We rekey units between tenants, set up master keys for maintenance staff, and work on shared doors and mailbox locks for apartment buildings and rentals around Milwaukee.
Turnover pricing: Rekeying usually runs $20–$40 for each cylinder, and each visit adds a service call. Most units have one or two cylinders on the entry door, so it pays to line up several units for the same visit.
Keys don't always come back at move-out, and the ones that do may have been copied. Rekeying or replacing the entry lock and deadbolt between tenants is how you make sure keys copied by the last tenant stop working. If the building runs on a master key system, the unit can be rekeyed to a new change key while the master keeps working.
Leave the old keys and a unit list at the office, and the rekeys can go door to door.
A master key system lets your maintenance tech open every unit with one key while each tenant's key opens only their door. Keep track of who holds a master. Losing one means rekeying every unit it opens.
Front entry doors, laundry rooms, storage cages and back exits take a lot of use. A front door that drifts shut without latching leaves the building open, and a closer adjustment often fixes it. Rear exits with push bars have their own rules about how they can be locked, which we go through on our panic bar and door closer page.
If the building owns its mailboxes, the tenant compartment locks can be replaced at turnover. If the Postal Service owns the mailbox unit, ask the local post office to change the tenant lock. Either way, the carrier's lock that opens the whole panel belongs to the Postal Service, so leave it alone.
When a tenant is locked out, we need to confirm the person lives in the unit. A call from the manager or a photo ID with the unit address settles it fastest. If your office would rather handle all tenant lockouts itself, say so up front.
A single-family rental is a simpler job, priced on our rekey and lock change page, and our tenant-turnover rekey article helps if you are planning a yearly schedule.
Rekeying between tenants is the usual way to make sure keys from the last tenant stop working. Replacing the lock does the same job at a higher cost. Check your lease and local rules for what is required where the property sits.
Count the keyed cylinders on the unit door, which is usually a knob or lever plus a deadbolt. Each one usually runs $20 to $40 to rekey, plus a service call.
Yes. The maintenance master opens every unit, and each tenant's key opens only their own door. Rekeying a unit at turnover doesn't change the master.
