Skip to content
Cooksville Locksmith Co.Request a visit
Open 24/7(289) 805-7422Call now
Two people exchanging a key at an open front door, with a disassembled lock cylinder and small parts arranged on a cloth nearby. — Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey, Shep

Emergency Lockouts · Shep

Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey in Shep

You were shovelling the driveway after dark and the ring must have slid out of your coat pocket somewhere under a metre of snow. You have raked the whole bank with a flashlight.

Call now · open 24/7(289) 805-7422

Request a visit

In plain words

The first useful move after losing a key is to think about where it worked rather than where it went. A house key commonly opens more than the front door: the back door, a side entrance, the door from the garage into the house, a shed, a gate padlock, sometimes a storage room or a mailbox. A same-visit rekey starts by listing those openings, then treats the ones that are yours to change and points you to the right person for the ones that belong to a landlord, a condominium or the postal service. Every cylinder on the list leaves the visit taking a new key.

Sound familiar?

The spare under the planter by the side door is gone. Everyone in the family swears they did not take it, the planter has clearly been shifted, and you have no idea how long ago that happened.

How the visit goes

Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey · Shep

How the visit goes

Person leaning over a blue bench machine in a small shop with keys, padlocks and door hardware displayed on blue walls. — Shep
  1. 1

    Rekey or replace, cylinder by cylinder

    Rekeying suits hardware in sound condition, and most cylinders on a house qualify. The locksmith flags the exceptions while the list is being made: a plug worn oval by decades of use, a cylinder packed with salt and grit from a side door that faces the driveway, a knob lock so light it offers little resistance, or a keyway that no longer has blanks available. For those, a replacement cylinder or a complete new deadbolt keyed to match the rest is proposed as its own item, so you decide door by door. The aim is that every cylinder leaving the visit on a new key is one that will keep turning well for years.

  2. 2

    Removing the cylinder without disturbing the door

    Each cylinder comes off in the way its lock allows, and the door itself is never cut or drilled. A knob or lever lock releases its cylinder once the knob is slipped off its spindle and a retaining clip or cap is eased back. A deadbolt cylinder comes out when the interior thumb-turn assembly is unscrewed and the housing lifts away. A mortise cylinder in an older door backs out after its small set screw is loosened, and a rim cylinder on a night latch unscrews from its back plate. Each piece is set aside with its own screws so the door goes back together exactly as it was.

  3. 3

    One key on the ring

    If the house was keyed alike during the visit, the ring that goes back in your pocket is lighter. One key opens the front door, the back door, the garage entry and the gate. Each family member carries one thing instead of a jangle, and the question of which key goes to the dog walker has one answer. New doors added later, a shed or a workshop, can be pinned to the same code when they are installed. Guests and sitters find the arrangement easier too, and a single key is a good deal harder to lose than a bunch.

In the van

  • Key tags and a key register
  • Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
  • Top pins and cylinder springs
  • Rekeying pin kit
  • Key blanks in common keyways

What affects the quote

  1. 1

    Getting to each cylinder

    Doors spread across a large lot, a suite up several flights behind a locked lobby, or a gated property with a padlock at the road add walking and waiting time that the quote allows for.

  2. 2

    Travel to the property

    Every call-out includes the drive. A house across town and a rural property at the end of a concession road involve different time on the road, and the quote reflects the trip.

  3. 3

    Homeowner-rekeyable cylinders without a working key

    Resetting a homeowner-rekeyable cylinder when its key is gone uses that system's own reset fixture, where the installed lock supports one, and a few extra minutes per cylinder, which shows as a small line on the quote.

Same fees day, night or weekend.

Have it ready

Before you call · 0 / 3

(289) 805-7422

Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey: questions

Advice · (289) 805-7422

How long does a whole-house rekey take?

Plan on an hour or two for a typical house with three or four cylinders, including the walk-through, identification, pinning, cutting and testing. Each additional cylinder adds a little, as does swapping a cylinder to bring a mismatched door onto the same key, resetting a homeowner-rekeyable lock or clearing a garage opener. The locksmith gives a realistic window on the phone once the list of doors is known.

What should I do before the locksmith arrives?

Walk the property and note every door the missing key opened, including the garage, shed and gate. Gather any keys you still have, since a working key helps in reading each cylinder. Have identification and, for tenants, something showing the tenancy. Decide roughly how many keys you want and whether you would like all doors on one key. If a garage remote or building fob was lost too, mention it when you book.

The car key was on the same ring. Can you deal with that too?

Vehicle keys are a separate branch of locksmith work because most carry a chip the car's immobiliser recognises. Retiring a lost car key means programming the car to forget it and to accept a new one, which an automotive locksmith does at the vehicle. Mention the car when you book; where the company offers that service it can be scheduled, and otherwise the household rekey proceeds and you are pointed to the right help.

Peel, Ontario

Shep information

Town
Shep, Peel, Ontario
In business
12 years
Hours
Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
Visits
On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.

What the census means at the door

38%

Homes of every age. About 38% of homes in Mississauga were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.

Where homes of different generations sit together, additions and renovations are common. A house may have an original front door and a much newer side entry, and bringing both onto the same key and the same standard is a regular job.

37%

Single-detached houses make up about 37% of homes in Mississauga (2021 Census).

Townhouses share walls but usually have their own front door and often a back door or garage. Keying both alike, and checking the strike on the less-used door, is the everyday work in a neighbourhood of attached homes.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Open Shep in Google Maps

Open 24/7

Request a visit

You were shovelling the driveway after dark and the ring must have slid out of your coat pocket somewhere under a metre of snow.

Call now · open 24/7(289) 805-7422
  • On-site assessment preferred
  • Same fees day, night or weekend
  • 12 years in business