Commercial · Burlington
Commercial Rekeying
Two people left over the summer and the keys they handed back came up one short. Nobody is sure whether the missing key was for the front door, the stockroom or both, and the sign-out sheet stopped being filled in a year ago.
Commercial Rekeying
In plain words
Changing the locks answers today's question; key control keeps it answered. During a commercial rekey the new keys are stamped with a serial code rather than the business name or address, so a dropped key tells its finder nothing. Each key is logged against the person who receives it, and the old keys are collected and cut up on the spot. For premises that want copies kept out of hardware stores, the cylinders can be set up on a restricted keyway, with blanks released only against a signed authorization. What you end up with is a set of locks whose keys you can account for years later.
How the visit goesThe office has been reshuffled twice since the locks were last touched. Reception can open the server room, the warehouse crew has a key to accounting, and the chart that once explained who could open what has not been seen since the move.
Burlington
How the visit goes
Choosing the window and the order of doors
The last part of the assessment is practical: when can the work happen, and in what order. A retail shop may prefer the hour after closing; a restaurant, the mid-morning lull; a warehouse, the gap between the last outbound truck and the night shift. The locksmith also asks about deliveries, the cleaning crew, the alarm monitoring company and anyone else who holds a key and needs a new one before their next visit. From this comes a sequence, typically the doors staff use least first and the main entrance last, so there is always a working, lockable way in and out while the cylinders are being changed.
Storefront and mortise cylinders
Aluminum storefront doors carry a threaded mortise cylinder held by a small set screw in the door edge. The locksmith loosens the screw, spins the cylinder out, repins it, and threads it back to the same depth so the cam engages the deadbolt or hook bolt behind it and nothing else. Mortise locks in older office doors work on the same principle with a heavier lock body. On both, the depth and cam type matter as much as the pinning: a cylinder a turn too far in or a cam of the wrong shape will feel right in the hand but fail to throw the bolt, so each is cycled open and closed.
A routine for the next departure
Turnover stops being a security event once there is a procedure for it. When someone leaves, their key is collected against the register and ticked off; if it cannot be produced, the chart shows exactly which cylinders that key opened, and only those are dealt with. Businesses that chose interchangeable cores can go further: the manager takes the control key from the safe, swaps the affected core for a spare in less time than a coffee break, and the locksmith repins the removed core at leisure for the next time. Either way the response is measured and specific, and the front door is never left answering to a key that walked out with a former employee.
Commercial Rekeying
In the van
- Rekeyable padlocks
- Plug follower
- Commercial pin kit
- Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
- Key gauge and decoder
What affects the quote
Same fees day, night or weekend
1A master key plan
Pinning cylinders to accept both a change key and a master, and designing the chart so no key opens a door it should not, is more work per cylinder than keying everything alike.
2Upgrades chosen on the day
Some businesses use the visit to move to interchangeable cores, add a lockbox for the alarm company or fit a heavier cylinder on the cash room. Each is a separate line you can accept or leave.
3Doors out of alignment
A door whose cam, strike or closer needs adjusting so the freshly rekeyed cylinder throws the bolt fully is corrected during the visit, and that adjustment is a separate item.
Commercial Rekeying: questions
What information should I have ready before the locksmith arrives?
A list of the doors and other locks you want included, a copy of the lease or the property manager's contact, every existing key you can find, and a rough idea of who needs to open what. Note which doors, if any, are interchangeable cores and where the control key is. Knowing your quiet hours and who opens up in the morning helps the locksmith plan the order of work and the key handover.
Will every old key stop working once you are done?
Every old key that operated a cylinder included in the plan will stop working, and the locksmith proves it by trying old keys at each door before leaving. Old keys keep working only at openings you chose to leave alone, which are written on the chart so there is no confusion. If a master key existed, it is tested too, since a forgotten master is the most common way an old key stays alive.
Can the aluminum storefront door on our unit be rekeyed?
Yes. The narrow stile of a storefront door houses a screw-in mortise cylinder secured from the edge, and it unthreads, is repinned and screws back in like any other. What the locksmith watches is the cam: it has to suit the hook or deadbolt mechanism inside the door and sit at the correct depth, or the bolt throws short. Weather-facing cylinders showing salt wear are pointed out so you can decide on replacement.
Commercial Locks
- Access Control InstallationHead office wants a record of who opens the branch and when, tied to an actual name rather than a…
- Panic & Exit HardwareTwo doors used to swing as a pair at the community hall entrance, but one leaf has started closing…
- Commercial-Grade Lock ReplacementThe key to the office entrance turns with almost no resistance now, and some mornings the deadbolt…
Commercial Rekeying near you
The lock services offered in Burlington are grouped the way a door is used. Getting back in when you are locked out. Deciding who holds a working key. Upgrading the hardware so the door resists more than a casual try. Keeping commercial entrances working. Opening and maintaining safes. Each is described below.