It doesn’t matter how you look at it, losing a set of keys can be a frustrating ordeal. This does not mean, however, that the fallout is impossible to handle. What is the fallout from losing your keys? There are a couple of scenarios, and once you have a grip on the effects of losing your keys, you will be in a better position to decide whether you should have your locks rekeyed.
Before deciding whether to rekey your locks, consider your entire situation. This is the primary reason many homeowners ask about rekeying locks. Anyone with questions should get more details.
Should Locks Be Rekeyed?
Locks are paired with respective keys. Naturally, if keys are lost, something should change to compensate for this loss. There is no law that requires a homeowner to rekey their locks if keys are lost, but in the interest of security, it’s not a bad idea. Otherwise, not rekeying locks leaves your security up to chance.
When most people think about changing locks, they assume that the whole lock needs to be replaced. This is not the case. Instead, rekeying a lock is only retrofitting the lock to work with a new key. Rekeying a lock negates all previous keys without doing away with the old lock.
With this in mind, losing your keys should cause you to think about changing locks, which depends on several issues. The primary issues are discussed below.
How Did You Lose Your Keys?
Deciding on whether to rekey your locks depends, to a great extent, on how the keys were lost. Anyone who has ever lost anything understands that there is a certain veil of uncertainty over lost items. This uncertainty is caused primarily because of not knowing whether something was lost or stolen. The answer to this will cause your actions to differ when it comes to replacing keys.
If your keys were stolen, there are going to be questions over the safety of your property. In this case, the locks should probably be rekeyed. If the keys were simply misplaced, there is only the very slimmest chance that a burglar will find both your keys and where you live.
If your keys were not stolen, you might try to remember if there was some other kind of identifier, such as an ID card. It might still be unlikely that someone would find your home and break in, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Was the Key Lost a Master Key?
If the key lost was a master key, it is probably a good idea to rekey locks. This is due to the fact that master keys are capable of opening multiple locks.
Are There Budgetary Restrictions?
Another factor to consider when considering the course of action with a lost key is the budgetary restrictions related to rekeying a lock. Rekeying locks can be an expensive proposition. Further, if there is little or no chance that someone will break into your home or office, it might not be worth the trouble to rekey the lock. Cost vs. security. Your call.
It doesn’t take much more than this basic analysis to determine whether rekeying a lock after losing keys is worth the cost. There is no clear-cut answer. Every homeowner will have to find their own answer in terms of their own security.
