Pace Locksmith Pro

The builder handover: what you are actually inheriting

Pace has been absorbing new subdivisions for years, and the single most useful thing a new homeowner here can understand is what happened to their locks before they got the keys.

A house under construction has to be accessible to a long line of people. Framers, roofers, electricians, plumbers, drywall crews, painters, flooring installers, the cabinet fitters, the appliance delivery, the inspector, the cleaning crew, the landscaper, the agent showing the finished house, and the builder's own superintendent. Some of that access is managed with a lockbox on the front door. Some of it is managed by simply handing out keys. By the time a house closes, the number of keys that were cut for it is genuinely unknown, and there is no dishonesty involved — that is just how a build works.

Some builders use construction keying, where the lock accepts a temporary contractor key until the homeowner inserts a special key that permanently retires it. Where that has been done properly, inserting the homeowner key at closing is what disables the construction key, and it only works if somebody actually does it. Plenty of houses are handed over with the construction key still live because nobody performed that step, and plenty of others were never on a construction system at all. Neither situation is visible from looking at the door.

Which is why the recommendation for a new build in Pace is the same as for a resale: rekey at closing. Not because anybody did anything wrong, but because it is the only way to move from "probably fine" to "these are the only keys that work."

Builder-grade hardware, and when it is worth changing

The locks that come on a new house are chosen by the builder on cost, and they are usually the entry tier of a well-known brand. That is not automatically bad hardware, but it is worth knowing what you have and what the honest upgrade path looks like.

Residential locks are graded, and the grade describes durability under cycle testing rather than resistance to any particular attack. The entry tier is built to a price: lighter internal components, thinner strike plates, shorter screws, and a bolt that projects the minimum. The next tier up uses heavier internals and holds its adjustment far longer, which on a door used many times a day is the difference between hardware that lasts and hardware that starts sticking within a few years.

Before spending anything on the lock itself, spend nothing on the two improvements that matter most. First, the strike plate screws. Builders almost universally fit short screws that bite only into the thin trim of the door jamb, so the strike is anchored to a piece of moulding rather than to the framing behind it. Replacing them with long screws that reach the structural stud is the cheapest meaningful improvement available on any door in the house, and it takes minutes. Second, the hinge screws on the top hinge — same principle, and it also stops the door sagging, which is what puts the deadbolt off-centre later.

After that, look at bolt throw. A deadbolt should extend a full inch into the frame. Some builder-grade bolts and, more often, misaligned strikes mean the bolt is only partially entering. Throw the bolt with the door open, look at how far it projects, then close the door and feel whether it goes the same distance. Any difference is alignment.

Where changing the hardware genuinely earns its cost is on the doors nobody looks at: the garage-to-house door, which is frequently fitted with the cheapest lockset in the house and is the door that most often gets left unlocked, and the rear or side door that faces a fence line rather than the street.

Rekeying a new build, in practical terms

Rekeying means the cylinder is removed, the existing pin stack is taken out, a new combination of pin heights is fitted, and a new key is cut to match. The lock stays on the door. The finish still matches the rest of the house. Every key ever cut for that lock — construction keys, builder keys, agent keys, whatever went home in a contractor's pocket — stops working.

Do the whole envelope in one visit, because a new build has more exterior doors than people count. The front door. The rear door or slider. The garage service door on the side of the house. The door between the garage and the house, which is technically interior but is the one an open garage makes exterior. Any gate with a keyed lock. And the mailbox, which on many Pace subdivisions is a shared cluster box owned by the postal service rather than by you — worth establishing before the visit rather than during it.

Have every lock keyed alike while it is being done. A new house with four different keys on the ring is a nuisance that never gets fixed later, and having them match costs nothing extra at the moment the pins are already out.

If a slider is part of the house, check it separately. The factory latch on a patio slider is typically a light hook engaging soft aluminium, and it is not a lock in any meaningful sense. A secondary bar or a keyed pin through the frame is the usual addition, and it is worth doing on the day rather than adding to a list.

Smart locks on a new house

New construction is where keypad and connected deadbolts most often get fitted, and there are a few things worth knowing before choosing one.

