It is not a good idea to install Kwikset Smartkey locks on your doors
Category : Locksmith
The Good
So you want to install Kwikset Smartkey on your doors, or you just did and have waited until now to do some research on them. Surely these locks can’t be all bad, right? Of course not, they do have their good points.
- They are easy to be re-keyed by the owner as long as they have a working key.
- These locks are also very resistant to lock picking and bumping techniques.
The Bad
Now let’s talk about why it is not a good idea to install Kwikset Smartkey locks on your doors. First of all, these locks tend to fail under normal usage, even within the first year many times. People have reported that they left their home and locked it up as normal, only to come back and find that their key no longer operates the door that it locked just hours earlier.
Here is an article that has a focus on all of the ways the well known Marc Tobias has found to defeat the Kwikset Smartkey. The one thing that the article does not seem to mention (newer versions weren’t out yet) is that these locks have gone through different versions, as many things do. While Kwikset did address a few of the issues, they didn’t really solve the problems altogether. They made the wafers thicker, the older version has thinner wafers that are easier to defeat.
These locks have also had plastic in them, yes plastic. Locks and plastic really do not have any place together in my opinion. Since then, in most if not all, the newer versions use a weak pot metal which replaced the plastic. While they have made these changes and a few others, they still fail. In my opinion, they are not the Grade 1 locks they claim to be. Think about this before you install Kwikset Smartkey on or in your home.
Bad News for Property Managers
Property managers new and old seem to love the idea, what property manager wouldn’t. The idea that they could save money having to re-key locks between tenants is great. However, if the lock fails on the tenant, or the tenant re-keys the lock, this would present even more issues. These locks do not have the ability to be master keyed, so this limits their application even further.
These locks plague The Villages!!
If you live in The Villages, please read this and click on the links and read/watch the articles and videos. These locks are not safe. Do yourself a favor and even do some independent research. You will find that, even in their popularity in the big box stores, they are not as secure as advertised. From my personal experience, the majority of homes in The Villages have these locks on their doors. The homes that I have visited that did not have them were changed because they were looking for a new style, or the Kwikset Smartkey failed at some point.
The Villages are obviously not the only community that has these locks. If your lock looks similar to the ones pictured above or has that small slot next to the key-way, please call DNA Locksmith or any locksmith for that matter. Just please change these locks before you find yourself locked out with what you thought was a working key in your hand.
The Truth
All of this said, it is not guaranteed that every lock will fail within the first year or at all. What I am saying, is that these locks are very vulnerable to many forms of attacks. These types of attacks are the type that takes even the most unintelligent of criminals only moments to master.
In Closing
If you find yourself locked out, and you have this type of lock, usually the entry will have to be destructive. The lock will not be reusable. If you happen to have a way to access the home by other means, we may be able to reset the lock. However, we will be unable to guarantee that the problem will not happen again. If you live in Lake County, FL or any of these cities: Lady Lake, The Villages, Fruitland Park, Summerfield, Weirsdale, Leesburg, Mt. Dora, Eustis, and surrounding areas, feel free to contact us about these locks.