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Yes, for most vehicles a mobile locksmith is worth it over the dealer for a replacement key — usually less expensive, same-day rather than days or weeks, and done at your vehicle instead of a tow. The dealer is worth the extra cost mainly for very new models whose immobiliser software is not yet available…

A master key system is worth it once you are managing access for more than a handful of people who each need different doors — a small landlord with 3 or more units, an office with staff and a manager, a storage facility. Below that scale, keyed alike or standard individual keys are usually simpler…

A DIY rekey kit works if your lock brand matches the kit exactly, you have the right key gauge, and nothing goes wrong on the first attempt — drop one spring and the lock is out of action until it is fixed. A professional rekey costs more but includes matching pins for any brand, keyed…

If you have lost a house key and cannot find it, rekey the affected door as soon as you reasonably can — not because losing a key is rare, but because you cannot know where it ended up. A lost key with your address on a tag or a fob is a worse version of…

A lock that feels loose is usually loose fixings, a worn spindle or chassis, or a door that has swollen and pulled the hardware out of line. Of the three, only one is a five-minute fix with a screwdriver. The other two mean the hardware is at the end of its life — and unlike…

Rekeying solves exactly one problem: it stops old keys working. It does not make the door harder to kick, and most break-ins are not key-based. If you want the door to be genuinely harder to get through, the strike plate and frame matter far more than the cylinder, and they cost about thirty dollars. People…