Should I rekey or replace the locks?

Rekeying keeps your existing hardware and simply makes the lost keys stop working, which is enough in most cases. Replacement makes sense when a cylinder is worn or corroded past the point of rekeying, which is common on older exterior locks in Hollywood near the water. The locksmith will tell you which applies to each door before any work begins.

My car key was on the same ring. Can that be sorted at the same time?

Mention it when you call so the job is scheduled with that in mind. Many locksmiths in Florida cut and program transponder keys, proximity fobs and push-to-start smart keys, and they will ask for photo ID plus proof of ownership such as the title or registration.

I live in a Hollywood Beach condo. Can my mailbox and building keys be handled?

Mailbox locks and shared-entry locks can often be addressed in the same visit if they were on the lost ring. Condo associations and HOAs are widespread in Hollywood and some common-area access is management-controlled, so check with your association about what they handle themselves.

Why do I have to show identification?

The locksmith will ask for identification and proof that you are entitled to the property or vehicle before opening or rekeying anything. Standard practice in Florida is government-issued photo ID along with a lease, deed, utility bill, registration or landlord confirmation. It protects you as much as anyone.

Are locksmiths licensed in Florida?

Florida does not issue a statewide locksmith licence and has no state locksmith board. The trade is regulated at county or city level, and Broward County has historically required local locksmith registration or background checks. Rules change, so verify current requirements with the county or city consumer protection or licensing office.

Urgent

Keys lost in Hollywood, FL

You have lost your keys and you do not know where. Maybe they fell out at the beach, maybe they are somewhere in the house, maybe they are gone for good. Either way, the problem is the same: a key to your door exists and you cannot account for it. Until the locks are rekeyed, that key still works. Finding the keys later does not change that, because you will never know who held them in between.

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Hollywood makes the job a little bigger than people expect. Much of the single-family housing here dates from the 1950s through the 1970s — one-story concrete-block-and-stucco homes with an attached garage, a side door, a patio slider and often a gate. That is several exterior locks, and they were rarely all on one key to begin with. In the condo towers along Hollywood Beach and the eastern corridors, a lost ring often takes a mailbox key and a shared-entry or amenity key with it, and the association controls some of those. Salt air off the Atlantic and year-round humidity also work on exterior cylinders here, so an old lock near the water is sometimes worn or corroded enough that replacing the cylinder makes more sense than rekeying it.

While you wait — please don't

Do not assume the keys are just misplaced. If anything on the ring showed your address — a tag, a fob, a parking decal, a piece of mail in the same bag — treat the keys as being in a stranger's hands.
Do not wait because you might still find them. A key that turns up a week later does not undo the week it was gone, and rekeying is the only thing that makes the old key useless.
Do not forget the car key on the ring. Keys lost with a car key turn one job into two, so mention everything that was on the ring when you call and it can all be handled in one visit.
Do not leave a door unlocked overnight. If you cannot get in and you are waiting, stay somewhere safe rather than propping a door or window open for later.

What the technician does

Identification is checked firstBefore anything is opened, the locksmith will ask for identification and proof that you are entitled to enter the property or the vehicle. In Florida that usually means photo ID plus something tying you to the address, such as a lease, deed or utility bill, or confirmation from a property manager.
You hear the price before work startsThe locksmith looks at the doors, counts the locks and gives you the price. Nothing begins until you approve it.
The locks are rekeyedThe existing locks are rekeyed so the lost keys no longer operate them. The hardware stays on the door; the key that fits it changes.
Cylinders replaced where rekeying is not possibleSome locks are too worn or corroded to rekey, which happens to older exterior hardware near the water. In that case the cylinder is replaced instead.
Everything brought onto one keyWhere the locks allow it, every exterior door can be set to a single key — front, back, side and garage entry — so you carry one key instead of four.
New keys cut and extras addressedNew keys are cut for everyone in the household. Mailbox and shared-entry locks are dealt with too if they were on the same ring, subject to what your association or management allows.

Why this happens in Hollywood, FL

Hollywood sits right on the Atlantic, and the salt-laden onshore breeze reaches well inland. Within a mile or two of the Broadwalk and the Intracoastal, exterior deadbolts, gate hardware and keypads corrode years faster than they would further from the coast. That matters on a lost-key job because a rekey depends on the cylinder being in decent shape. If a lock on a Hollywood Beach or North Beach property has been taking salt spray for decades, the locksmith may recommend replacing it rather than rekeying, and stainless or coated hardware is worth the upgrade while you are already changing it.

Humidity plays a part too. Prolonged heat and moisture swell wood doors and frames in Florida, so a deadbolt can bind against the strike plate, and blown sand and grit after storms work their way into keyways. If a door was already stiff before you lost the keys, say so when you call. Timing is worth a mention as well: lost-key work picks up across Hollywood during the November to April snowbird season, when seasonal owners come back and open up condos and houses that sat empty, and again in late spring as people sort out the house ahead of hurricane season. Whatever neighbourhood you are in — Hollywood Lakes, Emerald Hills, Driftwood, Boulevard Heights or the beach towers — the work is the same and the estimate is free.

Questions people ask

Should I rekey or replace the locks?: Rekeying keeps your existing hardware and simply makes the lost keys stop working, which is enough in most cases. Replacement makes sense when a cylinder is worn or corroded past the point of rekeying, which is common on older exterior locks in Hollywood near the water. The locksmith will tell you which applies to each door before any work begins.
My car key was on the same ring. Can that be sorted at the same time?: Mention it when you call so the job is scheduled with that in mind. Many locksmiths in Florida cut and program transponder keys, proximity fobs and push-to-start smart keys, and they will ask for photo ID plus proof of ownership such as the title or registration.
I live in a Hollywood Beach condo. Can my mailbox and building keys be handled?: Mailbox locks and shared-entry locks can often be addressed in the same visit if they were on the lost ring. Condo associations and HOAs are widespread in Hollywood and some common-area access is management-controlled, so check with your association about what they handle themselves.
Why do I have to show identification?: The locksmith will ask for identification and proof that you are entitled to the property or vehicle before opening or rekeying anything. Standard practice in Florida is government-issued photo ID along with a lease, deed, utility bill, registration or landlord confirmation. It protects you as much as anyone.
Are locksmiths licensed in Florida?: Florida does not issue a statewide locksmith licence and has no state locksmith board. The trade is regulated at county or city level, and Broward County has historically required local locksmith registration or background checks. Rules change, so verify current requirements with the county or city consumer protection or licensing office.

One call

One call to (866) 690-5848 and we arrange the work with an independent locksmith in Hollywood — we schedule the job, we are not the locksmith ourselves. The estimate is free, and the price is given and agreed with you before any work starts.

Call now · (866) 690-5848

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