Did you change the locks when you bought your house?

[AreWeHavingFunYet]

We have just bought a new house.

A few people have suggested to me that we should change the locks as it is impossible to tell who has extra keys that haven't been passed on.

However it is another expense and I'm not sure if it's worth it.

Is it normal to change the locks when you move?

that is the removable key for mortice bolts. It is common to have them at the top and bottom of all external doors except your final exit door. This is because the is only a keyhole on the inside of the door, so there is no way you can lock or unlock it when you are outside.

On your back door, it supplements the mortice lock, and will probably be specified in your insurance requirements.

A mortice bolt is stronger than any common household door bolt that is screwed to the surface of the door. It is quite easy to fit.

The key is not a secure one, the idea is that you take the key out (and hide it) after locking the bolt, so anyone smashing a window can't just turn the keys and open the door. You do not need to change the mortice bolts when you move house, because they all have a standard key. You should however change the mortice deadlock which is also fitted to the door.

We recently moved into a new house and couldn't find the burglar alarm code they said they'd left for us. Also try 1966 and 1066! My friend set off the smoke alarm testing it, not realising it was linked to the security system, and in a panic with klaxons blazing and lights flashing I guessed a few and, as teh woman was from Hastings, tried 1066 and lo and behold it shut it up!

When we found the document hers was indeed 1066 and the husband's was 1966.

We changed the alarm codes but not the keys ....

p.s. If Homebase charge £8.19 for one of those keys they are ripping you off.

yes, first thing we did!

TBH IMO it doesn't matter if you knew/liked the previous owners, they might be lovely solid people but what about the neighbour that fed the cats or the nanny or cleaner or friend who stayed on the sofa for a while and never gave the key back...

We've lost about 3 keys since moving here, and someone else in our family has a key. We wouldn't rob the next owners but we also can't account for every key after having lived her for a number of years

Thanks PigletJohn

The keyholes are on the outside of the door so you can lock it with these long keys top and bottom (as well as the main lock) when you leave. Is that wrong?

for example

PigletJohn we are definitely not needing to buy any more keys for these locks but good to know homebase is a rip off
We must have received over 50 keys - and there are only four doors

yes, there should not be a keyhole on the outside of the door, since, using the standard key, a burglar can open them from outside. Maybe the previous owners used them to stop small children getting out, or maybe they were stupid.

or maybe they were stupid

I will get them swapped for something that is actually going to help. Thanks

I know I go on about plastic doors and Eurocylinders but I thought I'd post this and this

Old thread but found this changing locks article recently when deciding myself

Keep the locks (and keys) that you remove. We pass them about within the family when we move...waste not.

Yes. My friend didn't and had been getting mail for the old owners that they had kept. The old owners messaged my friend to say they had been in the area so had let themselves into the house to get the mail.

I'd never even thought about it until I bought what had been a student house. Heaven knows how many keys were lurking around on that one! My DF just changed the barrel of the locks for me rather than the whole thing.

In my current house we didn't change the locks, but we did change the alarm code! All the external doors have subsequently been changed anyway.

Argh, zombie