New home lock walk-through
Take this sheet round the house on the day the keys change hands. One pass, door by door, and you will know which locks to rekey and which to replace.
Walk every outside door
- Main entrance: deadbolt and handleset
- Back, side and basement doors
- The door between an attached garage and the house
- Sliding patio door: its latch, plus a bar or pin in the track
- The key goes in and turns easily, with no grinding from salt or rust
- The strike plate is held by screws long enough to reach the framing
- The deadbolt slides all the way out when you lock it
- No glass panel close enough for someone to reach through and turn the lock
- The garage side door locks with a deadbolt of its own
Who else can get in
- Count the keys the sellers left you
- Think about who held a copy: trades, cleaners, a neighbour, the listing lockbox
- Set a new code on the garage keypad
- Wipe the opener's memory, then pair only your own remotes
- Delete old users and codes from any smart lock or keypad
- Track down the keys for the shed, storage locker and mailbox
Make the call
- Locks that turn freely: rekey them to a new key
- Locks that stick, wobble or show corrosion: replace them
- Ask for one key to fit every outside door
- A door you can't lock tonight is a call tonight