Moving week is a blur of boxes, utility calls and figuring out which switch runs the porch light. The front door usually gets one test (does the key turn?) and then it’s forgotten. It deserves a closer look in the first week, especially around here, where so many of the homes changing hands are either brand new or a few owners in.

1. Find out who else has a key

You got a set of keys at closing. You didn’t get a list of everyone who ever had one. Previous owners hand out copies to dog walkers, cleaners, neighbors and relatives. A new build goes through a whole crew of contractors before you ever get the keys, and there’s no way to tell by looking at a lock who’s still carrying one.

You don’t need new locks to fix that. Having the locks rekeyed means every old key stops working and you decide who gets a copy. It’s usually a lot less work than replacing hardware. Do the back door, the door from the garage into the house and any side-gate lock too. People remember the front door and forget the rest.

2. Lock it with the door open, then closed

Turn the deadbolt while the door’s open and watch the bolt go all the way out. Then close the door and lock it again. If it’s stiff, or you have to push, pull or lift the door to get it to catch, the bolt isn’t seating properly.

Our damp summers make doors swell and frames shift, and a bolt that only half engages feels locked when it isn’t doing much. It’s worth having it adjusted early, before it turns into a door you can’t lock at all, or can’t open on the morning you’re already running late.

3. Check everything else that opens

The front door gets all the attention. Walk the rest of the house:

• Sliding patio doors. Their latches are often the weakest lock on the house. A secondary bar or pin lock is a simple, common addition.
• Keypads. Reset every code. The previous owners, their family and possibly their contractors may still know them.
• Smart locks. Remove the old owner’s account from the app, not just the codes. If you can’t, have the lock reset to factory settings.
• The garage. Change the opener codes and reprogram the remotes, and make sure the door from the garage into the house locks like an exterior door, because it is one.

Before the last box is unpacked

None of this takes long, and most of it you can check in an afternoon. If a lock won’t cooperate, or you’d rather have the whole house rekeyed in one visit, a local locksmith can do it on site.

Oakline Locksmith Group is a mobile locksmith serving Summerville and the surrounding area.