The doorway
Before You Rekey the House, Price the Whole Key Circle
The cost is shaped by every door, every key holder, and every change in who helps Mom at dusk.
Mom is at the front door with her coat on. She says she needs to go home.
You may look at the key in her hand and think the answer is new locks. Pause there. A different lock can change who gets in, but it does not answer why Mom is leaving, who will respond, or how everyone will get out safely.
Start with the moment in front of you. Stay with her. Ask where she needs to go or who she expects to meet. Offer one calm next step away from the doorway, such as checking the kitchen together or sitting down with her coat nearby. Trying to prove that she is already home can deepen the disagreement. The behavior guidance behind this approach is collected on the Sources page.
Find out what you are paying to change
Walk every outside door in daylight. Include the front door, back door, garage entry, basement walkout, porch door, and any gate that uses a key. For each one, write down who uses it, whether it can be opened from inside without a key, and whether Mom tries it at dusk.
Then ask the locksmith to separate the quote by door. You want to see the cost of changing the key that operates an existing lock, replacing the whole lock, repairing a door that does not close properly, and making the keys your household actually needs. Those are different jobs. A single total does not show which part is driving the cost.
Do not add a door merely because it exists. If Mom never approaches the basement walkout and nobody uses it for ordinary entry, ask what problem a change there would solve. If the garage entry is the doorway she chooses every evening, make sure it is not buried inside a whole-house estimate.
Count people before you count keys
Make a key list before accepting the quote. Include you, anyone who lives with Mom, nearby relatives, regular helpers, the person covering the night, and the person who could enter if the usual helper cannot come.
Beside each name, write one of three things: carries a key, receives temporary entry, or calls someone who can open the door. This exposes a common hidden cost. A low quote for the locks may leave you arranging copies, collecting old keys, or paying to change access again when helpers change.
Ask whether all included doors will use one key or different keys. One key is simpler to hand off and recover. Different keys can limit access, but they also create more labeling, more copies, and more chances for the wrong key to be in the wrong pocket at dusk. Choose the arrangement your household can manage on an ordinary tired evening.
Keep emergency exit separate from key control
A plan for Mom trying to leave must not create a door that other people cannot open during an emergency. Federal fire-safety guidance emphasizes having usable ways out and practicing how everyone will leave. See the government and major-nonprofit references listed on the Sources page.
Ask the person doing the work to show you, at every changed door, how it opens from inside, what happens if the power is out, and whether a key is needed to get out. Test it yourself. Then have every regular helper test it. If the explanation depends on remembering a trick in smoke, darkness, or confusion, stop and choose a simpler arrangement.
Also decide how emergency responders could enter if nobody inside can open the door. Do not assume that the spare key under discussion solves that problem. Write the entry plan beside the household emergency contacts.
Price the next handoff now
Ask what happens when a key is lost, a helper stops coming, or you need another authorized person to enter. You are not predicting trouble. You are finding out whether the system can change without replacing more than necessary.
Put these questions on the quote:
Which doors are included? What work is being done to each door? How many working keys are included? Can additional keys be made without changing the locks? Who is allowed to request them? What must be changed if a key cannot be recovered? Is door adjustment included if a door will not latch reliably? Who checks that every changed door still opens safely from inside?
Keep the answers with a simple key record. Record the door, the person holding the key, the date it was handed over, and whether it came back. Do not label a spare with Mom's address.
Know what the lock cannot do
Rekeying may help you control copies, but it does not provide supervision. It does not tell you that Mom is standing at the doorway, and it does not make it safe for her to be alone if she cannot reliably recognize danger or find her way back. Wandering can happen at any stage of dementia, according to the major nonprofit guidance collected on the Sources page.
If Mom is repeatedly trying doors, leaving without telling anyone, or becoming unable to return on her own, review the larger dusk plan rather than adding one more piece of hardware. The Start Here guide puts the doorway, the house, a missing-person response, and the night in a useful order.
The right quote is not necessarily the one that changes the most locks. It is the one that names the doorway Mom actually uses, keeps every exit usable, accounts for every person who needs entry, and tells you what the next access change will require.