Locksmith in Little Havana, FL: Rekeys Between Tenants, Car Keys and Lockouts

A key handed back at move-out says nothing about the copies made during the lease. Rekeying closes that gap without buying new hardware. Inside a pin tumbler cylinder, each key pin has to rise to the shear line, the gap between the plug and the housing, before the plug can turn. A rekey slides the plug out with a plug follower holding the driver pins and springs in place, swaps the key pins for a set that matches a new key, and puts the cylinder back on the same door. The old keys, and every copy of them, no longer line up. Schlage's rekeying kit carries exactly those parts: bottom pins, top pins, springs and the follower. Some residential cylinders, such as Kwikset SmartKey, are re-keyed with the working key and a tool while the lock stays mounted.

Timing matters. The rekey belongs to the turnover: after the unit is back in the owner's hands and before the next tenant receives keys. Changing locks while someone still lives in the unit is a legal question, not a lock question; Florida's landlord and tenant law, chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes, addresses locks, keys and landlord entry, so read it or ask your attorney before booking work in an occupied unit.

Which doors? Every cylinder the departing tenant's key operated: the entry knob or lever, the deadbolt above it, a back or side door, and any gate or storage padlock that came with the unit. A mailbox lock is a separate part with its own rules, covered on the North Miami Beach page. Count the cylinders before the call; the quote is built on that number.

Then decide how the owner's keys should work. Keyed alike means several cylinders answer to one key: the tenant gets a single key for the knob and the deadbolt of that unit. Master keyed means each unit has its own change key, and one master key opens all of them, which the ANSI/BHMA A156.28 recommended practices describe as a keying system. A master-keyed cylinder has two shear points at some pin positions, one for the change key and one for the master, so more keys operate it; the master therefore deserves tighter control than any tenant key. A building that already runs under a management master, as many condo towers do, is a different case explained on the Edgewater page.

One limit to know before planning: a key can only be shared by cylinders with the same keyway. A Kwikset key will not enter a Schlage cylinder, so a property with mixed brands is first brought onto one keyway, by swapping the odd cylinders, and then keyed alike or master keyed. For keys that cannot be copied at a hardware counter, see restricted keyways in the Design District.

Little Havana sits between the Miami River on the north, SW 11th Street on the south, SW 22nd Avenue on the west and I-95 on the east, with SW 8th Street (US 41) running through the middle. Many people use the name for a wider area that reaches further west and south toward Coral Way, and the van covers all of it. Addresses here carry ZIP codes 33125, 33130 and 33135, with the edges of the area in 33126 and 33128.

At an apartment building, mention any gate or intercom and the person meeting the technician; for a turnover rekey, the manager or owner opens the empty unit. At a duplex or a house divided into units, say which door belongs to which unit, because the keying plan follows that. On a commercial block, give the business name and whether the van can stop in front or behind. For a car parked at the curb, name the closest intersection and which side of the street it is on.

For a car, the place it sits changes the visit as much as the key does. In an apartment lot behind a gate, read the gate code to the dispatcher or say who will open it for the van. In a garage under a building, give the parking level and the space number and say whether the ceiling is low, since the technician works beside the car. A work van or pickup parked behind a business can be keyed in the lot during or after business hours.

The same dispatch reaches Brickell and Downtown Miami to the east, and Coral Gables as well; the main Miami locksmith page lists the rest of the county.