New house locks and keys

[paulri]

I have always heard that the door lock manufacturers make all their keyed locks with only a few different key configurations, so when I get a new lock put on our front door, I'd like to change the lock in some way.

Up till this point, every time I've bought and installed new locks, they have always been keyed to our current housekeys.

But now I want a totally new lock, keyed to a totally different key than I currently have (even the master key gets stuck easily, and I just want to start new with a new combination of lock and key).

What do I tell the keymaker at Lowes to do? Can they just randomly adjust the lock and key together, making a unique combination? Or are my only choices (a) my current key configuration or (b) stock setting on key and lock?

 

[supton]

Yes. At least my local hardware store will. I found the door set I wanted; I sorted through the packages and found as many that had the same key code as I could--I needed 3 and found 2 with the same code. For $7 the store was able to make the third door pull the same key.

Went back the next weekend with the two deadbolts and them rekeyed too. However: I had to have both keys for them to do that. They would not rekey without the original key, and of course they needed the key to be keyed to.

I have cheapie Schlage locks; if you go onto Amazon etc you can find a kit for $10 or $15 that will do "up to 6 locks". I thought about it and decided that since I had so few it was worth just paying the store to do it for me. No chasing springs around etc. YMMV--I only had a few to deal with.

 

[Doog]

I have a locksmith re-key any locks.

 

[Hokiefyd]

There are two basic key profiles in use today: KW1 (that Kwikset uses) and Baldwin/Schlage C. There are, of course, many others, but I would say those two are the most common in residential use. We recently moved into a home built in 1996, and the front door has a beautiful brass Baldwin set, so we kept that and moved the other random exterior door lock sets to match that (they had FOUR different keys for this house!).

After removing and installing various lock sets at this house, I recommend Emtek (made by Assa Abloy) over Schlage, and recommend Schlage over Kwikset. The locksmith said Baldwin used to be good, but it's now owned by Kwikset and has turned into a cheap lock with an expensive name.

 

[crazyoildude]

My good friend is a longtime locksmith and he is here with me now... He said dont do anything with those guys at the big box stores and also said go with an honest licensed locksmith and install medeco or multlock and run away from kwikset and schlage if you want real security but it comes with a cost. He said it makes a very big difference and something about picking the cheap ones very easy.
He said with the better lock you have a better chance on winning the lottery then finding another person with the same key but if you go with a big box store its a joke.
I trust what he says he has been a locksmith for years and has 17 people working for him in 3 different locations. License locksmith is very important he said.

 

[Al]

And why don't you just get a new lock and key and install it yourself??

 

[surfstar]

https://www.key.me/
"The App I Used to Break Into My Neighbor’s Home"
https://www.wired.com/2014/07/keyme-let-me-break-in/

Don't think that "key'd" locks are all that safe anymore. Let your keys out of sight and someone can make a copy.

 

[LoneRanger]

Locks don't matter when the frame of most pre-hung doors are made of softer wood species than used to be the case. Most burglaries are daytime when you're gone at work and they will just mule kick the door and the door framing on most pre-hung's breaks apart nicely. I recommend a security storm door. It serves as an encumbrance to forced entry, and at least requires more time which most burglars hate to invest. I have Larson Secure Elegance full view security storms on all (three) exterior doors. Laminated hurricane glass, strong frame w/ one way screws, triple locking bolts. They can't kick it open, they can't get a ball bat through the laminated security glass without spending some time whacking away at it, and it'll take some time to pry it open as well. Most [censored] heads are looking for the quick in and quick out. My entry doors behind the Larson's have Schlage's installed, but the house was built 2005 so the pre-hung entry door frames have the typical softer wood species that make them easier to kick open. And then there's always your windows if they want in bad enough. Best deterrent when you're gone.... big [censored] dog inside.

 

[JustinH]

Pretty mad at Schlages product from lowes.

Bought new doors, wife picked out door handle sets with lock sets, all three doors matching six locks.

Day one we locked ourself out twice. Handle is always open from the inside, so when you put it in the lock position, you don't know the handle is locked.

Dumbest thing I have ever seen. Second thing is that the straight up and down orientation of the handle lock is "unlocked", and the right and left orientation is "locked".

Exact opposite of every other door in the entire world.

Try explaining that to a houseguest, or someone coming to watch my pets.

I need to find a decent door lock set, any good places online?

 

[Al]

This doesn't hurt:

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Al
This doesn't hurt:

+1

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
Pretty mad at Schlages product from lowes.

Bought new doors, wife picked out door handle sets with lock sets, all three doors matching six locks.

Day one we locked ourself out twice. Handle is always open from the inside, so when you put it in the lock position, you don't know the handle is locked.

Dumbest thing I have ever seen. Second thing is that the straight up and down orientation of the handle lock is "unlocked", and the right and left orientation is "locked".

Exact opposite of every other door in the entire world.

Try explaining that to a houseguest, or someone coming to watch my pets.

I need to find a decent door lock set, any good places online?


Weird--I just got some Schlages, and while I thought the lock setting was opposite I was glad to see that opening the door unlocks it--if I'm on the inside, and the door is locked, when I open the door the lock mechanism sets itself to unlocked.

 

[firemachine69]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
Pretty mad at Schlages product from lowes.

Bought new doors, wife picked out door handle sets with lock sets, all three doors matching six locks.

Day one we locked ourself out twice. Handle is always open from the inside, so when you put it in the lock position, you don't know the handle is locked.

Dumbest thing I have ever seen. Second thing is that the straight up and down orientation of the handle lock is "unlocked", and the right and left orientation is "locked".

Exact opposite of every other door in the entire world.

Try explaining that to a houseguest, or someone coming to watch my pets.

I need to find a decent door lock set, any good places online?




Uhm... I hope we're not just talking about the knob on the handle being installed in the wrong direction...

 

[Delta]

Do yourself a huge favor and buy locksets from a local hardware. They can order and lockset you want and most of them will key them to what you want. Any worth their salt can do a custom combo like a locksmith. I did this for years working at a building supply. There are a couple dozen pin configurations that the major brands use. I probably had enough spare keys floating around that given the right amount of time I could unlock most everything homeowner grade, lol. The best non-commercial brand I worked on was Schlage. The inner workings were superior compared to Kwikset. Anybody that knows how to key those can break into a Kwikset within seconds. We still had the old manual key machine, so I made key pin patterns to cut whatever combo the customer wanted. Those could be bought through our supplier, but were expensive and I wanted a challenge once day.

 

[crazyoildude]

I vote a good Locksmith and stay away from regular pin tumbler locks like schlage (not made in the usa either) according to my friend who is a Licensed locksmith and showed me how easily it is to pick them, they are a joke. he picked my schlage in under 2 minutes on my front door and that is the better schlage..He said he could bump them in less time. I now have a medeco lock on there and i cant make copies without the special card either.

 

[JustinH]

I read the replies in this thread, and decided to call the Schlage lock company. I usually don't call any companies to complain about stuff, I just throw it out and buy more.

I have three sets of these locks (deadbolt and handle separate), probably $200 worth of locks.

I called an explained the problem. He addressed it in a polite manner, and agreed to replace all three door handles at no charge to me. He even took my key code down and will have them custom keyed to match the deadbolts.

He told me that he is replacing with the exact same color and style, but the new lock has a plunger button on the inside. When someone grabs the handle on the inside, the door unlocks on the outside.

I was very impressed by the service. He told me it would take 2-3 weeks to come from a factory in California who does the custom key work.

And no, the lock is not installed the wrong way. I purchased the locks at lowes, my wife picked them out, and they could not figure out how to get the lock to set to the locked position instead of opposite.