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Original poster

Do you change the locks/front door/ toilet seat when you move house?

113 replies

Aquacrab · 14/12/2024 12:27

Did you change the locks/front door/ toilet seat when you moved house?

Seems common sense to change the locks, although I hadn't actually thought about it until recently. My friend is moving and the seller they bought house from lives a short walk from the house 🤔Seller dragged their heels for ages and left the house quite untidy. They left a number of keys for the door. Friend wonders how many other copies of the key might exist.

OP posts:
Isseywith2witchycats · 14/12/2024 17:12

We didnt have any choice but to change the lock on the back door as two weeks after we moved in the mechanism inside the lock shifted and we were locked out due to security catches on the front door, so had to get a locksmith out to change the lock , its an estate house and the lady who died had lived here for years, toilet seat no as the vendor (daughter of lady ) had put a brand new one on for the sale

EmmerdaleFan78 · 14/12/2024 17:14

No but it’s a good idea. Our current house was bought off plan so all good there.

redalex261 · 14/12/2024 17:25

Locks - barrel swapped out the same day. Toilet seat - yes, changed that too. Carpets - had to go immediately. Stranger’s carpets gave me the willies. Did it in the only rental property I had (it was a long term lease). More urgent than toilet seat IMO as at least that can be taken off and really scrubbed. swapped the pan except I couldn’t justify the cost of the plumber!

I am not house proud or one of those hygiene nuts but it’s the not knowing….

SallyWD · 14/12/2024 17:27

Londonnight · 14/12/2024 16:53

I have never changed any of these. I have moved house multiple times over the last 50 years, rented, and my own home. Never even given it a thought and it has never been an issue

Me too. Has never occurred to me. This is the first time I've ever heard of anyone doing it.

2catsandhappy · 14/12/2024 18:03

Unfortunately an ex of mine was a criminal and knew like minded people.
I wondered why he questioned me, after a rental house move, about the new tenants tv, music system, gaming system etc etc.
It was only a long time later when he let slip that he knew someone who would pay £300 for a rental key that I joined up the dots.
The criminal key buyer would pay for the key and get their money back by robbing/burglary/theft of the rental and then robbing again 6 weeks later when insurance had paid for brand new goods.
Lesson learned. Change the locks on day one.

greylemons · 14/12/2024 18:51

No to the locks but changed three toilets all the carpets and redecorated. But I'm a bit crazy 🤣

Original poster
Aquacrab · 14/12/2024 19:23

2catsandhappy · 14/12/2024 18:03

Unfortunately an ex of mine was a criminal and knew like minded people.
I wondered why he questioned me, after a rental house move, about the new tenants tv, music system, gaming system etc etc.
It was only a long time later when he let slip that he knew someone who would pay £300 for a rental key that I joined up the dots.
The criminal key buyer would pay for the key and get their money back by robbing/burglary/theft of the rental and then robbing again 6 weeks later when insurance had paid for brand new goods.
Lesson learned. Change the locks on day one.

Ah, thanks for sharing this. See, it's smart to change the locks as you just never know.

OP posts:
MissMoan · 14/12/2024 19:24

I changed all the locks and the toilet seat

Bookwormmama · 14/12/2024 19:29

Absolutely would change locks, front and back. We changed our ones as soon as we moved into our current house. The owner died that lived in ours previously but I never knew how many grandkids were going about with keys to my front door.
I also changed the toilet seat cause the whole bathroom was rank and it was a wooden toilet seat. We redone the whole bathroom and got a new toilet but I changed the toilet seat anyway because it took a while to get done and we needed use of the toilet in the mean time. Not sure if I’d do it as default if I was moving into a modern bathroom/home. Ours was a doer upper.

Zov · 14/12/2024 19:40

We always change the locks. We moved into our first 'owned' property about 27-28 years ago. We'd been in there about four or five days, and were all sitting watching TV, (me, DH, and the kids.) Then three people, (two blokes and a woman) just walked in... Just let themselves in with the key.

My husband got up instantly and said 'what the bloody hell are you doing in our house?!' Confused They looked confused and said 'where's Steve and Diana?' We said 'they moved out last week. This is OUR house now. I think you better contact them!'