The mechanical part still matters. A smart deadbolt is a motor and a circuit board attached to an ordinary deadbolt, and the deadbolt underneath it comes in the same grades as any other. The electronics do not compensate for a light bolt in a badly anchored strike.

Alignment is more critical than on a mechanical lock, not less. A person can shove a sticking door and force a manual bolt over; a small motor cannot. So a door that swells with Florida humidity, or drops slightly on its hinges in the first year as the house settles — which new houses do — will stall the motor and produce an error that gets blamed on the lock. New builds are especially prone to this in their first two seasons. The check is always the same: throw the bolt with the door standing open. Smooth open and struggling closed means the door and the strike need attention, not the electronics.

Batteries fail in a way that mimics a lock fault. As voltage drops, the keypad still lights and still beeps and still accepts your code, but the motor no longer has the current to drive the bolt against any friction. It reads as "the code stopped working." Change batteries on a schedule and write the date inside the cover.

Finally, manage the codes. Give the cleaner, the lawn service and the contractor their own codes rather than sharing one, so revoking access does not mean re-issuing to everybody. Change the factory programming code at installation. And know where the mechanical override is, because working that out during a lockout is the expensive way to learn.

What settling does to a new house

The complaint we hear from Pace homeowners in year one and year two is that a door that worked perfectly at closing has started sticking, or that the deadbolt now needs the door pulled toward you. That is normal and it is not a defect in the lock. A new house dries out and moves; framing shrinks slightly, doors settle on their hinges, and a slab that fit its frame in the first winter binds in the first full summer of humidity.

Work through it in order. Throw the bolt with the door open to confirm the lock itself is sound. Check the hinge screws, particularly the top hinge, and replace short ones with long screws that reach framing — that alone lifts most sagging doors back into place. Then look at where the bolt is actually striking, and adjust or re-mortise the strike to match. Only after all that is the hardware itself a suspect.

The same seasonal movement is why a door that only sticks in August is a humidity problem and one that sticks year-round is a hinge or frame problem. Telling us which it is on the phone saves time on the visit.

What to have ready when you call

For a new-build rekey: your closing date or proof of ownership, a count of every exterior door including the garage service door and the door from the garage into the house, whether you want everything keyed alike, how many keys you need, and whether there are gates or a mailbox that belongs to you. For a lockout: the address including the subdivision, because several developments here have similar street naming, and whether the door has a keyed knob, a deadbolt, or both. For a smart lock problem: whether the keypad lights up, whether it beeps when the code is accepted, and whether the motor makes any noise at all — that single detail separates a battery problem from a mechanical one. And if a key snapped off in a lock, leave the piece in place and say so.

More straight answers

My house is brand new. Do I really need it rekeyed?

Yes, and for a reason that has nothing to do with trust. A build hands out access to a lot of trades over many months, and nobody keeps a register of it. Rekeying is the only way to know that the keys in your hand are the only ones that work.

What is construction keying and did my builder use it?

It is a system where the lock accepts a temporary contractor key until the homeowner's key is inserted, which permanently retires it. Some builders use it, some do not, and where it is used the retiring step frequently never gets performed. You cannot tell from the outside of the door, which is why rekeying is the reliable answer either way.

Should I replace the builder's locks or just rekey them?

Rekey first; that is the security question. Replacement is a durability and hardware-grade question, and it is best spent on the doors that see the most use and the least attention — the garage-to-house door and any door facing a fence line rather than the street. Before either, fit long strike and hinge screws.

My deadbolt has started needing the door pulled toward me.

The house has settled or the slab has swollen. Throw the bolt with the door open: if it moves freely, the lock is fine and the fix is at the hinges and the strike.

Can you key my new house so one key opens everything?

Yes, and the moment to do it is at the rekey, when the cylinders are already apart. Include the garage service door and any gates in the count.

Are you licensed and insured?

Pace Locksmith Pro is a licensed and insured locksmith company operating in Florida. Proof of ownership or authorised occupancy is required before any door is opened or any lock is changed.