Commercial · Cambridge
Commercial Rekeying
A key turned up in the parking lot with the shop's name on its fob. It came back to you, which is lucky, but it means keys are leaving the building on rings you have never seen, and the shop's locks have not changed since opening day.
Commercial Rekeying
In plain words
Taking over a commercial unit is the moment to make the locks yours. The keys handed across at signing are only the ones the previous occupant remembered; cleaners, suppliers and former staff may still carry others. Rekeying every cylinder your lease gives you control of gives you a clean start on day one, with keys cut for your team and a chart of which door each one opens. The locksmith also clears up the odds and ends that come with a new lease: a padlock with no key, a mailbox lock seized since the last tenant. You open knowing exactly who can get in.
How the visit goesA key turned up in the parking lot with the shop's name on its fob. It came back to you, which is lucky, but it means keys are leaving the building on rings you have never seen, and the shop's locks have not changed since opening day.
Cambridge
How the visit goes
The state of the cylinders and the doors
A cylinder about to be repinned is examined the way a mechanic looks over a part before rebuilding it. The plug should turn smoothly with the right key, the pins should spring back cleanly, and the face should be free of the green bloom that salt spray leaves on storefront hardware after a few winters. The locksmith also checks how the door closes: a strike that no longer lines up, a closer that slams, or a deadlatch that fails to catch will keep a freshly rekeyed door from locking properly. Most cylinders pass and are repinned; a worn or corroded one is pointed out so you can choose a replacement for that opening.
Swapping interchangeable cores
Where the business already runs on interchangeable cores, the door hardware never comes apart. The control key goes into the figure-eight core, turns a few degrees, and the whole core slides out of the lever or padlock in one piece. A freshly combinated core goes in the same way, the operating key is tried, and that door is done. The old cores travel back to the bench to be repinned for another opening or held as spares. This is what makes cores so well suited to businesses with steady turnover: a single control key, kept in the manager's safe rather than on a ring, is all it takes to change a lock.
Adding a door without starting over
The pinning records kept from the visit mean the system can grow. When the business takes the unit next door, adds a storage cage or replaces a worn lever set, the new cylinder is pinned into an unused combination on the existing chart and handed a key from the right group, and nobody already carrying a key notices anything changed. That is the value of leaving reserve combinations in a master system rather than using them all up on day one. Keep the locksmith's reference number for the system with the chart, mention it when you call, and a single new door becomes a short visit instead of a fresh plan.
Commercial Rekeying
In the van
- Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
- Plug follower
- Standard and restricted key blanks
- Commercial pin kit
- Interchangeable cores and control key
What affects the quote
Same fees day, night or weekend
1Padlocks, cabinets and mailboxes
Small locks add up. Each padlock repinned to the door key, each cabinet keyed alike and each mailbox cylinder replaced is listed on its own so you can decide what to include.
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.
3A 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.
Commercial Rekeying: questions
What is the difference between rekeying a business and replacing its locks?
Rekeying keeps every lock on the door and changes only the pins inside the cylinder, so a new key works and the old ones stop. Replacing swaps the hardware itself. Commercial cylinders are made to be repinned many times, so rekeying suits any lock in sound condition and leaves the levers, trim and door untouched. Replacement is chosen door by door for cylinders that are worn, corroded or too light for what they protect.
Should we rekey every time an employee leaves?
Rekey when a key has not come back or when the departure was unfriendly; when a key is returned and the register confirms it, the cylinders it opened are as secure as before. Businesses that want a response to every departure without a visit each time fit interchangeable cores and swap them in-house. Whatever the trigger, dealing with only the cylinders that key opened keeps the response proportionate.
How long should we set aside for a commercial rekey?
It depends on the count and the mix. A shop with a front door, a back door and a stockroom is a short visit; an office suite with a dozen lever sets, a master key plan and a mailbox takes a good part of a day. Interchangeable cores are the shortest of all, since they are swapped rather than repinned on site. The locksmith gives a time estimate at the assessment, once every cylinder has been counted.
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Commercial Rekeying near you
One team handles every service on this page for Cambridge, so a lockout can turn into a rekey, and a rekey into a properly set deadbolt, within the same visit if you want it. Each service is described separately below, but at the door they fit together as one piece of work.