New Homeowner Locksmith Checklist — In Priority Order
The security jobs worth doing in a new house, in order of what they actually buy you: rekey every exterior cylinder, put three-inch screws through the strikes into the studs, check the garage-to-house door, then deal with sliding doors and outbuildings. Most of this is one visit and a screwdriver, not a renovation.
There is a version of this list on every home improvement site and most of it is padding — change the batteries, buy a safe, consider a camera. Fine advice. Not the first thing.
This is the order we would do it in, with the reasoning, and the parts you can do yourself marked as such.
1. Rekey every exterior cylinder
First, because it is the only item on this list that addresses a risk you cannot see. Keys that exist somewhere are the one thing a home inspection does not cover.
Every exterior door, not just the front. Ask for keyed alike while somebody is there — one key for the lot costs very little extra during a rekey. Full reasoning in should I rekey after buying a house.
2. Three-inch screws through every strike plate
Do it yourself. Around thirty dollars of parts and an afternoon.
Builder-fitted strike plates use short screws that stop in the door jamb, which is thin trim. A boot takes that out. Three-inch screws reach past the jamb into the actual wall stud, and a reinforcement plate spreads the load across the frame.
We keep saying this because it is true and it costs us work: this does more for your security than any lock upgrade at any price. Forced entry defeats the frame, not the cylinder.
3. The garage-to-house door
Go and look at it now. It is almost certainly the cheapest lock in the building, often a privacy handle with no deadbolt at all, because builders fit to price and nobody views a house through that door.
It is also behind a garage door that plenty of people leave open while they are in the garden. Fit a proper deadbolt there and it stops being the soft spot.
4. Sliding and patio doors
Different problem, different fix. The latch on most sliders is a hook that a determined person defeats quickly, and the bigger risk is lifting the panel out of its track.
A bar or dowel in the track stops the slide. Anti-lift screws in the top channel stop the lift. Both are cheap and neither needs us.
5. Outbuildings, gates and the mailbox
Sheds and gates because that is where ladders and tools live, and a ladder is how a first-floor window becomes an entry point. The mailbox because post is how identity theft starts.
The Kenner additions
Two things that are not on generic checklists and matter here.
Turn every key before you book anything. If a lock feels gritty or needs the door lifted, say so. Salt off the lake corrodes cylinder internals invisibly, and paying to rekey a lock that is about to seize is money gone. More in why locks fail faster in Louisiana humidity.
Ask whether the house has flooded. Silt gets into cylinders and sometimes never comes out. It is also worth knowing for reasons well beyond the locks.
What we would skip on day one
Smart locks, unless you specifically want codes for cleaners or family. They are a convenience upgrade, not a security one, and on an exposed door here the weather sealing matters more than anything on the box. Smart lock vs deadbolt covers it.
High-security cylinders too, at this stage. Medeco and Mul-T-Lock are excellent and they are wasted on a door whose strike is held by half-inch screws. Fix the frame first, then upgrade the cylinder if you still want to.
The whole list, in order
| Job | DIY? | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Rekey exterior cylinders | No | Do first |
| Three-inch screws + reinforcement plates | Yes | Do first |
| Deadbolt on garage-to-house door | Maybe | High |
| Slider bar and anti-lift screws | Yes | High |
| Shed, gate and mailbox locks | Yes | Medium |
| Upgrade Grade 3 hardware to Grade 2 | No | When budget allows |
| Smart lock | Maybe | Only if you want codes |
| High-security cylinders | No | After the frame work |
If you want one visit to cover it
Tell us how many exterior doors, whether there is a garage door into the house, and whether you want everything on one key. We will tell you what is worth doing on the day and what you can handle yourself with a screwdriver — including the items above where the honest answer is that you do not need us. Ranges are on the prices page, and grades are explained in lock grades explained.