Rented by the bedroom
Housing is mostly wooden triple-deckers, two-families and brick apartment buildings, with many units rented room by room. On September 1, thousands of leases turn over at once. Plenty of these locks have had more keys cut than anyone could count.
Requests from 02134
- Rekeying around the September 1 move-in date
- Bedroom door locks in shared apartments, with the landlord's approval
- Lockouts for students
- Landlord lock changes between tenancies
Don't hide spares in common areas
Under the doormat, inside the mailbox, on the porch light: in a shared house with constant move-outs, someone always knows. A code lockbox approved by your landlord is a much safer way to share access.
Bedroom locks
In shared apartments, a keyed bedroom lock can make sense, but check the lease and fire-safety rules first. Bedroom locks must still open freely from the inside without a key.
Late August traffic
Harvard Avenue and Brighton Avenue are jammed in late August and early September. Give a building number and buzzer details.
Union Square and Lower Allston
Around Union Square and Lower Allston, older two-families sit next to new apartment buildings. In the old houses, back stair doors and basement doors often have the weakest locks, and with tenants changing every year nobody remembers who holds what. Landlords who keep a simple key log and rekey every September end up spending less over time than those who replace locks only after something goes wrong. In the new buildings, a fob controls the lobby and a key or keypad controls the unit. Tenants should know which is which, and whom to call for each. Keep the building office number in your phone alongside a locksmith's, especially during move-in week.