Moving
Rekey or replace: what to do the day you move in
How many copies of your new key already exist, why rekeying usually beats replacing, and what your lease actually permits.
By Gantry Locksmith · Published June 5, 2026 · Updated August 3, 2026 · 6 min read
You were handed an envelope with two keys in it. The honest question nobody asks on move-in day is: how many other keys to this apartment are out there?
Not through any wrongdoing. The previous tenant made a spare for a partner. The broker had one for showings. The super has one, legitimately. A dog walker had one for a year. A contractor had one for a week in 2023. None of those came back in the envelope.
In a neighbourhood with as much turnover as Long Island City — where a Hunters Point unit can change hands three times in five years — that history stacks up fast.
Rekey and replace do the same thing to old keys
This is the part that surprises people. Rekeying changes the pin combination inside the cylinder you already own, so the old key physically cannot turn it. Replacing throws the hardware away and fits new hardware.
The security outcome is identical: every existing key stops working. The cost is not close.
| Rekey | Replace | |
|---|---|---|
| Old keys stop working | Yes | Yes |
| Typical cost | $35 – $65 per cylinder | $145 – $285 per door |
| Time | 10 – 20 minutes | 30 – 60 minutes per door |
| Improves the lock itself | No | Yes, if you upgrade grade |
| Needs the door re-bored | No | Sometimes |
When replacing is genuinely the right call
- The hardware is worn out. Sloppy handle, key needs jiggling, the cylinder turns rough. Rekeying a dying lock buys you a dying lock with new keys.
- The grade is wrong for the door. A Grade 3 hardware-store deadbolt on an apartment entry door should be Grade 2 at minimum.
- You want something the lock cannot do — a keypad, a smart lock, a high-security cylinder with patent-protected keys.
- It is a ground-floor or otherwise exposed unit where a real security upgrade is worth the money.
In every other case, which is most LIC apartments, rekeying is the correct answer. The building-standard cylinder is usually fine. It is the key history that is the problem, and rekeying is precisely the fix for key history.
Ask for keyed alike while they are there
Most apartments have two or three cylinders that matter: the entry knob, the deadbolt, sometimes a mailbox or storage lock. There is rarely a good reason for those to take different keys.
Keying alike sets all of them to one new key. It costs the same as rekeying them separately, and it ends the nightly business of finding the right key in a dark hallway. Ask for it explicitly — it is not always offered.
What your lease actually says
If you rent, read the lock clause before you book anything. Most New York leases require the landlord's consent to change or rekey the locks, and many require the landlord or managing agent to hold a working key at all times.
This is usually a formality rather than an obstacle. Landlords generally have no objection to a tenant rekeying at their own expense, provided they receive a key. The conversation takes one email. Skipping it can put you in breach of your lease over a job you were entitled to have done anyway.
A sensible move-in sequence
- Check the lease clause and email the landlord or managing agent if consent is required.
- Count your cylinders: entry, deadbolt, mailbox, storage.
- Book a rekey, keyed alike, and ask for four keys rather than two.
- Test the door properly while the locksmith is there. If it needs a shoulder to lock, that is alignment and it is far cheaper to fix now than after it seizes.
- Give the landlord their key, and put a spare somewhere that is not under the mat.
Total cost for a typical two-cylinder apartment: under a hundred dollars, in about twenty minutes. It is the cheapest meaningful security improvement available to you, and the best day to do it is the day you get the keys.