When somebody has a key you would rather they did not have, the question is always the same: rekey or replace locks? They solve different problems, and picking the wrong one means either spending on hardware you did not need or leaving a weakness in place. Here is how to tell them apart.
What Rekeying Actually Changes
Rekeying keeps your existing lock body and changes what is inside the cylinder. A locksmith swaps out the small pins that read the cuts on your key and sets them to a new pattern. The lock looks identical afterward, the door hardware stays put, and every old key stops working.
That is the whole point. Rekeying is about who has access, not about how strong the lock is. If the hardware is in good shape and your only concern is outstanding copies, rekeying handles it cleanly.
When You Should Rekey or Replace Locks Instead
Replacement makes sense when the lock itself is the problem. Consider new hardware if the key sticks or has to be jiggled, if the cylinder turns roughly, if the finish is pitted from years of weather, or if the deadbolt does not throw fully into the strike plate. Those are signs of internal wear that rekeying will not fix.
Replacement is also the answer when you want to upgrade, whether that means moving from a knob lock to a proper deadbolt, stepping up to a sturdier cylinder, or switching to a smart lock. And if your doors currently take three or four different keys, replacing them with a keyed-alike set is worth doing while everything is apart anyway.
The Situations That Come Up Most
New homeowners are the most common case, and rekeying is usually the right call. You have no idea how many keys the previous owner handed out over the years, including contractors, neighbors, family, and the person who watered the plants. Rekeying every exterior door in one visit resets all of that.
Tree-lined established streets around Munster have plenty of homes that have changed hands more than once, and the hardware often tells the story. It is worth having someone look at the actual condition before deciding which route to take.
After a breakup, a roommate move-out, or a lost keyring, rekeying is usually enough, unless the lock was forced or damaged, in which case it gets replaced.
Do Not Forget the Rest of the Door
Whichever route you take, the strike plate matters more than most people realize. A deadbolt is only as strong as the wood it sits in, and short screws into a thin jamb are a weak point no cylinder can make up for. Longer screws that reach the framing behind the jamb are a small change with a real payoff. Ask about it while the locksmith is already at your door.
Talk It Through With Jacob
Jacob’s Lock and Key is a licensed mobile locksmith covering Gary and Northwest Indiana, including Hammond, Merrillville, Crown Point, Griffith, Dyer, Munster, Schererville, Hobart, Portage, Saint John, Whiting, Lake Station, and Chesterton. Open 7 AM to 11 PM, seven days a week. Call (219) 342-5595 and we will help you figure out which one your doors need.
Last updated: 08/27/2026