Realizing the house keys are not in your pocket is bad enough as it is – let alone if they are lost. When the keys are missing, chances are high they are stolen. Or found by someone with not so good intentions.
Now, when this happens, you have two problems on your hands.
- The first concerns the house lockout. You are suddenly found locked outside your home, wondering how to get in again, with the minimal hassle (and damage) possible. And although this is major, it is huge, it is also a problem easily handled if you call a local locksmith.
Of course, you can prevent such situations by always keeping extra keys with you. Or even switch to keyless entry locks and forget about such key-related problems once and for all.
- The second concern due to the missing key is home security. If someone took your key – or someone bad found the key, you won’t feel safe at home. Anyone could use the key to unlock the home door and get inside. Or not. But the idea alone is enough to make you feel unease. The idea that someone may have followed you to spot your home may drive you crazy.
Since it’s better to take action and prevent possible home break-ins than coming face to face with an intruder, you need to take action the very moment you walk into your home again. You may want to check with your insurance company, explaining what happened and making sure with them about the right course of action so that your contract won’t be invalidated.
The next phone call should be to an emergency locksmith. The best thing you should do to protect your home and avoid a potential intrusion? To rekey the locks.
Key replacement is cheaper, key change is better
Having a new house key made – just like the original one, would be okay if you were absolutely sure that the original key was not stolen. Then you would only need a key duplicate – a key that would take the place of the original one. But the situation is completely different in the event of a stolen key. If you want to prevent a possible intrusion, you need to rekey locks. This means to have a new key, instead of a replica of the stolen one.
What the locksmiths do is change the lock pins and their configuration. And so, even if there’s a second or third key same with the original one which got lost, not one of them will fit in the rekeyed lock anymore. Not with the new pins & configuration. Only a new key cut to fit in the rekeyed lock will fit. And that’s excellent news for your home security and pocket since this locksmith service is not expensive, and bad news for the potential perpetrator.
It’s important to point out here that door locks are worth being rekeyed when they are in good condition. In this case, you pay a small amount to change the key and rekey the lock. But how about if the lock is in bad shape?
If this is a bad door lock, change it
You should consider this case as an opportunity to change locks. To get new, better locks for the main door and thus, improve home security even more. Naturally, new locks come with new keys and so the lost key will be forgotten pretty soon.
At such moments, you may also consider getting a smart lock – one that won’t put you in similar troubles again. A keyless smart locking system that will allow you to open and lock using codes, control the locks from any place at all, save and erase passwords with ease.
There are ways to never feel vulnerable again. And if you are ever in the vulnerable position of having lost the house key, the situation can easily change. There are only two things to remember: choose the right method – rekey or replace locks, and act quickly. Burglars never wait, why should you?