When changing the locks is the right call
There are four moments when we would change locks without hesitating. The first is taking transfer of a property — you have no idea how many keys exist or who still has one. The second is losing a key that was on a ring with anything identifying your address. The third is the end of a tenancy or a shared living arrangement, where the key was legitimately issued and simply should not open the door any more. The fourth is after an attempted break-in, where the cylinder may look intact but has been stressed and will fail without warning.
Everything else is a judgement call and we will make it with you honestly. A sticky lock is often a wear or alignment issue, not a security one, and that conversation belongs under general residential locksmith work rather than an unnecessary replacement.
Replace the cylinder or re-key the lock?
These are two different jobs with the same outcome for you: the old keys stop working. Re-keying re-pins the existing lock to a new key and suits good-quality hardware in sound condition — it is faster and it costs less. Replacing the cylinder makes sense when the lock is worn, when the grade is too low for the door it sits on, or when you want anti-snap and anti-bump protection you never had. A technician can tell which applies within a minute of looking at the door, and you will hear the price for both options before anything is fitted.
While we are there, it is worth asking about keying doors alike. Running the front door, back door, security gate and garage side entrance on one key costs very little extra at the point of replacement and saves years of fumbling in the dark. That approach scales up neatly into the hierarchies we build for businesses under our commercial key control service.
Landlords, agents and handover days
Rental changeovers around Fourways run to a tight schedule, and lock changes are usually the last thing anyone remembers. Book the slot for handover day and we work to it: cylinders swapped, a stated number of keys handed to the incoming tenant, and written confirmation of exactly how many were issued. That last detail matters more than it sounds — it is the document that settles the argument at the end of the lease about how many keys should come back.
For furnished and short-let properties, restricted key profiles are worth the extra spend. A guest cannot walk to a kiosk and cut a copy, because the blank is controlled. It is the same principle we apply to office buildings, scaled to a single unit.
Urgent lock changes and after-hours work
Some lock changes cannot wait until morning. If keys have been stolen along with a handbag, or a door has been forced and no longer secures, phone immediately — that is handled as an emergency locksmith callout in Fourways and a technician is dispatched at once. We secure the property first and complete the permanent replacement either on the spot or as soon as the right part is in hand.
For everything non-urgent, book a daytime slot through the contact page and we will hold the time. You can compare what else we cover on the full services list, read the team background on the about page, or start again from the Fourways locksmith homepage.