Lock Rekeying Service
When you move into a new apartment off Emmons Avenue, take over a commercial space near Kings Highway, or realize your house keys went missing on the subway, one question becomes urgent: who actually had a copy of those keys before you? Lock rekeying is the fastest, most cost-effective way to answer that question by resetting your locks so that every previous key becomes permanently useless — without replacing the hardware itself. Our mobile team at Sheepshead Bay Locksmith serves Brooklyn around the clock, driving directly to your door so you never have to haul your locks anywhere or wait until business hours.
Open 24 hours, 7 days a week · Licensed, bonded & insured
We specialize in rekeying all common residential and commercial lock types — from standard door knob locks and deadbolts to complex mortise lock assemblies found throughout Brooklyn's older prewar buildings and brownstones. Whether you're a landlord turning over a unit on Shore Parkway, a property manager handling multiple Sheepshead Bay storefronts, or a homeowner who just lost a key ring, our trained, insured technicians arrive fully equipped to rekey your locks on the spot, confirm an exact up-front price before touching anything, and restore your security without unnecessary damage to your door or frame.
What we do
Available 24/7
Day, night, weekends and holidays — a real local locksmith answers and rolls a fully-stocked van.
Fast local response
Based in Brooklyn, we reach the Brooklyn area in well under an hour.
Insured & background-checked
Vetted technicians, up-front pricing, and no surprise add-ons when we arrive.
Damage-free entry
We pick and bypass locks the right way, so most lockouts are solved without drilling anything.
More about our work
Everything you need to know about how we help — at a glance.
Why Lock Rekeying Is the Smart Security Move After Any Key Change
Rekeying works by replacing the tiny pin tumblers inside your lock cylinder so that the existing keyway now responds only to a brand-new key cut. The lock body, the door hardware, and the strike plate all stay exactly where they are — only the internal configuration changes. This matters enormously in Brooklyn, where rental turnover is constant and building superintendents often have master key sets that residents never fully account for. A mortise lock, the kind built directly into the door slab rather than bolted through it, is especially common in the borough's older stock of two-family homes and apartment buildings, and rekeying one correctly requires specific knowledge of its cylinder type and cam orientation — not just a generic pin kit from a hardware store.
There are three situations where rekeying is almost always the right first call. The first is a new tenancy: if you just signed a lease or closed on a property, you have no way of knowing how many copies of the previous key exist. The second is a lost or stolen key set — if your keys are gone, rekeying immediately is far safer than hoping whoever found them never figures out your address. The third is after a relationship change or a staff turnover in a commercial space, where someone who previously had authorized access no longer should. In every one of these cases, rekeying delivers full re-keyed security at a fraction of the cost and disruption of full hardware replacement.
Our Full Lock Rekeying Service: Mortise Locks, Knob Locks, and Commercial Hardware
Our technicians are equipped to handle an unusually wide range of lock types precisely because Brooklyn's building stock spans more than a century of hardware styles. On a single block in Sheepshead Bay you might find a 1920s prewar building with heavy mortise lock sets, a 1970s brick row house with Kwikset knob-and-deadbolt combos, and a ground-floor retail unit with a commercial-grade Schlage cylindrical lockset. We rekey all of them. For mortise lock cylinders — the rectangular lock body mortised into the door edge — we carry the appropriate cylinder follower tools and plug followers to remove and repin the cylinder cleanly without marring the brass trim or damaging the door. For standard door knob locks and deadbolts, the process is faster, but we apply the same careful, damage-free approach. For commercial clients, we can rekey entire suites to a master key system so that one key opens every door while individual employees retain access only to their designated spaces.
Beyond standard rekeying, here is a representative list of the specific services our mobile team provides during a typical visit: residential deadbolt rekeying, residential door knob lock rekeying, mortise lock cylinder rekeying, mortise lock full replacement, master key system setup, master key system expansion, commercial deadbolt rekeying, commercial knob lock rekeying, commercial mortise lock service, high-security cylinder rekeying (Schlage B-series, Kwikset SmartKey), SmartKey re-keying tool service, mailbox lock rekeying, gate padlock rekeying, storage unit lock rekeying, interior door lock rekeying for offices and suites, key duplication after rekeying, lock hardware inspection and lubrication, worn cylinder replacement, lock pin replacement and cleaning, door alignment check after hardware service, strike plate reinforcement during rekey visit, sliding door lock rekeying, multi-point lock cylinder service, emergency lockout entry (damage-free where possible) combined with immediate rekeying, and after-hours lock security assessment following a break-in. That breadth means a single call to (347) 527-4089 can resolve multiple security concerns in one visit.
Emergencies Don't Follow a Schedule — 24 Hour Lock Rekeying in Brooklyn
A stolen wallet on the B or Q train at midnight is not a problem that waits until 9 a.m. Neither is discovering your front door knob lock was visibly tampered with when you get home from a late shift. That is precisely why we operate as a genuine 24 hour lock rekeying service, not a daytime shop with an occasional after-hours line. Our mobile units are on the road across Brooklyn at all hours — weekday mornings, Friday nights, holiday weekends, and every gap in between. Holidays and weekends are actually among the highest-risk windows for security lapses: building staff are off, property managers are unreachable, and people are moving in or out with less oversight than usual. When your security situation becomes urgent at an inconvenient hour, we answer.
