Change locks?

[Oregano20]

Hi everyone. We are FTB, hopefully will get the key next month, everything's on track, touch wood.

Can I ask, is it common practice to change the locks once you've moved in? I'm buying off a nice older lady in a nice looking area so I've no reason to be suspicious, I just don't know if that what people do? Thanks

Yes. Definitely.

We've never done this, I think I'd only do it if the sellers seemed iffy during the process.

It’s common to do so because the former owner could have given keys to their neighbours/trades over the years. It’s not actually that big a job for most locks, you can swap out the drum generally quite easily. The new drum will normally come with a set of nice new keys too.

Of course! Why would you not properly secure your home?

You have no idea how many people have had copies of the key(s). Securing your home is not a slight against the previous owner/occupier.

This really surprises me as I’ve never done it nor has anyone I know of (to my knowledge!)

Do it if it worries you, personally I never have.

Yes do it. If it's a modern door it will be a euro barrel. Open the door, remove one screw and slide the barrel out. Lock must be unlocked. They come in standard sizes. Measure from the cam to the end of the barrel on each side.

yes, always.
you don't know how many keys are in circulation.

we bought our house from a family of 6 adults and only got 2 sets of keys on completion. no way did we get all keys.

your seller might have relatives with keys, a cleaner, a neighbour, a carer. you just wouldn't know.

I did but only because as part of the contract there were meant to be 3 sets of keys and only 1 was handed into the estate agent and no others in the house.

The seller was dodgy as hell and and nightmare all the way through, took her 3 weeks to hand the extra keys in bunch of random had them. I was very glad I changed them!

Even if it's a wooden door, swapping a 5 lever mortice for another one is a really easy task.

It's not like you have to call out a locksmith and make some big dramatic scene of it.

Those that didn't bother, have you checked you haven't invalidated your home insurance?

I didn’t, but then I was changing the whole door three days later! It was rented for a year before I moved in, and I got one set of keys

It’s a really easy job, I’d highly recommend you do it. www.avocet-hardware.co.uk/product-category/cylinders/3-star/

You can also buy a pair of cylinders so your front and back doors are on the same key. It makes life so much easier! If you work out how much you’re spend getting extra keys cut, that takes some of the cost out of it anyway.

Even if you get given all the keys back, doesn't mean extra copies weren't taken that they don't know about (it takes all of a few minutes to get an extra key cut) by any of the people who had keys or that one wasn't forgotten about.

Change it on the day of completion. Don't wait till you move in.

Also garage, shed, side gate, back door.

If you have any chance of photographing the keys, and the locks especially (on mortice locks) the fore-end that is seen on the edge of the door, and the text and numbers stamped on it, you can buy them in advance. It is an easy DIY job if you know which end of a screwdriver to hold, but old models may take time to find a replacement of identical dimensions.

The front door, if wooden, needs a British Standard deadlock.

Oh, on the home insurance front there is also the question of whether the existing locks meet the standard required by your insurer. British Standard 3621:2004

Yes, whilst your seller may be nice you don’t know how many people have been given those keys in the past and how safely they were stored - neighbours, friends, ex-partners, cleaners, tradespeople, family members maybe even the previous sellers.

Hmm I'd say that was about 70/30 for changing the locks.

Okie dokie....now you say it's easy..is it easy for a pair of total DIY newbs who don't yet own an electric drill?

Always!

We moved in Dec, £120 for the locksmith to come and replace front and back locks and provide 2 lots of keys for each.

After spending 100000s on the property, £120 to secure it seems very reasonable!

You don’t need an electric drill it’s only held in place by one screw. You are only changing the barrel of the lock not the casing or actually moving lock part. Do yourself for £40 or pay a locksmith to put on same lock for £90 if you are nervous. Either way worth it for peace of mind and no worries about an old lock getting stuck or a key breaking.

@Oregano20

Hmm I'd say that was about 70/30 for changing the locks.

Okie dokie....now you say it's easy..is it easy for a pair of total DIY newbs who don't yet own an electric drill?

Start by buying a good set of screwdrivers.

You need Pozi, not Phillips, unless you are in America or own a 1960's car, and flat tip. Throw the PH away or you will be tempted to use them to damage screws.

www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-12-Piece-Screwdriver-Set/p/149046

We've never changed the locks.

Although generally we're pretty chilled on risk

I had a seized barrel changed last month. Couldn't do it myself as the screw was also damaged. Locksmith charged £30. I thought that was quite reasonable. It was a 10 minute job.

Thank you for the recommendations, and the links to the screw drivers.

Will definitely be changing them

Thoughts on toilet seats?

We have, I would also mention in addition to security, we found that the handles and gearboxes on the doors were failing after so long. The locks were over 20 yrs old and the new ones are obviously miles better/secure.