Home Rekeying
Moving into a new home on Chartwell Road, Bronte Village, or anywhere across Oakville is an exciting milestone — but it comes with a security question most new homeowners overlook: who still has a key to your front door? Previous owners, real estate agents, contractors, and neighbours may all hold copies you know nothing about. Rekeying every lock before your first night gives you a clean slate, ensuring that only the people you hand a key to can walk through your door.
Open 24 hours, 7 days a week · Licensed, bonded & insured
The same logic applies after a key loss, a break-in attempt, or even a relationship change. Oakville Locksmiths is a fully mobile, 24/7 locksmith service serving the entire Oakville area. Our trained, insured technicians come directly to your property — no towing, no shop visits, no waiting. We handle everything from standard door knob locks to heavy-duty mortise lock systems, and we confirm an exact up-front price before a single tool comes out of the bag.
What we do
Available 24/7
Day, night, weekends and holidays — a real local locksmith answers and rolls a fully-stocked van.
Fast local response
Based in Oakville, we reach the Oakville area in well under an hour.
Insured & background-checked
Vetted technicians, up-front pricing, and no surprise add-ons when we arrive.
Damage-free entry
We pick and bypass locks the right way, so most lockouts are solved without drilling anything.
Why Home Rekeying Is the Smartest First Step After Moving In
Buying or renting a property in Oakville — whether it's a heritage semi-detached near Lakeshore Road East or a newer build in the Preserve neighbourhood — means inheriting every key that was ever cut for that property. Ontario's real estate process involves multiple parties: listing agents, buyer's agents, home inspectors, stagers, and sometimes contractors who did pre-sale renovations. Each of those parties may have made copies. Rekeying eliminates every one of those outstanding keys simultaneously, for a fraction of the cost of replacing the hardware entirely. The lock cylinder is re-pinned so that your old keys no longer work and only freshly cut keys operate the lock. Your existing deadbolts, knob locks, and mortise lock hardware stay in place — no damage to the door, no patching, no repainting.
Key loss is the other major trigger. Losing a key in a public place — a parking lot at Oakville Place, a trail along Sixteen Mile Creek, or a gym bag left on a bus — means a stranger potentially knows what neighbourhood you live in and now holds a working key. Acting quickly matters. A single call to (289) 513-1336 and one of our mobile technicians will be en route, often within the hour, to rekey the affected locks before anyone can misuse that key. We work around the clock precisely because these situations don't wait for business hours.
Mortise Lock Rekeying and Upgrade Services
Mortise locks are the gold standard for residential and light-commercial entry doors throughout Oakville. Unlike a simple cylindrical knob lock, a mortise lock is set into a deep pocket (the mortis) carved into the door edge, integrating the latch, deadbolt, and lever handle into one robust unit. Older Oakville homes — particularly Victorian and Edwardian-era properties along Colborne Street or in Old Oakville — frequently feature original mortise lock hardware that is both historically appropriate and mechanically excellent when properly maintained. Our technicians are experienced with both legacy mortise lock formats and modern high-security versions from manufacturers like Schlage.
Rekeying a mortise lock requires disassembling the cylinder without disturbing the surrounding door frame or the lock body itself — a task that demands precision and the right tools. Rushed or improper work can crack the cylinder housing or strip the cam, turning a simple rekey into a costly replacement. Our team's hands-on experience with mortise lock systems means we service them cleanly and correctly the first time. We also carry common replacement cylinders on our vehicles, so if rekeying isn't possible due to worn or damaged pins, we can swap the cylinder on the spot during the same visit.
All the Lock Types We Rekey in One Visit
A complete home rekeying service should cover every keyed entry point — not just the front door. A typical Oakville detached home might have a front deadbolt, a door knob lock on the same door, a rear patio door deadbolt, a side entrance to the garage, and a basement walk-out. Missing even one means your security sweep is incomplete. Our technicians carry a wide range of pinning kits and key blanks to handle all of these in a single visit, saving you time and reducing the number of service calls you need to schedule.
Here is a representative list of the specific services we deliver as part of a home rekeying visit and related locksmith work: front door deadbolt rekeying, door knob lock rekeying, mortise lock cylinder rekeying, sliding patio door lock rekeying, garage side-door rekeying, basement entry lock rekeying, window lock inspection and rekeying, master key system setup for multi-entry homes, lock cylinder extraction when keys are broken inside, lock lubrication and alignment adjustment, high-security cylinder upgrades (Schlage B-series, Kwikset SmartKey), anti-pick pin upgrade installation, deadbolt strike plate reinforcement, door frame security assessment, door hinge security screw upgrade, smart lock installation and pairing, keypad lock programming, padlock rekeying for outbuildings and garages, cabinet lock rekeying, mailbox lock rekeying, storage unit lock service, new key cutting from existing locks, duplicate key cutting for household members, emergency lockout response (damage-free where possible), security consultation for vulnerable entry points, and post-break-in lock replacement and rekeying.