I was a bit confused as to why somebody who was close enough to someone to have a key to their house, didn't know they'd moved!

We got the locks changed the next day. After that, we would change the locks in every property we moved into... IMMEDIATELY!

Original poster
Aquacrab · 15/12/2024 05:53

Zov · 14/12/2024 19:40

We always change the locks. We moved into our first 'owned' property about 27-28 years ago. We'd been in there about four or five days, and were all sitting watching TV, (me, DH, and the kids.) Then three people, (two blokes and a woman) just walked in... Just let themselves in with the key.

My husband got up instantly and said 'what the bloody hell are you doing in our house?!' Confused They looked confused and said 'where's Steve and Diana?' We said 'they moved out last week. This is OUR house now. I think you better contact them!'

I was a bit confused as to why somebody who was close enough to someone to have a key to their house, didn't know they'd moved!

We got the locks changed the next day. After that, we would change the locks in every property we moved into... IMMEDIATELY!

Edited

😮

OP posts:
Original poster
Aquacrab · 15/12/2024 16:45

Thanks to everyone who replied. Safe to say it's best to change at least the locks when you move home. 👍

OP posts:
EdithStourton · 15/12/2024 17:35

I'm obviously a complete minger as it has never once occurred to me, after multiple house moves, to change a toilet seat. Just clean it properly, and replace it if it is broken.

I can see the rationale for changing the locks, but I'm not sure I'd bother even so.

ACynicalDad · 15/12/2024 17:38

The only thing I'd consider changing would be the front door and that would be largely to what I made of the previous people and how long they'd been there or if it had been let. Loo seat!!! Nah.

dynamiccactus · 15/12/2024 17:41

I didn't think to change the locks when we moved into our current house, but about six months after we moved in we changed the windows and doors, so the locks were changed then anyway.

Loo seat, no, only when it came off.

Door - yes but as part of a bigger change of windows.

Alwaystired23 · 15/12/2024 17:41

Yes, we did change the locks. We also had a new bathroom straight away as there were major problems with the old one!

Londoneye20 · 15/12/2024 17:44

Yes

Jeezitneverends · 15/12/2024 17:44

TeaMeBasil · 14/12/2024 12:42

Why would you need to change the front door itself?

our doors were 60 years old and held together with paint 😂. They got changed quite quickly.

We didn’t change the locks in the meantime as the house had been owned by the same family for 50 odd years and I kind of know them

RedRiverShore5 · 15/12/2024 17:45

No but after about 6 months we had all new doors and windows anyway, can't remember about toilet seats, it was nearly 30 years ago

HollyChristmas · 15/12/2024 17:48

Yes to all locks including outdoor side gates & sheds . And another yes to toilet seats .

emmax1980 · 15/12/2024 18:06

Council house no as they do it, private rented no as landlord does it but always change the loo seat in both

K0OLA1D · 15/12/2024 18:07

emmax1980 · 15/12/2024 18:06

Council house no as they do it, private rented no as landlord does it but always change the loo seat in both

I've rented both council (x2) and private and neither had locks changed prior to me moving in

LakieLady · 15/12/2024 18:15

I've never changed any of them. It's never even occurred to me.

I'll leave all the keys for the new owners when I (eventually) move from here. When I had the doors and windows replaced, the locks on the new doors are very high security ones and you can't just get spares cut, you have to order them from the company that makes them and quote a unique reference number. And they're bloody expensive!

MagneticSquirrel · 15/12/2024 18:31

Locks - yes that’s is done as soon as anything of any value is in the new property. Anyone could have copies of keys, previous owners, disgruntled exes (that don’t know about move), criminals!

Original poster
Aquacrab · 17/12/2024 01:23

The person they bought the place from lives a short walk from the it. Imagine if he's untrustworthy (in any way) and has kept a copy of the key. He lives minutes from the house. I mean, I hadn't really thought about it all until now. But it brings to mind the Jo Yeates case. Also, someone said he seemed nice because "he left a nice card". Umm. Virginia McCullough gave nice cards and gifts to her neighbours 😵‍💫 So, um.. yeah.

And yeah, you don't know if exes still have their keys and just didn't give them back etc. I mean, you literally don't know.

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