Emergencies following a break-in carry their own urgency. After an intrusion, the priority is restoring a locked perimeter as quickly as possible — and that often means rekeying undamaged locks rather than replacing everything, which takes longer to source and install. Our emergency locksmith response includes an on-site assessment of which locks remain structurally sound and which need full replacement, followed by immediate rekeying of the viable hardware so the premises are secure before we leave. We verify ownership or tenancy before beginning any work — a standard step that protects you as much as it protects the property. If you are in Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Marine Park, or anywhere else across Brooklyn, our response time is built around your emergency, not a nine-to-five window. Call (347) 527-4089 — we answer 24/7.
How Locksmith Pricing Works in Brooklyn — No Surprises, No Hidden Fees
One of the most common questions we receive is some version of 'How much does a locksmith cost in Brooklyn?' or 'What are the typical costs of locksmith services in NYC?' — and the honest answer is that it depends on several specific factors, none of which should be hidden from you before work begins. The type of lock matters most: rekeying a standard door knob lock takes different materials and time than servicing a mortise lock with a multi-cam cylinder or repinning a high-security commercial deadbolt. The time of day is a factor — after-hours, weekend, and holiday calls involve different operational costs than mid-afternoon weekday appointments. Travel distance from our nearest mobile unit to your Brooklyn location affects the dispatch component of your quote. And if your lock requires replacement parts — new pins, a worn cylinder, a damaged plug — those parts factor into the total.
Questions like 'How much do locksmiths charge on average?' and 'What is a locksmith call out fee?' reflect a real frustration with the industry, where some providers quote one number on the phone and present a very different invoice at the door. We do not operate that way. Before any work begins, our technician assesses the lock, identifies exactly what is needed, and gives you a complete, confirmed price. You approve it. Then we work. There are no add-ons slipped in after the fact, and we will never use vague language like 'starting from' to obscure the real cost. If you have ever searched for the cheapest locksmith and ended up paying more than expected due to hidden fees, that experience is exactly what our transparent quoting process is designed to prevent — not by being the lowest price in the market, but by being completely clear about what you are paying and why before a single pin is touched.
Frequently asked questions
What is lock rekeying and how is it different from replacing a lock?
Rekeying changes the internal pin configuration inside your existing lock cylinder so that old keys no longer work and a new key is cut to match the new configuration. The lock body, door hardware, and frame all stay in place. Replacing a lock means removing the entire hardware unit and installing a new one. Rekeying is typically faster and involves no new hardware unless the cylinder is worn or damaged. For most residential and commercial situations — new tenants, lost keys, staff turnover — rekeying achieves the same security outcome as replacement at a lower cost and with less disruption to your door.
How much does a locksmith cost in Brooklyn for a rekeying job?
The final price depends on several factors specific to your situation: the type of lock (a standard door knob lock costs differently to service than a mortise lock or a high-security commercial deadbolt), the number of locks being rekeyed in a single visit, the time of day (after-hours and holiday calls have different operational costs), your location within Brooklyn, and whether any parts such as worn pins or a damaged plug need replacing. We confirm an exact price before beginning any work, so there are no surprises on the invoice. To get an accurate quote for your specific locks and location, call (347) 527-4089 and describe what you need.
Can you rekey a mortise lock, or does it need to be fully replaced?
Yes — in most cases a mortise lock cylinder can be rekeyed without replacing the entire lock body, provided the cylinder and internal components are not worn beyond function. Mortise locks are common in Brooklyn's older prewar buildings and brownstones, and our technicians carry the specific tools — plug followers, appropriate cylinder followers, and pin kits in the correct sizes — to service them properly. If during the assessment we find that the cylinder is damaged or the internal mechanism is too worn to hold a reliable pin configuration, we will explain that clearly and give you a price for replacement before doing anything further.
Do I need to be present for the rekeying service?
Yes, someone with verifiable authority over the property needs to be present and able to confirm their right to have the locks rekeyed — this protects you as the property owner or tenant as much as it is a standard professional requirement. For residential properties, a lease agreement, utility bill, or ID matching the address is the typical form of verification. For commercial properties, a business document or property management authorization works. We verify before we begin, every time, without exception.
My building has a mix of old and new locks on different doors — can you rekey them all to one key?
In many cases, yes. If the lock cylinders across your doors are compatible or can be made compatible through cylinder replacement, we can rekey them to a single key — a setup called a keyed-alike system. This is especially useful for landlords in Sheepshead Bay managing multi-unit properties, or commercial tenants in retail corridors who want a single key to open the front door, back door, and storage room. During the assessment, our technician will check the compatibility of your existing hardware and explain your options clearly before any work begins.
What happens if I call for emergency lock rekeying in the middle of the night?
We answer. Our 24 hour lock rekeying service is not a voicemail system or a referral to a daytime callback — it is a live dispatch to a mobile technician who is already operating in Brooklyn. We cover Sheepshead Bay, Marine Park, Gravesend, Brighton Beach, and surrounding neighborhoods at all hours. When you call (347) 527-4089, you reach someone who can give you an estimated arrival time, walk you through what to have ready for ownership verification, and dispatch a trained, insured technician to your location. After-hours rekeying follows the same process as a daytime call: assessment, confirmed price, approval, then work.