Just bought a house? New roommate moved out? Lost one key and worried who has it? Rekeying is faster, cheaper and just as secure as replacing locks — we reconfigure the pins inside each cylinder so old keys stop working permanently. Same hardware, brand-new keys. $45 per standard cylinder, $65 for high-security (Mul-T-Lock, Medeco), $80 for smart locks. Same-day for most Gainesville homes.
If you just moved into a house in Gainesville, had a roommate move out, lost a key, or want to disable old keys for any reason, you have two options. Both work. One is 5x cheaper.
Buy a new deadbolt (Kwikset $45, Schlage $65, Baldwin $140, Emtek $220), remove the old one, install the new. New keys included because new lock. Takes 20–30 min per door. Cost: $85–$280 per door depending on hardware you pick.
Open the cylinder, remove the old pin stack, install a new pin stack keyed to your choice. Original hardware stays. Original keys no longer work; new keys do. Takes 10–15 min per door. Cost: $40–$80 per door.
Same security either way — the lock quality doesn't change, only the pins. Most Gainesville homes have Kwikset or Schlage deadbolts in good shape; rekeying is the clear winner. Replacement only makes sense if (a) the existing lock is already failing (sticky, won't turn with the key), (b) you're upgrading to higher security (Medeco, Mul-T-Lock), or (c) you want a smart lock.
A typical 3-door Gainesville house (front, back/garage, side) costs $135–$180 to rekey. The same house to replace costs $225–$600. We'll tell you honestly on the phone which makes sense for your situation.
You just closed on a house. The realtor gave you 2 keys. The seller might have had copies with their housekeeper, dog-walker, kids, in-laws, previous spouse. Rekeying on day one is the move. We do a lot of these in Haile Plantation, Jonesville, Tioga and Northwest Gainesville — subdivisions where turnover is common.
Gainesville has a huge rental market driven by UF. Students move in August and out May. A tenant turnover rekey (front door + any secondary doors) is $40–$80 per cylinder; we handle 20–30 of these every week during summer. Property managers at Trimark, Collier Companies, Tetreault get a volume rate.
Not a fun call to make, but it's common. Someone had a key and shouldn't anymore. Rekey, done, moving on. We don't ask questions beyond what's needed to do the work. $75 for the front door, $45 for each additional.
Grey Oaks, Pelican Bay (via SWFL partner), Mediterra, Haile Plantation, Audubon, Longshore Lake, Olde Cypress HOAs all have standards for rekey work. We invoice directly on net-15 with COI and W-9 on file.
Staff turnover, lost key, security breach — same rekey logic applies to commercial doors. See our commercial locksmith page for business-specific pricing.
Kwikset, Schlage, Baldwin, Emtek, Falcon. The 90% case.
Kwikset's proprietary rekey mechanism. Faster to rekey. $10 cheaper.
Medeco Maxum/M3, Mul-T-Lock Interactive+, Abloy. Factory-authorized dealer.
Yale Assure, Schlage Encode physical cylinder rekey. Codes stay in the app.
Volume discount: 6+ cylinders at once = $5 off each. 10+ = $8 off each. Property managers and HOAs with 20+/month on net-15 terms get custom pricing.
Keys included: each rekeyed cylinder comes with 2 new keys. Extra keys are $4 each (standard brass), $8 for restricted keyways. Master-keyed systems (one key opens multiple doors with different keys for each) priced separately — see commercial.
Mobile fee: $0 inside Gainesville, Alachua, Newberry, Haile Plantation, Tioga, Jonesville. $25 outer Alachua County.
Tell us how many doors, what brands if you know (Kwikset, Schlage, etc.), and whether you want all keys the same or each door with different keys.
Flat quote per cylinder. For a 3-door house: $135 for standard cylinders, $195 with volume discount if 6+ including handle locks.
Same-day in 70% of cases. 1-hour window. Tech brings pin kits, new keys, and spare cylinders in case any are too worn to rekey.
Pop the cylinder, remove top loading cap, swap pin stack, pick a new keyway, cut 2 keys matching, reinstall. 10–15 min per door.
Both new keys in every lock. Old keys tested — confirmed non-functional. Any key wearing badly gets replaced in-cylinder before we leave.
Flat invoice. Payment any method. 1-year workmanship warranty — if a rekeyed cylinder starts sticking or stops working, we come back free.
"Moved into a 1950s house in Duckpond — had 3 Russwin mortise locks nobody else in Gainesville would touch. Keeper rekeyed all 3 plus a modern Schlage on the back door, matched them to one key, $220 total. Clean work."
"Property manager for 42 UF-area units. Keeper rekeys turnovers for us at a flat volume rate, invoices NET-15 with COI on file. Reliable, honest, never upsell. Saved us $8K vs the previous locksmith over a year."
"Divorce rekey — needed every door changed within a day. Keeper came out at 6pm, rekeyed front, back, garage pedestrian, side gate (5 cylinders) matched to one key, done in 70 minutes. $205. No awkward questions, 100% professional."
Standard pin cylinders (Kwikset, Schlage, Baldwin): $40 per lock. Kwikset SmartKey: $35 per lock. High-security (Medeco, Mul-T-Lock): $60–$80. Smart locks (Yale, Schlage Encode physical cylinder): $80. Volume discount at 6+ cylinders ($5 off each).
Rekey if the lock is in good working condition. You keep the hardware (cheaper and faster) and get completely new keys. Replace if the lock is already failing, you want to upgrade to high-security (Medeco, Mul-T-Lock), or want a smart lock. A 3-door Gainesville house: $135 to rekey vs $225–$600 to replace.
10–15 minutes per cylinder. A typical 3-door house takes 45–60 minutes total including setup, cutting new keys and testing. Same-day appointments available in 70% of cases.
Yes — SmartKey's proprietary rekey mechanism actually makes rekeying faster. We charge $35 per lock vs $45 for standard pin cylinders. The security level is the same once rekeyed.
Yes — called 'keyed alike.' Common request for houses. We rekey every cylinder to accept the same key. $40 per cylinder regardless of how many doors. Each door still has its own lock; the key just works in all of them.
Yes — different keys for different doors with one master key opening everything. Common for commercial, HOA common areas, rental properties with shared laundry/pool. See our commercial locksmith page for master-key pricing.
Rare but it happens — Gainesville has 1920s–1950s houses in Duckpond, Pleasant Street, Grove Street with original mortise locks. We can rekey most mortise locks (we stock Corbin, Russwin, Yale pin kits). If a cylinder is beyond rekey (worn pin chambers), we quote replacement.
Yes — Trimark, Collier Companies, Tetreault, UF Housing contractors all use us for tenant turnovers. Net-15 invoicing with W-9 and COI. Flat volume rate per cylinder. Call us for a vendor onboarding.
Yes — most smart locks (Yale Assure, Schlage Encode, Kwikset Halo) have a physical cylinder as backup. We rekey the physical cylinder; your app codes stay unchanged. $80 per smart lock. For cylinder-less smart locks (Level Bolt, August Pro), 'rekey' means removing old app users — you do that in the app.
Yes — 1-year workmanship warranty. If a rekeyed cylinder starts sticking, binds, or stops accepting the new key within 12 months, we come back free of charge. Covers labor and parts.
Rekeying is often combined with other work. Related services below.
Tell us how many doors and we quote flat per cylinder. Same-day in most cases. 1-year warranty.
📞 Call (352) 320-5444