You have learned that several people may still have keys to your parent’s house. A former helper has one. A neighbor may have one. There are probably copies in a kitchen drawer, although no one can tell you how many.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
You could call a locksmith and say, “Change the locks.” That sounds specific. It is not. The locksmith could rekey the existing cylinders, replace selected locks or replace every piece of door hardware. Those are different jobs, and the difference can drive the bill more than the number of keys you request.
Your first task is not choosing a locksmith. It is defining which doors must open, who should be able to open them and what is wrong with the hardware already there.
Start with the reason access needs to change
Write down the event that caused this call. A key was lost. A helper stopped working at the house. Your parent gave copies to people she cannot name. A lock sticks. A door cannot be secured. Emergency responders or trusted neighbors need a dependable way inside.
If the hardware works and you only need old keys to stop working, ask about rekeying. Rekeying changes the working parts inside the cylinder so the old key no longer operates it. The existing handles, deadbolts and exterior finish usually stay in place.
If a lock is damaged, badly worn, loose, missing parts or difficult for your parent to operate, rekeying may not solve the actual problem. Ask what must be replaced and why. Do not let “change the locks” become permission to replace sound hardware without a door-by-door explanation.
Count cylinders, not doors
A door can have more than one keyed cylinder. The front door may have a keyed knob and a separate deadbolt. A side door may have a deadbolt. A detached garage may have its own lock. A door with a keyhole on both sides contains two keyed cylinders even though it is one door.
Have someone local walk the outside of the house and photograph every keyhole. Include the front, back, side, basement, porch and garage doors. Ask for one wide photo showing the whole door and one close photo of each lock. Include the inside face of the hardware without showing any existing key or access code.
Send the locksmith the count and photos before requesting an estimate. A quote based only on “three doors” leaves room for the job to grow when the technician finds five or six cylinders.
Ask whether the locks can share one key
Your parent may already carry several similar keys because the locks came from different manufacturers or use incompatible key shapes. Ask whether the existing locks can be keyed alike. If they can, one key may operate the selected doors. If they cannot, the locksmith should identify which cylinders are incompatible and whether replacing only those cylinders would create the access plan you want.
Do not assume one-key convenience is automatically best. A detached garage, caregiver entrance or door used by household workers may need separate access. Decide which people should open which doors before anyone changes the hardware.
Make a simple access list: parent, family, neighbor, paid helper and emergency backup. Put a check beside each door that person should be able to open. That list tells the locksmith what the finished job must accomplish.
Separate the service call from the hardware
Ask for an estimate that separates the trip or service charge, labor for each cylinder, replacement hardware, additional keys and any charge connected to timing. An urgent evening visit can be a different job from a scheduled visit when a trusted person can meet the technician.
If the house can be secured safely until a regular appointment, schedule the work. If it cannot be secured, say exactly why when you call. You need to know whether you are buying emergency access, temporary security or a complete lock change.
Also ask what happens if the technician finds a lock that cannot be rekeyed. The estimate should explain whether work stops for your approval or whether the technician may substitute new hardware. Require a revised total before additional work begins.
Make entry part of the estimate
A locksmith cannot inspect the inside hardware if no authorized person can open the house. That can turn a planned rekeying visit into a lockout call, add waiting time or prevent the work entirely.
Name the person who will meet the technician. Confirm that this person has a working key, can show authorization if requested and can stay until every changed lock is tested. If your parent will answer the door, make sure she knows the company name, the appointment window and the name of the local person who will call if plans change.
Do not send a door photo, address and payment information to an unfamiliar number found in an advertisement without checking the business. Federal Trade Commission consumer guidance recommends verifying contact information independently, getting written estimates and resisting pressure to make an immediate decision. For a home inside St. Louis city, the city provides a business-license search. Far Away Daughter keeps its public reference trail on the Sources page.
Decide who receives the new keys
The locksmith’s work is not finished when the cylinders turn. Someone must count the new keys, label them without writing the street address on them and place each one with the intended person.
Ask how many keys are included and how additional copies will be controlled. If the key requires special duplication, ask who can make a copy later. If it can be copied almost anywhere, assume additional copies may eventually exist and keep a simple key log.
The log can be short: key number, door or group of doors, person holding it and the day it changed hands. Do not record key-cut details or access codes in a document shared broadly.
If nobody reliable can meet the locksmith, inspect the work and distribute keys, that is the part to solve locally. A person providing local help for a St. Louis parent can be your eyes at the house without becoming the permanent holder of every key.
Test the finished work before the technician leaves
Have the person at the house test every new key in every lock it is supposed to operate. Test from both sides where appropriate. Lock and unlock the door several times with the door open, then repeat with it closed. Confirm that the latch and deadbolt align without lifting, pushing or pulling the door into position.
If the door must be forced into alignment, the problem may involve the door or frame rather than the cylinder. Ask the technician to describe the problem on the invoice instead of quietly leaving your parent with a lock that is technically new but still hard to use.
Photograph the completed hardware and collect the invoice, warranty information and locksmith’s business name. Record which old keys no longer work. Do not discard an old key until the local person has confirmed that every cabinet, garage or secondary door using a similar key has been identified.
Compare estimates by outcome, not by one total
Put each estimate beside your cylinder count and access list. Check whether it covers the same doors, the same number of cylinders, the same replacement parts, the same number of keys and the same appointment conditions.
A lower estimate may exclude the deadbolt, replacement hardware or the service call. A higher estimate may include parts you did not request. Ask each locksmith to revise the estimate around one written scope so you can compare the same finished result.
The useful question is not, “How much does changing the locks cost?” It is, “What will it cost to make these old keys stop working, keep these doors usable and give access only to these people?”
What to do tonight
Write the reason access must change. Make a list of every exterior door and garage entry. Text one trusted person in St. Louis and ask for wide and close photos of every lock, inside and outside. Create the access list showing who needs which doors. Then request written estimates using the same cylinder count, photos and desired key plan.
Leave the doctor out of the lock decision. The useful information for the doctor is whether an access problem caused your parent to miss an appointment, become unable to admit expected help or lose a dependable way to leave the house. Put that consequence in your question for the medical office. Leave hardware choices, key control and locksmith estimates in the house folder.