Rekeying vs. Replacing Locks When You Move Into a Wichita Home: The First-Week Decision

You closed on the house in Eastborough or Riverside or Crown Heights this morning. The keys are on the kitchen counter — some of them, anyway. The realtor handed you four, the previous owner handed you two, there’s an old one on the windowsill that nobody can identify, and there’s a coded keypad on the garage with a four-digit number written on a sticky note.

Now figure out who else has a key to your house. The previous owner, obviously. Their adult kids? Their cleaner? Their neighbor across the street who walks the dog when they’re on vacation? The contractor who did the kitchen remodel three years ago? The realtor’s office staff who ran showings? The previous owner’s ex-spouse?

You can’t actually figure that out. Nobody can. The only honest answer is to assume the worst and rekey or replace before you sleep there. Here’s how to do that without overspending.

1. Why this isn’t optional

It’s not paranoia. It’s hygiene. We get a few calls a year in Wichita from new homeowners whose previous owner walked in to grab “something they left behind” — and from new homeowners who came home to find a stranger in the kitchen who turned out to be the previous owner’s nephew with a key nobody asked him to return.

Beyond the obvious physical security risk, there’s an insurance angle. If something goes missing in the first months after closing and you haven’t changed the locks, the insurance investigation gets complicated fast. “Did you have any reason to believe other people had access to the house?” is a question with only one good answer.

Window: 7 days. Sooner is better. Same day is best.

2. Rekey vs. replace — the decision tree

Walk every exterior door of your new Wichita home and look at the locks. Ask:

Rekey makes sense when:

• The locks are mid-grade or better (Schlage BE-series, Kwikset SmartKey, Schlage B-series, Yale, Defiant 5-pin or higher)
• The locks all match in brand and design across the doors
• The hardware is in good cosmetic and functional condition (no visible wear, smooth key turn, deadbolts extend cleanly)
• You like the look and don’t want to upgrade to smart locks

Replace makes sense when:

• The locks are builder-grade Grade 3 (very common in Wichita new construction from 2000–2020)
• Different doors have different brands or styles (look mismatched)
• Any lock is visibly worn, damaged, sticky, or hard to operate
• You want to upgrade to higher security (Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, ASSA Abloy)
• You want to install smart locks
• The lock has been re-keyed multiple times before (over-rekeyed cylinders eventually wear out)

A common pattern in Wichita: front door has a decent Schlage B-series deadbolt installed by the original owner, side door has a builder-grade Defiant knob-lock, back door has a Kwikset added during a remodel. The right answer is rekey the front, replace the side and back, and match the new hardware to the front-door key. A locksmith can do all three on one visit.

3. What rekeying actually involves

Rekeying is a 5-to-15-minute-per-cylinder operation. The locksmith:

1. Removes the lock cylinder from the door
2. Disassembles the cylinder to expose the pin chambers
3. Replaces the existing pins with new pins cut to match a new key
4. Reassembles the cylinder and reinstalls it
5. Tests the new key in the cylinder, then in the door

For a whole house, the locksmith pulls 4–6 cylinders, rekeys all of them on a workbench in the truck, and reinstalls them with a single matched key for the whole property. Total time on-site is usually 45 minutes to 90 minutes for a typical Wichita single-family home.

Wichita rekey rate: $20–$30 per cylinder. Typical whole-house service call: $90–$150 all-in including travel and the call-out.

4. What replacement involves

Replacement is more involved per door but not dramatically more. The locksmith:

1. Removes the existing lock entirely (deadbolt, knob, or both)
2. Verifies door prep matches the new lock (almost always does for ANSI standard 161 prep)
3. Installs the new hardware
4. Adjusts the strike plate if needed (often needed in Wichita houses that have settled)
5. Tests the new lock with the new key

Replacement cost has two components: hardware and labor.

Hardware:

• Builder-grade replacement (don’t): $20–$40 per door
• Mid-grade Schlage / Kwikset Grade 2: $50–$110 per door
• Higher-end residential (Schlage B660, Yale): $90–$180 per door
• High-security (Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, ASSA Abloy): $250–$650 per door
• Smart lock: $130–$350 per door

Labor: $30–$60 per door for installation, with discounts when multiple doors are done in one visit.

A typical Wichita whole-house replacement with mid-grade Schlage or Kwikset (5 doors, all keyed alike) runs $250–$500 total. High-security upgrade for the same scope runs $1,500–$3,500.

5. The ANSI grade conversation

If you’re going to spend money on lock hardware anyway, this is the time to understand what you’re getting:

ANSI/BHMA Grade 3 (builder-grade):

• The locks installed in 80% of Wichita new construction since 2000
• Pass minimum residential code, fail real-world durability tests
• Bump-vulnerable, pick-vulnerable, kick-vulnerable
• Wear out within 5–10 years of regular use
• Recommendation: replace, don’t just rekey

ANSI/BHMA Grade 2 (residential premium):

• Schlage B-series, Kwikset SmartKey, Yale residential, mid-grade Defiant
• Genuinely durable for residential use, 15+ year lifespan typical
• Better pick and bump resistance than Grade 3
• Reasonable cost ($50–$110 per door)
• Recommendation: the practical sweet spot for most Wichita exterior doors

ANSI/BHMA Grade 1 (commercial duty):

• Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, ASSA Abloy, Schlage commercial
• Genuinely difficult to defeat, designed for high-traffic commercial use
• 25+ year lifespan, near-immune to common residential attack methods
• Significantly more expensive ($250–$650 per door)
• Recommendation: worth it for high-value contents, security-conscious households, or specific concerns (recent threats, restraining orders, business-from-home with valuable equipment)

For most Wichita homeowners, Grade 2 is the right call. Don’t pay Grade 1 prices unless you have a specific reason; don’t accept Grade 3 if you’re spending money to replace anyway.

