I'll never buy a Kwikset deadbolt!

[Mark F.]

Long story short, I got locked out of my apartment for over 2 hours last night. The 6 month old Kwikset deadbolt wouldn't turn all the way. While waiting outside I googled some stuff and came up with people saying they were junk. When the 3rd locksmith I called showed up, he said these were junk and he's always responding to lockouts for these. He recommended Schlage locks. I close on my first duplex in a month and I'm going to look into changing them if they happen to be Kwikset locks. Anyone else have issues with these things? Turned a crappy situation last night into a learning experience.

[Eric X.]

Kwikset is better than most store brands.  I have kwikset and even crappier brands like gatehouse and defiant on all of my rentals and very few have issues.  You probably just got a lemon. 

The elitists will tell you schlage is the bare minimum.  

[Marc Winter]

We use Kwikset and Defiant on all our lock changes.  Never had a problem with either, although the Defiant is a bit more pick-resistant, and harder to drill out as well.  

One product we stay away from is the Kwikset "Landlord" locks--the ones that you can re-key on the fly.  Very easily defeated, and any tenant with the little fob key can change the key and you'll be locked out yourself!

[Mark F.]

@Marc Winter That's the one I have on my current apartment, that can be rekeyed on the fly. I had issues when I first moved in with the first kwikset that was already installed. They put a new one in and here I am.

@Erik X I might have bought a lemon but I'm on #2 and the locksmith, knowing I wasnt buying any products from him, still said they were junk. Guess I'm bias by experience but so far I haven't seen a great product. Btw my best friend lives in Naperville!

[Karl B.]

I had locks rekeyed in a new multi-family a week ago and the locksmith told me Kwikset Smartkey locks are garbage. Though from what I recollect I don't think he had an issue with the company overall, just the Smartlock.

[Timothy Doenges]

@Karl B. I have also heard that when my locksmith finds a foreclosure that needs rekeyed and it has a Kwikset smartlock, if he doesn’t have a key he just replaces the lock with a Schlage. Near impossible to rekey without breaking it, for some reason.

[Bob H.]

It seems pretty obvious that locksmiths say Kwikset Smartkey locks are bad because they eliminate the need for a locksmith to rekey them every time.

I have Smartkey locks in one rental and no problems. For the others I rekey them myself, sometimes with a kit you can buy at home improvement stores or online.

[Ross Kalmbach]

I've also had no problems with Kwikset Smartkey locks.  Three SF rentals one being rented for over four years the last only one - but all have the locks and haven't had issues yet.  People with more units or longer rental periods might have different stories though.  Sticking with them till they fail me :) 

[Mark F.]

@Bob H. That reason definitely makes sense, but the ones he recommended also eliminate his services as they were keyless and could be reprogrammed when a tenant leaves.

[Bill B.]

13 properties, x 20 years, all smartkey kwikset, not the landlord version. Zero lockouts, zero failures, zero locksmiths...

Sorry you got a lemon, especially in such a weird way. Maybe the person that programmed the new key did it incorrectly?

insert old key and turn halfway. Insert the free tool that comes with each one and remove old key. Insert new key and turn back. Done. All doors use same key that way. (Front, back, garage, entry.)

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by @Mark F.:

Long story short, I got locked out of my apartment for over 2 hours last night. The 6 month old Kwikset deadbolt wouldn't turn all the way. While waiting outside I googled some stuff and came up with people saying they were junk. When the 3rd locksmith I called showed up, he said these were junk and he's always responding to lockouts for these. He recommended Schlage locks. I close on my first duplex in a month and I'm going to look into changing them if they happen to be Kwikset locks. Anyone else have issues with these things? Turned a crappy situation last night into a learning experience.

Someone squeeze some glue into the keyhole for giggles?

[Account Closed]

Landlord Locks all day. Expensive but have never given me an issue 

[Jill F.]

I love the kwikset landlord locks. 33 units for 3.5 years, one problem lock.

[Joshua Tessier]

@Mark Franks I install Yale Nest locks in all my units. They are WiFi enabled battery backup and locked and unlocked with a smart phone. So far no issues.

[Nick Gann]

@Mark Franks teflon or carbon goes a long way on keeping your locks operating properly

[Kevin Manz]

Ive had great luck w kwikset. I use kwikset for all my units, have the pin kit, so 1 master fits all. 40 units, 3 yrs, never 1 issue. I did try using the landlord set for a few units, but couldn't figure out how to master them. Does anyone know if they can be mastered?

