Recently, I discovered that someone I had entrusted with a key to my home was taking advantage of their access and snooping around my personal items (NOT OK!) so I had to change my locks immediately. I had actually never tried to change a lock myself before but was feeling violated enough to try it right away. Turns out, it’s a pretty easy process!

The first and most important thing, in my opinion, is choosing a lock. Don’t cheap out! This lock is going to keep your belongings secure and you and the people you love SAFE inside. You want a doorknob with a lock that is not bumpable and is hard to pick. I chose this set from Kwikset Smartkey. 

Aside from the safety features (including coming with longer screws to make sure the plate is really secured into your home’s frame instead of just the flimsy out door framing, making it hard to kick in), this series of locks let you rekey the locks when needed. This means that next time something happens that requires me to change the locks, I don’t have to buy anything knew. I can change the lock with just the original key and a tool that came with the locks. Since my set for the front door and the garage door come from two different lock codes, I already have a back up set of keys I can use if this happens. This is a huge money (and time) saver!

I found the knobs and deadbolt to be really simple to change out all by myself. It took less than 10 minutes to change the knob, which was great because I wanted that new lock on at least the handle before I left for work that morning. I felt so much better knowing my home was secure while I was gone!

For detailed instructions on how to change a lock by installing the doorknob and deadbolt, please watch my video below. It’s filled with all kinds of very non-technical jargon so you don’t need to be some kind of construction expert to get the job done.