How to Change a Door Lock in 7 Steps

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Have you just moved, or lost your keys? Swapping out a door lock—and making sure that strangers don’t have access to your home—is a task that you can easily do yourself.

Studies have shown that in 34 percent of home burglaries, criminals enter through the main, or front, door. It’s sometimes a crime of convenience because residents fail to lock their doors during the day, but having a secure home requires effective working locks. Aside from the fact that the many moving parts in a door lock can wear out, events can happen that require a door lock replacement.

Any homeowner can learn how to change a door lock when necessary, and the skill can be especially important for those who own rental properties. Read on for more tips on when to change door lock hardware and the steps involved in door lock installation.

When should you change your door locks?

Knowing how to replace a door lock is an excellent DIY skill, especially for anyone who moves often or is a landlord. Here are some common reasons why you should change your door locks or at least rekey them.

• Your current lock is damaged. Like all mechanisms with moving parts, a lock eventually wears out from pushing in the wrong key or just over time from repetitive locking and unlocking. If the internal mechanism is damaged, it will result in a key that sticks or is difficult to turn.
• You’ve bought a new-construction home. The owners of a recently constructed house should have the lock rekeyed because a number of contractors and sales people have had access to the house. This is typically the builder’s responsibility, though the buyer’s real estate agent should ensure it is complete before closing.
• You’ve bought a home from someone else. Rekeying is a good idea any time you move into a new house because of uncertainty over how many keys are floating around. The buyers usually are on the hook for arranging and paying for rekeying in this instance.
• After house keys have been stolen. One of the first orders of business is changing the locks on your doors if a key goes missing or is known to have been stolen, so no one can gain access to your home. Rekeying is the least expensive method, but you will need to replace the entire lock if the only key to it goes missing.
• To add the convenience of a single key. Having a single key that fits all the doors on the house (including the garage) is a convenience you can create by rekeying—as long as you have the same brand of locks on all the doors. If the locks are of various brands, you’ll need to replace some of them so that all can accept the same key.
• After a break-in. After someone breaks into a home or if security concerns go up because of a rash of burglaries in the neighborhood, many homeowners upgrade to more secure locks. More modern door locks offer cutting-edge technology that both improves and simplifies home security.