What we do for businesses
For offices, shops, warehouses, rentals and other workplaces, we rekey, change and repair locks, set up master key systems, install high-security locks and open doors when you're locked out. We answer 24/7, so the work can happen at an hour when customers aren't around.
Car keys are still our main work, which helps here. If your business runs work vehicles, the same visit can cover a spare car key or a key for a vehicle with none left.
Start with a key list
Before you call, take a sheet of paper and make three columns: each door that locks, who has a key to it, and which keys you can't account for. Include inside doors people forget: the office, stockroom, cash room and equipment closet.
That list shows which doors need new keys today and whether one missing key is a small problem or a big one. It's also the first draft of any master key plan.
When a key leaves with someone
An employee quits and the key never comes back. A contractor finished months ago. You leased a space and can't guess how many keys the last tenant made. Rekeying the doors that key opened makes it useless while the hardware stays put; a home works the same way, as our page on rekeying after a move explains.
Rekeying every few months means the key plan is the problem, not the locks. That's when master keying or restricted keys earn their place.
Master key systems in plain terms
Think of keys in layers. Each person's key fits just their own doors. A manager carries one key for a whole section, and a single top key fits every door in the system. Rings get lighter, and a lost key only puts its own doors at risk.
Master keying changes the inside of every lock involved, so it's planned from your key list as one design, not bolted on a door at a time. Before we leave, each key gets tried on its own doors and on one it should be shut out of, so you can see the layers hold.
Keys a kiosk won't copy
Most everyday keys can be duplicated at a hardware store kiosk, and a do-not-copy stamp only asks politely. High-security cylinders take restricted keys. Their blanks stay off store shelves, copies come only through a controlled source, and the cylinder is made to stand up to picking and drilling.
Not every door needs one. Put them where a stray copy would hurt most, such as inventory, cash, records or tools, and name those doors on the call.
Locked out of the building
Before we open a business door, we need photo ID plus proof that you're authorized for that property. Tell us on the call what you have, and we'll say whether it works before we head out.
If anyone inside is hurt, or a child or pet is stuck in a car in your lot, call 911 before you call us. We give those calls priority.