Emergency Lockouts · Vaughan
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey
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) 216-7583In plain words
When a key disappears, cutting yourself another copy solves the wrong half of the problem. You can get in again, but so can whoever finds the original. A same-visit rekey turns that around: the locksmith works through each cylinder the missing key operated, fitting new bottom pins on a conventional lock or resetting a homeowner-rekeyable one through its own procedure, and refits the lock to the door. The lost key still slides into the keyway but no longer lifts the pins to the right height, so it turns nothing. You leave with fresh keys cut on site and the same locks you already had.
How the visit goesThe 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.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey · Vaughan
How the visit goes
- 1
Confirming who is asking for the change
A rekey decides who can open a door from now on, so the locksmith starts by confirming that the person asking has the standing to decide. Photo identification matched to the address does it for an owner. A tenant shows a lease or a recent bill along with identification, and mentions whether the landlord knows. A property manager or superintendent shows the management connection and says which units or doors are theirs to authorise. None of this is suspicion; it is the same care that stops a stranger with a convincing story from having your own locks reset against you. When something is missing, the locksmith says what would settle it and waits.
- 2
Setting a new combination pin by pin
On a conventional pin-tumbler cylinder, with it on the bench, the plug is turned slightly and a follower is slid in behind it so the springs and top pins stay in the housing rather than scattering. The plug comes out and the old bottom pins are tipped away. The new key is cut first, then a pin whose length matches each cut is dropped into the corresponding chamber, checked flush with a gauge, and the loaded plug is guided back under the follower. The plug should turn with a light, even feel and no catch. If it drags on one chamber, that pin is sized again before anything goes back on the door.
- 3
A known number of keys, with names on them
You leave with a set of keys whose count you agreed and can name: one each for the adults, one for the neighbour, one in the lockbox. That is the count of authorised keys, not proof against every copy unless the key system also controls its blanks. A small habit keeps it honest: when a key goes to a contractor, a cleaner or a house sitter, note it and get it back, or rekey when the arrangement ends. From today the answer is a figure you wrote down, not a guess about who might still hold something from years ago.
In the van
- Rekeyable-cylinder reset tool
- Replacement cylinders
- Key gauge and decoder
- Key blanks in common keyways
- Key tags and a key register
What affects the quote
- 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
Entry as well as rekeying
If the lost key was your only key and you are locked out too, the door is opened first and that opening is quoted as its own step ahead of the rekey.
- 3
Master-keyed building cylinders
A condominium or apartment suite cylinder on a building master system is pinned so the master still works, which takes coordination with management and a little more time than a stand-alone house door.
Same fees day, night or weekend.
Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey: questions
Does the locksmith need to see the actual lost key, or just look at the lock?
Just the lock, and the door it is fitted to. A rekey works on the cylinder itself: the locksmith opens it, fits a new set of pins matched to a fresh key, and the old key stops working the moment that is done, whether or not it ever turns up again. Knowing roughly how the old key looked, cut on both edges, a chip on the head, a certain brand, can still help identify which cylinders in the house shared that key.
My lock is the homeowner-rekeyable type but the working key is lost. Can it still be reset?
Yes. Those cylinders let an owner change the key with a small learn tool, but only while a working key is in hand. Without one, a design such as Kwikset SmartKey is removed and placed in its own reset fixture, returning it to a blank state; other cylinder types are rekeyed by their own method instead. A new key is then set and the lock goes back on. It is a few extra minutes rather than a replacement.
What about the mailbox key?
It depends on whose mailbox it is. A private box at your door or on your post is yours, and its small cylinder can be rekeyed or replaced in the same visit. A compartment in a community mailbox or an apartment mailroom belongs to the postal service or the building, which handles lost-key lock changes through its own process. The locksmith will tell you which you have and who to call.
Lockout Services
EmergencyHome Lockout ServiceThe key slides in and turns all the way round, but the bolt stays put.
EmergencyBusiness Lockout ServiceThe manager who holds the only set of office keys is on a plane.
EmergencyBroken Key ExtractionA roommate tried to help with tweezers, then by gluing the other half to it.
EmergencyBreak-In Damage Lock RepairSomeone smashed the little window beside the door, reached in and turned the thumb-turn.
EmergencySeized & Jammed Lock OpeningThe lock works, but only if you lean on the door with your hip while turning the key.
York, Ontario
Vaughan information
- Town
- Vaughan, York, Ontario
- In business
- 19 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 216-7583
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
What the census means at the door
8%
Newer homes. About 8% of homes in Vaughan were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.
New homes frequently come with strikes held by short screws into soft framing. Replacing them with longer screws that reach the stud is inexpensive work that adds real strength, and it is one of the first things a locksmith checks in a newer area.
63%
Mostly houses. Single-detached houses make up about 63% of homes in Vaughan (2021 Census).
A detached house gives a locksmith room to work: full access to both sides of every door, hinges and frames included. Repairs and upgrades can be thorough, from the front deadbolt to the gate latch, with nothing off limits.
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) 216-7583- On-site assessment preferred
- Same fees day, night or weekend
- 19 years in business