When keys go missing, staff leave, or a building changes hands, the old keys have to stop working. Priority Lock and Security rekeys commercial locks on site across Tampa, changes out worn hardware, keys new locks to your existing system, and cuts the keys you need, counted and recorded.
Rekeying means we take the lock cylinder apart and change the pins inside so it works with a new key and the old keys no longer turn. The lock, the lever and the door stay. It is the right call after staff changes, lost keys, a tenant turnover, or buying a building with an unknown key history, as long as the hardware is in good condition. Replacing the lock makes sense when the hardware is worn out, is the wrong grade for the door, or a different kind of lock is needed. We look at the hardware before recommending either one. Many commercial buildings need some of each: most locks rekeyed, a few worn ones replaced.
Rekey the locks those keys operated. There is no way to know whether a key was copied, so getting a key back does not fully settle it either. Start with a list of which doors that person's key opened. If it was one or two doors, those cylinders get rekeyed and new keys go to the people who need them. If the person carried a master key, the exposure is wider and every lock under that master is affected, which takes a plan and can be done in stages so the building keeps running.
You cannot know how many copies of the old keys exist, and a rekey makes every one of them useless for far less than replacing hardware. The standard recommendation when you take over a building is to rekey it to a written plan: which doors group together, who gets which key, and one master for you. That plan is a master key system, and it is designed on paper first so it has room to grow.
Most of the doors in a business can work on one key, as long as the locks share a keyway or can be fitted with cylinders that do. Before doing it, think about who should open what: one key for everything is convenient for an owner and a problem if the same key is handed to every employee. We cut keys for the buildings we service, to the codes on file, so copies come from one place and get counted.
For apartment and office buildings we replace and rekey the tenant compartment locks on privately owned cluster mailboxes at turnover or when keys are lost. The carrier's master lock on the panel belongs to the Postal Service, and only they can service it.
Rekeyed on site, usually in one visit, with new keys issued in a counted set and the date, the door and the number of keys recorded. Residential rekeys are on the residential locksmith page.
Text a photo of the door and the hardware to 813-421-4787. We will tell you what it is and what it takes to fix it.
Text a photoRekeying changes the pins inside the lock so the old keys stop working and the hardware stays. Replacing swaps the lock itself, for worn or damaged hardware or an upgrade. Rekeying is cheaper and is usually the right answer when the hardware is sound.
Yes, and it is the standard recommendation. You cannot know how many copies of the old keys exist, and a rekey makes every one of them useless for far less than replacing hardware. In a master keyed building the rekey should go through the locksmith who keeps the building's key records, so the suite stays on the master.
Usually yes. Keying locks alike means pinning every cylinder to the same key, and it works as long as the locks share a keyway or can be fitted with cylinders that do. Where a building has a mix of lock brands, some cylinders may need to be swapped. Often the better setup is a small master key system: staff keys that open only the doors each person needs, and one key for the owner that opens everything.
No. The stamp is a request, not a control. If the key blank is sold on the open market, anyone with a key machine or a self service kiosk can copy it. Real key control comes from a written key plan with counted keys, and from a restricted keyway where the blanks are not sold openly. Ask before your next rekey; that is the cheapest time to change how your keys are controlled.
A few cylinders are done in under an hour on site, keys included. A whole floor or building is planned and can be done in stages so nobody is locked out during the day.
More answers: the full question and answer page. If your question is not there, text a photo of the door to 813-421-4787.
We will tell you what it is, what it takes, and when we can be there.
