Rekeying the locks to your home seems like such an inconvenience, but you have to understand that this is an integral security enhancement measure. You should avoid any security risk to your family by doing all that is necessary to impede intruders from gaining access to your home. In order for the rekeying process to be done masterfully, you need the assistance of the local locksmith. If you reside within the Austin area, you should look for an Austin locksmith who works the closest to your home. The following are some of the scenarios in which you should be inclined to rekey your locks with the assistance of a professional locksmith.
- When you have misplaced your keys
If for some reason you cannot find your keys, and you have searched for them everywhere, then it is prudent to rekey your locks. Do not assume that everything will be fine because you have an extra set of copies of the keys. You never know who might have picked up your keys when you misplaced them. In addition, if you live with several other individuals and they all have a copy of the keys then it is wise to monitor these copies to know where they are all the time. This will reduce the chances of the copies getting into the wrong hands.
- It has been five years
Most people do not know this, but experts recommend that you rekey the locks to your home after every five years. In a span of five years, you or members of your family would have lost several keys, and had them copied. In addition, you may have given a copy of your keys to the house staff, and maybe some of them are no longer under your employment. You can easily forget how many copies you have made over the years, and this is why it is essential to rekey the locks after five years.
- When you move in
Despite the plethora of excitement that surrounds the process of moving into a new home, your family’s security should be your top priority. The first security measure you should undertake when you move into a new home is to rekey the locks. This is important, as you do not know how many people, including the previous tenants, have copies to the keys of the lock. Rekeying the locks immediately you move in will ensure that unwelcome guests do not have access to your new abode.
- There has been a break-in
If you have been a victim of burglary in the past, then you should not hesitate to rekey all of your locks. The burglar might have gained access to your home through a key you or one of your family members had misplaced earlier. You should also rekey your locks even if the burglar used a window to enter your home. Time is precious in such a situation, and you should not hesitate to call a locksmith immediately. Most locksmiths provide emergency services meaning you do not have to wait until morning to rekey the locks.