6. Bump keys, picking, and the actual threat model

You’ll see articles about bump keys (a specific cut that defeats standard pin-tumbler locks with a tap of a hammer) and lock picking and 3D-printed key copies. These are all real techniques. Here’s the honest threat assessment for Wichita:

• Wichita Police data consistently shows residential burglaries happen primarily through unlocked doors, broken windows, and kicked-in doors — not lock-defeat techniques.
• Bump-resistant locks are still worth the upgrade if you’re already replacing — Schlage BE-series with anti-bump pins, Kwikset SmartKey (bump-resistant by design), Medeco, Mul-T-Lock all defeat the standard bump attack.
• Strike plate reinforcement matters more than lock grade against forced entry. A Grade 1 lock on a 3/4-inch screw strike kicks open the same as a Grade 3 lock on the same strike. We always recommend 3-inch screws into the framing studs as part of any move-in lock work — costs $25–$50 and meaningfully changes kick-resistance.
• Locks alone don’t defeat determined attackers. Layered security — locks + strike reinforcement + deadbolts on solid-core doors + lighting + visible cameras — is the residential standard.

7. Master-keying for landlords and multi-family

If you’re a Wichita landlord with one or more rental properties, master-keying is the right setup. You get one master key that opens every unit and every common-area door, while each tenant gets a unit-specific key that only opens their unit. Setup is typically $35–$60 per cylinder above the base rekey rate, done once when the master system is established.

Benefits:

• You don’t carry 14 keys to manage 7 properties
• Tenant turnover only requires rekeying that unit’s locks (15 minutes per door)
• Emergency access for plumbing or HVAC issues is straightforward
• Lost master key requires rekeying everything, which is the security tradeoff

We set up master systems regularly for Wichita-area property managers and small-to-mid-size landlord operations. Larger residential complexes typically use restricted-keyway commercial systems (Medeco, Mul-T-Lock) where keys can only be duplicated by authorized locksmiths — a meaningful upgrade against tenant-key-copying issues.

When to call a Wichita locksmith

Call in the first week if:

• You just closed on a Wichita home
• You inherited a property
• You started renting out a property and need keys turned over
• You had a roommate or partner move out and the locks weren’t changed
• You lost a key and don’t know where it ended up
• You hired contractors who had keys and the work is finished

Call sooner than that if:

• A key is missing and you can’t account for it
• You’ve had a break-in or attempted break-in
• You suspect someone unauthorized has a copy

How Wichita Locksmith Pro handles new-homeowner calls

Move-in rekeys and replacements are some of our most common service calls. We dispatch from inside Wichita and reach Riverside, College Hill, Eastborough, Crown Heights, Park City, Bel Aire, Derby, and Andover within 25–40 minutes for scheduled appointments, 40–60 minutes for outlying areas like Goddard, Maize, Augusta, and Mulvane.

Our typical move-in service call:

1. Walk every exterior door with you and assess the existing hardware
2. Recommend rekey vs. replace for each door based on quality and condition
3. Set up a single matched key for whatever combination of rekey and replace you choose
4. Reinforce strike plates with 3-inch screws if not already present (usually included in the visit)
5. Address the garage — opener remote reset and keypad code change if applicable
6. Provide the new keys with options for spare copies in the same visit

We give a flat all-in price on the phone before we dispatch. No surprise charges, no after-arrival upsells. Call (316) 800-6261 to schedule.

What it usually costs

Rough Wichita ranges:

• Rekey single cylinder: $20–$30
• Rekey whole house (4–6 cylinders, all matched): $90–$150 service call all-in
• Replace with mid-grade hardware (whole house): $250–$500 including labor
• Replace with high-security hardware (per door): $400–$900 installed
• Smart lock install (per door): $130–$350 hardware + $75–$165 labor
• Strike plate reinforcement (per door, included with most service calls): $25–$50
• Master-key setup (per cylinder, on top of rekey): $35–$60
• Garage opener remote reset and code change: $35–$75 if done as a separate visit; usually included in a whole-house service call

A simple first-week checklist

Print this. Do all of it within 7 days of closing:

1. Rekey or replace every exterior door, all matched to one key
2. Reinforce strike plates with 3-inch screws
3. Erase and reprogram the garage door opener (delete all old remotes, reprogram only yours)
4. Change the exterior garage keypad code
5. Change the codes on any existing smart locks the previous owner left
6. Walk the perimeter and identify any spare-key hiding spots the previous owner used (under the doormat, in a fake rock, magnetic key holder under a deck, etc.) and remove them
7. If there’s a security system, factory reset and reprogram it (or call the alarm company to do it)
8. Document the new keys and codes somewhere secure — password manager, locked drawer, safe

It’s a half-day of work and it’s the cheapest meaningful security improvement you’ll ever make on a house you just paid six figures for.