[Shawn Johnson]

@Mark Franks

We have Kwikset Smartkey locks on almost 400 rentals and have had very minimal issues. Not enough to ditch them as a product.

Locksmiths opinion of them seem really biased. Why would they like them, it eliminates the need for locksmiths to a certain extent.

If you’re thinking of ditching Kwikset, you might as well go to smart locks where you can reset the code from an app and not have keys to manage at all.

[John Warren]

@Mark F. I have 32 apartments that I manage here in the Chicago western suburbs and I have used kwickset locks from landlordlocks.com for all of them. I have had zero performance issues with them. I will say that any competent handyman can break into a lock set in under 15 minutes with a drill, hammer and crowbar. I had a tenant change a lock set on me in a new building and I was into it in 5 minutes. 

It is interesting to hear the lock smith's opinion in this case. I have never used a lock smith, and honestly I would think that the job of a lock smith is probably going away. Most of these technologies are designed so that you never have to call them, which I can can imagine would be frustrating if it was cutting into your business. 

[Jim K.]

One more voice for Kwikset. I use the regular models and carry a big key ring, makes me feel more manly on days when I wonder. I've had trouble with Defiant entry knobs.

For deadbolts, it doesn't matter.

[James Wilcox]

@Mark Franks look into Landlordlocks.com. Will solve most of the issues you are having when you get your duplex.

[Tony F.]

@Mark Franks

If reoccurring issue it’s very likely your door is incorrectly hung, knob bore is off, strike plate wrong... something along those lines.

They are all made in China, I’m sure Schlage is better quality but I have 40ish smartly key sets and haven’t had any issues. And with all these other people saying they haven’t had any issues..

Good luck

[Dave Grimson]

Anyone use the kwickset smart code models? Started using a couple years ago and no issues so far. When a tenant leaves I have the master code and can wipe all other codes. Also a nice feature I just found out about is I can assign a temporary code for contractors to let them in and code automatically wipes

Get good feedback from the tenants too!

Anyone else using these?

[Daniel Stoddard]

@Mark Franks I wish I could add a picture, but I had a core break in half in my deadbolt. I still don’t understand how it happened. I could lock it from the inside, but couldn’t get back in. So I I decided I would use my back door. Granted it has been maybe a month since it has been opened, I found it seized. Luckily I had a side door to use. Not a fan.

[Bill B.]

@Kevin Manz

Kevin Manz HVAC Tech from Fort Wayne, Indiana

replied about 15 hours ago

Ive had great luck w kwikset. I use kwikset for all my units, have the pin kit so 1 master fits all. 40 units

hey Kevin, what’s the “pin kit”? Does it work with their standard “smart key locks” or is it part of their landlord series? I’d love the idea of a master key, I’ve just been rotating mine  

[Dan H.]

Originally posted by @Marc Winter:

We use Kwikset and Defiant on all our lock changes.  Never had a problem with either, although the Defiant is a bit more pick-resistant, and harder to drill out as well.  

One product we stay away from is the Kwikset "Landlord" locks--the ones that you can re-key on the fly.  Very easily defeated, and any tenant with the little fob key can change the key and you'll be locked out yourself!

Have you tried the landlord locks?   The “fob” landlord key is unique to each landlord.  The only way someone can get it is the LL loses their key and the tenant finds the key. 

Second, the tenant can already swap your lock set to lock you out.  The primary difference is one minute versus 10 minutes.  The Landlord cylinders take less than a minute to swap compared to about 10 minutes to swap traditional lock set.

I have had kwikset fail, but not resulting in a lockout.  the failure I see is the knob turns but does not engage the latch.  I need to investigate the cause of this issue. 

I agree Schlage is higher quality but their rebuild kits are more costly than a new kwikset handset.   In addition, I have had two Schlage failures (and why I know the cost of their rebuild kits).  So quality is better but so far I have not found them to be noticeably more reliable. 

The kwikset quality is sufficient and they are pretty reliable   

No affiliation with LL locks other than a user and mostly customer.  

[Ryan Webster]

@Mark Franks

Schlage is the brand you want for the money. Abus is the next best but you'll pay for it.