Rekey Locks in a New House: A Rye and Harrison Guide

Rekey every exterior lock before you move your things in. The best window is between the closing and moving day, when the house is empty and you are there anyway. You cannot know how many copies of the old keys are out there, and rekeying makes every one of them useless while you keep the locks already on the doors. While the cylinders are out, they can all be keyed to one new key. Then reset the garage opener, the keypads and any smart lock, because those are keys too.

Why the keys from the closing are not the whole set

At the closing you get a handful of keys, maybe a garage remote, maybe a note with an alarm code. That is what the seller found in a kitchen drawer. It is not a record of every key ever cut.

Think about who may have had a key to the house before you:

the previous owners, their grown children and their relatives
a cleaner, a dog walker, a babysitter or a neighbour who watered plants
contractors from past renovations
anyone who held a key while the house was listed, inspected or shown

None of those people needs to be a villain for this to matter. Keys get copied, lent and forgotten. Rekeying costs less than new locks and takes care of all of them at once.

Start by counting. Lay out the keys the seller handed over and try each one in each door. Write down which key opens which lock. Many buyers find a door with no key at all, and a key that opens nothing anyone can find.

Walk every door that locks

Before anyone comes to rekey, walk the house and list every lock. People remember the front door and forget half the rest.

front door (often a knob or handle lock plus a deadbolt, so two cylinders)
back door and any side door
the door from an attached garage into the house
the side or service door on the garage
a basement door or outside bulkhead
a porch, mudroom or sunroom door
a sliding patio door, if it has a keyed lock
gates or a shed, if they take a key

Note the brand on each lock face. If the locks are all the same brand, putting them on one key is usually simple. A mix of brands may need a cylinder or two swapped to share a key. Our comparison of rekeying and replacing explains that, and when a worn lock is better replaced than rekeyed, so there is no need to repeat it here.

While you are at each door, test the deadbolt with the door closed. It should slide all the way into the frame without you pushing or lifting the door. If it catches, the strike plate is out of line or the door has sagged. If the deadbolt is a light, builder-grade one, a new house is a good moment to upgrade. Our guide to deadbolt installation covers grades, bolt throw and strike plates.

Garage doors, keypads and remotes

A garage remote is a key. So is a keypad code. The seller may have handed over two remotes and kept a third in a car they no longer own.

Clear the opener's memory. Most openers have a learn button on the motor unit. Holding it clears every paired remote. Then pair only the remotes you have. Your opener's manual has the exact steps.
Pair your own car, if it has a built-in garage button.
Change the outside keypad code. Do not keep the one written on the closing note.
Check the manual release. You do not need to change anything, but learn where it is, because a power cut is a bad time to find it.

Smart locks, alarms and other things the seller set up

Anything with an app, a code or an account belongs to the seller until you take it over.

Smart locks: factory reset the lock, so every old code and app user is gone, then set it up under your own account. Most smart locks also have a key cylinder as a backup. Have that cylinder rekeyed with the rest.
Alarm system: call the alarm company to move the account into your name and change every code.
Video doorbells and cameras: ask the seller to release the device from their account, or reset it.

Rye and Harrison houses

Rye is a city on the Sound, with Purchase Street running through downtown and houses out toward Milton Point. Harrison is a town and village that also takes in West Harrison and the hamlet of Purchase. The checklist is the same in all of them. What changes from house to house is the number of doors, and with it the number of cylinders. A house with an attached garage, a garage service door, a basement entrance and a back door can easily have twice the cylinders a buyer expects.

Two of our technicians live in Larchmont, and Rye and Harrison are a few miles up the Sound Shore from there. If you are buying in either place, our pages for a Rye locksmith and locksmith service in Harrison cover the area, and our lock rekeying service page explains the work itself.

How to plan the visit

Book it for after the closing. Until then the house and its locks belong to the seller.
Be there. Someone needs to let the technician in and try every new key in every door before they leave.
Have your list ready. Every door, every lock, the brands, and whether you want everything on one key.
Decide how many keys to cut. One per adult, one for a trusted neighbour, one spare kept inside. Fewer copies are easier to track.
Ask for the total before work starts, and whether it is priced per cylinder.
Write down who gets each key. This is the start of your own key record, and the next time someone moves out of your life it tells you whether to rekey again.

Frequently asked questions

Is rekeying enough, or should I replace the locks in a new house?

If the locks turn smoothly and are a decent grade, rekeying is enough. It makes every old key useless and keeps the hardware. Replace any lock that sticks, wobbles or is too light for the door.

Can I rekey before the closing?

Wait until the house is yours. Before the closing the locks still belong to the seller, and changing them is their call. Book the visit for the day of the closing or soon after, before your furniture arrives.

How many keys should I have cut?

As few as your household needs. One per adult, one spare kept somewhere sensible inside the house, and one for a neighbour you trust if you want one. Every extra copy is one more key to keep track of.

What if the seller gave me no keys for some doors?

That is common. A locksmith can rekey a lock without a working key, though it takes more work. Mention it on the phone so they know which doors have no key.

Just closed on a house in Rye or Harrison? Call Larchmont Locksmith NY on (914) 255-6611 to rekey the whole place before you move in.