Skip to content
Collingwood Lock ExpertsRequest a visit
Open 24/7(249) 486-8066Call now
Two people exchanging a key at an open front door, with a disassembled lock cylinder and small parts arranged on a cloth nearby. — Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey, Silver Birch Beach

Emergency Lockouts · Silver Birch Beach

Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey in Silver Birch Beach

You let a part-time employee go on Friday. The shop key is on a ring in their apartment, or their car, or a friend's kitchen, and on Monday morning the register and the stock room open with it.

Call now · open 24/7(249) 486-8066

Request a visit

In plain words

The first useful move after losing a key is to think about where it worked rather than where it went. A house key commonly opens more than the front door: the back door, a side entrance, the door from the garage into the house, a shed, a gate padlock, sometimes a storage room or a mailbox. A same-visit rekey starts by listing those openings, then treats the ones that are yours to change and points you to the right person for the ones that belong to a landlord, a condominium or the postal service. Every cylinder on the list leaves the visit taking a new key.

Sound familiar?

The 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.

How the visit goes

Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey · Silver Birch Beach

How the visit goes

Technician holding a small key fob at a bench with a key-cutting machine, loose keys, and a motorcycle and scooter behind. — Silver Birch Beach
  1. 1

    Can all these doors share one key?

    With the cylinders read, the locksmith can say whether the whole property can live on one key. Cylinders from the same keyway family accept the same blank, so they can be pinned to the same combination. Where the front door is one family and the garage entry another, the choice is to keep two keys or swap one cylinder for a compatible one during the visit. Five-pin and six-pin cylinders, and homeowner-rekeyable types, each have their own limits on what they can be matched to. A minute of comparing keyways before the work begins is what makes a single ring possible afterwards rather than a near miss.

  2. 2

    Bringing every door onto one key

    When the household wants a single key, the locksmith pins each compatible cylinder to the same combination in turn, using the same cut key as the reference so nothing drifts between doors. A cylinder from a different keyway family is exchanged for one that matches, or the household keeps a second key for that door if they prefer. Where a home has a keyed garage entry, a shed and a gate on the same list, they follow the same process. The finished set is tried door by door with a single key, and the spare cylinders and old keys are gathered up so nothing that fits the old combination stays in circulation.

  3. 3

    A note for the landlord or building manager

    Where a tenancy, a condominium or a commercial lease is involved, the visit ends with a plain written note: which cylinders were rekeyed, how many keys were cut, who received them, and the key code if the property keeps a register. Tenants pass it to the landlord along with the landlord's set of new keys, keeping the paper trail on both sides current. Condominium managers can update the building's key record. A small business can file it with the lease. It is a few lines that save a long conversation later.

In the van

  • Key tags and a key register
  • Rekeying pin kit
  • Dry graphite or PTFE lubricant
  • Cylinder retaining-clip and cap tools
  • Code key machine

What affects the quote

  1. 1

    The kind of lock each cylinder lives in

    Knob, lever, deadbolt, mortise and rim cylinders come out of the door differently and take different care to refit. A mortise cylinder in a century home is more involved than a builder-grade knob.

  2. 2

    Outbuildings, gates and padlocks

    Sheds, gates and detached garages often carry padlocks or light cylinders. Bringing them onto the house key may mean a new padlock of a matching keyway, quoted as a part.

  3. 3

    Number of keys cut

    New keys are cut on site and counted individually. Two for a couple or six for a household with teenagers and a sitter: name the number and the quote reflects it.

Same fees day, night or weekend.

Have it ready

Before you call · 0 / 3

(249) 486-8066

Lost Keys — Same-Visit Rekey: questions

Advice · (249) 486-8066

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.

How many new keys should I ask for?

Count the people who genuinely need one and add one for a known spare location: each adult, a teenager, a caregiver or regular sitter, the neighbour who checks the house, the landlord if you rent. Keys are cut on site, so the number is easy to settle during the visit. Fewer keys with names attached is the point; another can always be cut later from the code.

Do I need to be there for the whole visit?

An authorised adult should be present at the start, for identification and to agree the list of doors and the number of keys, and at the end, to test every key and take the count. In between, the work happens at the doors and on the van, so you are free to get on with your day inside. A property manager or a family member with your authorisation can stand in if you cannot be there.

Simcoe, Ontario

Silver Birch Beach information

Town
Silver Birch Beach, Simcoe, Ontario
In business
25 years
Hours
Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
Visits
On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.

What the census means at the door

47%

Homes of every age. About 47% of homes in Tiny were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.

In areas with homes from many decades, a locksmith gets to match the solution to the house rather than apply one answer everywhere. Period hardware stays on the houses that suit it; modern security goes where the door and the household want it.

97%

Mostly houses. Single-detached houses make up about 97% of homes in Tiny (2021 Census).

Homeowners in houses often want a spare key that lives outside safely. A locksmith can fit a proper key safe or set up a keypad so a hidden key under a pot is no longer part of the plan.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Open Silver Birch Beach in Google Maps

Open 24/7

Request a visit

You let a part-time employee go on Friday.

Call now · open 24/7(249) 486-8066
  • On-site assessment preferred
  • Same fees day, night or weekend
  • 25 years in business