Door locks and keys

[SBH]

I just had a conversation with my neighbor, who owns her house and takes in roommates. This is her first house and everything is new for her. I told her if she ever needed any help with anything she's more than welcome to ask, which she has taken advantage of on occasion. Anyway, she's a good church going young girl who gets her roommates from people of her church (females only). Even though I would think they are fairly trustworthy souls, she's somewhat apprehensive about the keys to the doors. Her two roommates just notified her about leaving (second set of roommates) and she asked me about the Kwikset system which allows the owner to change keys. I told her there are conflicting reviews and many not so favorable. Therefore, I started wondering if there are other alternatives for people like her or landlords who may have issues with frequent tenants/roommates without having to purchase another set of locks or have a locksmith re-key the current ones.

Anyone experience this similar problem?

Thanks

[Jon Danniken]

You are correct in swaying her from the kwikset locks, they are an absolute joke.

If I was in this position, I would get a commercial lock and pay a locksmith to re-key it as roommates came and went; the re-keying process is pretty cheap, and easily recouped from the rental contract as a fee.

Jon

[Steve B]

Anyone experience this similar problem?

[SBH]

[hallerb]

the electronic code push button locks would allow infinite easy changes, and short term permission for entry.

no keys needed, no keys lost, no keys to copy.

change codes on a regular basis so everyone doesnt get access.

[SBH]

I like that. But since keys are sold as blanks, what key does one use to reset the pins or does the kit come with keys?

Perhaps it was due to me posting in HTML, otherwise, I don't know. I now changed the default to text messages.

[SBH]

OK, I just read the link you provided and the kit comes with two keys.

Thanks

[SBH]

DOH! I'm an idiot. You also said it come with two keys.

Senior moment!

[The Daring Dufas]

What I've installed for customers is the type lock cylinders with removable cores. You have an operating key and a control key which allows you to remove the core without removing the lock. I had a warehouse/shop where the door knob, deadbolt and padlock on the back door used the same key. There are several different brands and I go with the brand my local trusted locksmith carries because even if it costs a little more, I have no problem getting parts in a hurry.

TDD

[SBH]

Yep, that's the video I saw as well.

[HeyBub]

For about $35 (on Ebay) you can get a box containing all the stuff you need to re-key a lock. I'm talking a few parts and about a million goddamn pins!

Re-keying an ordinary lock takes about 15 minutes once you get it out of the door - it's an interesting hobby.

The above implies you've got a new key and want to make the lock fit it. But where to get the new keys? You COULD go to Home Depot and tell the worker to make a couple of keys with random depths (This will cause his brain to explode. You may have to go through several store associates.). Once you have your new key in hand, you can adjust the lock to fit.

I'll wager you could get a bag full of already cut keys from a locksmith who has collected them from customers who wanted a lock changed!

Here's another option: By suitable arrangement of the pins, you can have two completely different keys activate the same lock! One use is a "master" key that opens several different doors.

I did this some years ago when I bought a duplex and turned it in to a single-family residence. Counting the burglar bars on the front and back doors, and the locks for the doors themselves, it came out to TWELVE locks that needed to be re-keyed! The job took about three hours.

[RogerT]

My vote would be for your neighbor to try using this compnay:

.

I know a number of landlords who use this system and they all think it is a good system that works well.

I originally heard about the LandlordLocks.com company at a free real estate investor presentation for landlords that was given by Don Beck (

) a few years ago. At the seminar, he said that if when calling Landlord Locks to place an order we mentioned that we heard about them through Don Beck, they would waive the one-time setup fee. I don't know if that is still the case, but it couldn't hurt to ask since he is the original source of this information taht I am passing on.

I also have no c> I just had a conversation with my neighbor, who owns her house and

[Steve Barker]

How many doors does the place have? At $20 a pop it doesn't seem like a big deal. I just change them when a house changes tenants. Keep the old ones for the next house.

[bud--]

Any idea what an interchangable core lock is worth? I would think they would be pricey. But a nice fast simple changes.

Having spare identical locks and swapping out the keyed part (like knob assembly for key-in-knob), as someone suggested, is pretty fast. Then, as suggested, having the old one rekeyed. ============== One source of unused keys is a locksmith. They get them when they key multiple locks to a common key.

=============== Manufacturers have standard cut depths on keys (but not necessarily the same as other manufacturers). One way to avoid the 'copy of a copy of a copy' problem is for a locksmith to determine what standard depths the key is cut to and use a key cutter that cuts standard codes.