Emergency Locksmith Response and How Pricing Works
Life in a busy corridor like Oakville — commuters heading up the QEW, families juggling school runs, shift workers coming home late — means a lockout or a security concern can surface at any hour. Our emergency locksmith service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays. Whether you're locked out at 2 a.m. or you've just discovered your spare key has gone missing, calling (289) 513-1336 connects you to a live dispatcher who will get a trained, insured technician moving toward your address immediately. We are fully mobile, so the technician arrives at your property with everything needed to complete the job on-site.
When it comes to the cost of rekeying or any related locksmith work, we never quote a ballpark and then surprise you at the end. Several factors shape the final price: the type and brand of lock hardware involved (a basic door knob lock costs less to rekey than a multi-point mortise lock system), the number of lock cylinders being serviced, the time of day the call comes in, your location within the Oakville service area and the travel distance involved, and whether any parts — new cylinders, pins, keys, or strike plates — need to be supplied. Once our technician has assessed your specific situation, we provide an exact, confirmed price before any work begins. You approve it, and only then does the job proceed. No surprises, no additions after the fact.
Keeping Your Oakville Home Secure Long-Term
Rekeying is a point-in-time fix, but ongoing security is a habit. After a rekey, we recommend designating a single trusted person outside your household — a family member or close friend — who holds a spare key, rather than hiding a key under a mat or flowerpot near the Kerr Street or Rebecca Street strips where foot traffic is high. For households with frequent contractor access, a master key system lets you issue limited-access keys that can be invalidated independently without rekeying the entire property. Our technicians can walk you through whether this type of system makes sense for your home during the service visit.
For doors fitted with older door knob lock hardware where the knob itself is the only keyed mechanism — a common setup in older Oakville rental units — we often recommend pairing the rekey with a deadbolt installation. A knob lock alone provides minimal resistance to a forced entry; a properly installed deadbolt with a reinforced strike plate significantly raises that threshold. Our commercial locksmith expertise also means we can apply the same disciplined approach to home-based businesses, multi-unit dwellings, or properties with detached offices or studios — spaces where access control needs a more structured solution than a simple residential setup can provide.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a full home rekeying take for a typical Oakville house?
For a detached home with four to six keyed entry points — front deadbolt, door knob lock, rear door, garage side entrance, and a basement lock — an experienced technician typically completes the job in 60 to 90 minutes. A smaller condo or townhome unit with two or three locks usually takes 30 to 45 minutes. Homes with mortise lock hardware or high-security cylinders may take a little longer due to the additional disassembly steps, but the job is still completed in a single visit.
Will rekeying damage my doors or existing lock hardware?
In the vast majority of cases, no. Rekeying involves removing the cylinder from the lock body, replacing the internal driver and key pins with a new configuration, and reinstalling the cylinder — the door, frame, and lock hardware are untouched. Our technicians are trained to work damage-free where possible. The only scenario where hardware replacement becomes necessary is if the lock cylinder is already worn, cracked, or incompatible with rekeying due to its age or condition, in which case we explain the situation clearly before proceeding.
I just lost my keys somewhere in Oakville — how quickly can you come out?
Call (289) 513-1336 and our dispatcher will have a mobile technician en route to your address right away. We operate 24/7, so there is no waiting until morning. Response times vary based on current demand and your specific location within the Oakville area, but our goal is always to get to you as quickly as traffic and distance allow. We'll keep you updated on the technician's estimated arrival while you wait safely.
Do I need to rekey every lock, or just the front door?
We strongly recommend rekeying every keyed entry point in one visit. Securing only the front door leaves your rear patio door, garage side entrance, basement walk-out, or any other keyed lock as a potential vulnerability. Since a mobile technician is already on site and carrying the appropriate pinning kits for multiple lock types — including door knob locks, deadbolts, and mortise lock cylinders — rekeying all entry points at once is both the most thorough and most cost-effective approach.
What factors affect the price of rekeying my home?
The final price depends on several specific variables: how many lock cylinders need to be rekeyed, the type of hardware involved (a basic door knob lock differs from a multi-component mortise lock), whether any replacement parts like new cylinders, pins, or keys are required, the time of day the service is requested, and travel distance to your Oakville address. Once our technician arrives and assesses the job, we confirm an exact price before any work begins — there are no hidden additions after the fact.
Can you rekey my locks to all work on the same key?
Yes. This is called a master key or key-alike setup and it's one of the most popular requests we receive from homeowners who currently carry a separate key for the front door, back door, garage entrance, and basement. We rekey all of your cylinders to accept a single common key, while still being able to issue additional unique keys for specific access needs. It's a straightforward process for standard deadbolts and door knob locks, and our technicians can also set this up for mortise lock cylinders on the same visit.