What is a master key?
Master key have you ever been locked out of your office because you had an internal office door key but not the outside door? Or, what about not being able to get into your garage because you lost the key and its not the same as your house? There are many scenarios when you are locked out — and if you just had the right resources, you would be able to get into your home or office.
At Highgate Doors, we have many clients who request master keys for their home or business. A master keys is a great security asset for both homeowners and business owners, but it’s an especially great asset for people who are landlords and need access to many different doors with one key.
A master key is a key that opens many different locks with one key. So, for example, if you are a landlord who needs access to all of your units in an apartment building or duplex, then a master key will allow you to enter all of the apartments when you need to make repairs without having to schedule a time for the tenants to be home to let you — or without having to carry around a dozen keys at a time.
Think of a master key as a magic key that opens every door when you need it to work. The way it works is that there is a similar groove on the master key that is in every lock on the doors that you need to open. The “key” to pulling off a master key deciding ahead of time which key locks you want your master key to work upon — and then having the knobs and locks keyed to fit the master key. The grooves have to match to certain degree for a master lock to work — and that’s why it’s so important to plan ahead to know which locks you want the master keys for.
If you meet any of these conditions, then getting a master lock may be an good option for you:
- If you are a landlord with multiple tenants.
- If you have multiple family members that need access to your home at different periods of time.
- If you routinely need to get into a building that is locked after-hours
In addition to being a great convenience if you need to get into multiple doors, a master lock can be a great way to keep your properties, home or office secure. What is problematic about master keys is when you lose them.
If you lose your master keys, then anyone who tries the key in the building near where you dropped it feasibly could get into your building. So make sure you are keeping your eye on your master key and keeping it in a secure place for when you really need it. The last thing you want is to make your home or office even less secure because a master key is floating out there in the hands of someone who is looking for a quick dollar.
Consider calling Highgate Doors for your master key system. We can key the master keys and all of the handlesets to make sure all of the makes and models of the lock systems are the same. This is the only way a master key system can work, as the master keys will have a pin or wafer that matches all of the other keys and locks.
