Skip to content
Bennington Heights Locksmith SpecialistsRequest a visit
Open 24/7(289) 806-2827Call now
Person handling a lock cylinder at a workbench lined with cylinders, keys, small pin trays and blank key tags. — Commercial Rekeying, Don Vale

Commercial · Don Vale

Commercial Rekeying in Don Vale

A break-in overnight took the cash float and a staff member's bag with her work keys inside it. The glass is being replaced this morning, but the key that opened the door yesterday will still open it tonight unless the cylinders are changed.

Call now · open 24/7(289) 806-2827

Request a visit

In plain words

A commercial rekey is planned around the trading day. The locksmith agrees a window, often after close or before opening, and works door by door so the premises is never left without a locking entrance. Cylinders come out, are repinned at a bench in the van or on a counter, and go back in; interchangeable cores are simply swapped for freshly combinated ones. Each door is tried with both new and old keys before the next is started. New keys go to whoever opens up in the morning, and a written chart of doors and key groups stays with the manager.

Sound familiar?

The renovation is finished and the contractors have gone, along with the loaner keys they used for six weeks. Trades, delivery drivers and an inspector all came through, and the front door still answers to the key that was passed around the site.

How the visit goes

Commercial Rekeying · Don Vale

How the visit goes

Key-cutting machine with red handles on a worn wooden bench beside a tray of loose keys, key fobs and a screwdriver. — Don Vale
  1. 1

    Which doors are the landlord's

    In a plaza, an office building or a multi-tenant industrial unit, some doors on your floor plan are not yours to rekey. Corridor doors, electrical and mechanical rooms, shared loading doors and the building's fire exits usually sit on the landlord's master system, and a suite entrance may be required to accept the landlord's key as well as yours. The locksmith sorts the openings into two columns before starting: those the lease puts under your control, which get the new plan, and those that stay as they are or need the property manager's say-so. Where a suite door must accept both a tenant key and the building master, it is pinned to do exactly that.

  2. 2

    Repinning a standard cylinder

    The cylinder is taken off the door and its plug is slid out with a follower, a small tube that holds the top pins and springs in place so nothing scatters. The old bottom pins are tipped out, and a new combination is chosen from the pinning records so it does not collide with any other key in the plan. Fresh pins of the matching depths are dropped into each chamber, the plug goes back in, and the new key is tried: it should turn as smoothly as if the lock were new, and the old key should stop dead. The cylinder is then refitted and adjusted so the cam or tailpiece throws the bolt fully.

  3. 3

    Telling the landlord and the alarm company

    A rekey touches a few people outside the business, and the handover covers them. If the lease asks for it, the landlord or property manager receives a key to the suite entrance and a note that the locks were changed, which keeps you onside for emergencies and inspections. The alarm monitoring company is given the updated keyholder list, and it is a good moment to change the alarm codes of anyone who no longer works there, since a key and a code usually leave together. Cleaners, the courier with after-hours access and the neighbour who watches the place on holidays each collect their new key against the register like everyone else.

In the van

  • Cylinder removal and spanner tools
  • Key stamp set and tags
  • Commercial pin kit
  • Mortise cylinder set screws and cams
  • Plug follower

What affects the quote

  1. 1

    After-hours or split visits

    Work done after closing, before opening or split across two visits to suit trading hours costs the same amount as a single daytime block. The exact figure is confirmed on site once the number of cylinders and the keying plan are known.

  2. 2

    Padlocks, cabinets and mailboxes

    Small locks add up. Each padlock repinned to the door key, each cabinet keyed alike and each mailbox cylinder replaced is listed on its own so you can decide what to include.

  3. 3

    A master key plan

    Pinning cylinders to accept both a change key and a master, and designing the chart so no key opens a door it should not, is more work per cylinder than keying everything alike.

Same fees day, night or weekend.

Have it ready

Before you call · 0 / 3

(289) 806-2827

Commercial Rekeying: questions

Advice · (289) 806-2827

What is the difference between rekeying a business and replacing its locks?

Rekeying keeps every lock on the door and changes only the pins inside the cylinder, so a new key works and the old ones stop. Replacing swaps the hardware itself. Commercial cylinders are made to be repinned many times, so rekeying suits any lock in sound condition and leaves the levers, trim and door untouched. Replacement is chosen door by door for cylinders that are worn, corroded or too light for what they protect.

Can the aluminum storefront door on our unit be rekeyed?

Yes. The narrow stile of a storefront door houses a screw-in mortise cylinder secured from the edge, and it unthreads, is repinned and screws back in like any other. What the locksmith watches is the cam: it has to suit the hook or deadbolt mechanism inside the door and sit at the correct depth, or the bolt throws short. Weather-facing cylinders showing salt wear are pointed out so you can decide on replacement.

What is an interchangeable core and why is it suggested for staff turnover?

A small-format interchangeable core is a small figure-eight cylinder that slides out of the lever, deadbolt or padlock when a control key is turned, with no tools needed; larger doors sometimes use a large-format core with a different profile instead. A manager keeps the control key in the safe and a few spare cores on hand, so a missing key means the core is swapped in moments and repinned later. For a business with frequent staff turnover, it turns a call-out into a routine.

Toronto, Ontario

Don Vale information

Town
Don Vale, Toronto, Ontario
In business
16 years
Hours
Open 24/7 · nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
Visits
On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.

What the census means at the door

58%

Older homes. About 58% of homes in Toronto were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.

In neighbourhoods of established homes, keys have often been copied many times over many owners. Rekeying every exterior door to one fresh key is the common first job, and it works on old cylinders just as well as on new ones.

23%

Single-detached houses make up about 23% of homes in Toronto (2021 Census).

Where most homes are apartments or condos, storage lockers, bike rooms and parking gates carry their own locks. A locksmith can supply and key padlocks and cam locks for those spaces so one household ring covers everything it uses.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population

Open Don Vale in Google Maps

Open 24/7

Request a visit

A break-in overnight took the cash float and a staff member's bag with her work keys inside it.

Call now · open 24/7(289) 806-2827
  • On-site assessment preferred
  • Same fees day, night or weekend
  • 16 years in business