someone else's hands.
Every lock whose spare was hidden outside, if that spare is gone or you are not sure it is still there.
While the cylinders are out, have every exterior lock keyed to one new key. One key means fewer copies to track.

If you want stronger locks than you had before, this is a sensible time to do it. Our post on high-security locks for Scarsdale houses explains what that term really means and which doors deserve it.

Garage doors, side doors and codes

The front door gets the attention. The other doors often matter more.

The garage door opener. If a remote was taken from your car or the house, clear the opener's memory (most have a learn button on the motor unit) and reprogram only the remotes you still have. Do the same for any car you have paired to it.
The garage keypad. Change the code.
The door from the garage into the house. Treat it like a front door. It often has a weaker lock than the front.
Side doors, back doors and basement doors. Rekey them with the rest, so the old key opens nothing.
Smart locks and alarm panels. Delete every user code and set new ones. Change the password on the app account. Call your alarm company if you are not sure how to change the panel code.

The spare-key audit

This is the step most people skip, and it is the one that stops the next problem.

Make a list of every key to your house and who holds it today. Think about the neighbour who waters plants, a relative, the dog walker, the cleaner, the babysitter, a contractor from a past renovation, and the spare hidden under a mat, a rock or a flowerpot. A hidden key is only hidden from people who have not watched you use it.

After the rekey, hand out new keys on purpose, to people you name, and write down how many you cut. If a spare has to live outside, a lockbox with a code you can change is better than a flowerpot.

Larchmont houses and New Rochelle apartments

Many older Tudor and colonial houses in Larchmont have original door frames and older mortise locks. When one of those doors is kicked, the frame often splits along the grain, and that may need a carpenter as well as new hardware. An older mortise lock can often stay: the cylinder can be rekeyed or swapped while the original lock body remains in the door. Two of our technicians live in Larchmont, which makes the village their home ground. Our Larchmont locksmith page covers the area.

New Rochelle is next door, and it is a different situation for a lot of people. Downtown has many apartment towers, and if you rent, talk to your landlord or the management office before any lock is changed. Your lease may say who handles locks and whether the building needs a copy of the new key. Owners of houses in Wykagyl, Beechmont or Davenport Neck are in the same position as a Larchmont homeowner. See our page on locksmith service in New Rochelle for the area.

If the damage is to the hardware itself, our residential lock repair and replacement page covers that work, from a single deadbolt to every exterior door.

Frequently asked questions

Should I change my locks if nothing was stolen?

If the intruder got in without a key, the locks that were not damaged are as secure as they were yesterday. Replace what was forced and fix how they got in. If there was no sign of force at all, rekey everything, because a key is the likely explanation.

Do I have to wait for the police before calling a locksmith?

Call the police first and let them look at the doors before anyone repairs them. You can call a locksmith in the meantime so the work can start once the police are finished. If a door cannot close or lock, tell the officer, so you know when it is fine to secure it.

Will my insurance pay for new locks?

That depends on your policy, and only your insurer can say. Ask them what they need from you, such as the police report number, photos and receipts, before you start. Keep the broken parts until they tell you otherwise.

Can a door be secured the same night?

Usually, yes. A forced door can normally be made to lock that night, even if the frame needs proper carpentry later. Call any hour and describe the damage, so the locksmith knows what to bring.

After a break-in, call the police first. When it is time to secure the house, call Larchmont Locksmith NY on (914) 255-6611, any hour of the day or night.