[HeyBub]

That's a SWELL idea. It's cheap, easy to implement, and simple.

[aemeijers]

Agreed- unless your rentals are in a really crappy part of town, or market conditions don't let you be picky about tenants, having 3-4 spare sets of knobs and deadbolts is the simple solution. Pick one brand you like, look at the little numbers on the box to get enough keyed-alike sets for the biggest house, and as the houses roll over, standardize them all on the same brand and model. Once all the houses have the same brand, with all the same mounting holes, swapouts only take a few minutes, since you don't have to mess with the striker and such. And since these are rentals, all of this can be used as an upkeep expense on taxes anyway.

As has been discussed on here countless times, all doorknobs and deadbolts do is keep honest people honest. A crackhead or pissed-off ex-boyfriend is gonna just kick the door anyway, If you have an area and/or tenants like that, you need a steel-frame steel door with a long-throw deadbolt.

[krw]

The same mounting holes aren't even necessary. Only the knob/lock part has to change. The bolt can stay, as long as all of the locksets are the same.

Don't forget to mount the striker to something more substantial than the door frame and to shim behind the striker. But that doesn't help secure the window. Any window.

[Jeff Thies]

I've got an assortment of locks here and thought I could use some of these parts on my new front door (my house). It turns out that even the old Defender lockset is different than the new (nor as strong), let alone the Schlage or Quikset or Brinks.

With that said, it is still a good idea to keep with the same lockset. Not that it is hard to swap it all out, or expensive. It looks like all the screw holes match.

Jeff

[Evan]

Unless of course the locksmith in question is hardcore and not interested in accumulating tons of scrap metal in the form of manufacturer randomly pre-cut keys and orders all their locks zero-bitted to originate their own keys for at the time of sale...

Less waste, each lock comes with two 0-cut keys which can then be cut to the new bitting on a code machine... I mean if you are going to have to disassemble each lock to rekey it anyway why not start with zero-bitting so you can reuse the included keys rather than tossing them aside and letting them pile up somewhere...

I wouldn't recommend master keying Kwikset locks... And the "removeable core" types like the Ultramax are just a gimmick... If you need someone to do all the work for you, install a commercial quality Interchangeable Core system rather than residential grade crap...

One thing you are forgetting when you are quoting the approximate prices for IC locks is that they usually come without a core which is an additional price... Plus someone installing such a lock would need to invest in spare cores and keys for when they wish to change the locks... All of that costs more initially than a standard lock...

How often does this person foresee needing to change their locks ? If it is frequently then the ROI on purchasing a pin kit, a blue punch key machine for their type of lock and some blank keys would allow for them to key their locks anyway they want without having to pay for a locksmith's services (which Ultramax locks do not do, as you just eliminate the emergent need for the service, however you still pay for some work on the part of a locksmith)...

~~ Evan

[John Gilmer]

One approach is to have two sets of locks. Each set will be keyed alike.

When someone moves, you simply replace one set of locks with the other set and hand out new keys.

You take the original set of locks to a locksmith and he will re-key them and give you a bunch of "cut" keys made by a key cutter rather than from a key duplicator. I hope it goes without saying that the locks all have to take the same key blank and be made by the same company. If one of the locks is worn to the point where the key operation is marginal, he can just sell you a replacement.

You keep the second set (and keys) around for the day when another tenant moves out. If a roomie loses the keys, with a alternate set of locks you can quickly make the old keys obsolete.

Keys aren't expensive but each time a new "roommate" comes it, you should charge a "key fee" to pay for the re-keying effort.

Just replacing the lock sets is an easy DIY job. It takes less than 5 minutes/lock to replace the knob with key insert or the dead bolt locking part.

Yes, you CAN bring over a locksmith each time but you will be paying for his travel time and the time it takes him to remove and replace each lock. He is much happier just re-keying in his air conditioned/heated shop. Some/most of these guys will keep records so that if you want more keys to a lock he has already re-keyed, he can do it for you. He might even have some blanks with "do not duplicate" embosed on them. I keep two sets of cylinder locks for a condo I own and the guy who does my locks keeps good records.

These guys are bonded and trustworthy (heck, if he is any good, he can unlock a door with his picks almost as fast as most folks can use a key) so you really don't have anything to worry about in his keeping key records.