[rockfan4]

When my house was built, of course the builder used some cheap locks.
Dexter by Schlage, so Schlage keys fit, but the locks are made in China, and kind of flimsy.
I replaced them several years ago with Schlage locks, not all at once, but one or two at a time as I found them either on Craigslist or eBay. I'd change the pinning so they still all worked from the same key. When we had Ginger, I had to create a lock I could no longer buy, a lever that wouldn't unlock unless you turned the button. She learned to paw at the lever and get the door open to go outside. I did have a different one on the back door, but after the wife locked herself out the second time, I had to change it.

I've got these extra Dexter locks, and decided it's time to get rid of them. I thought it might make more sense to sell some of them as a set, keyed alike, so I bought a re-key kit at Menards. Boy, was that a mistake. It's a Prime-Line kit, 3 keys and a set of color coded pins. The thing is, the pins aren't the same height as Schlage pins, so I can't use the extras for anything. In fact, I wouldn't recommend these for anybody. There's sets of 5 color coded pins, but they're all almost the same size.
The ones I got were 0.220, 0.230, 0.235, 0.240 and 0.260" in size. Real deal Schlage pins range from 0.165" to 0.300", with a 0.015" difference between one size of pin and the next size. A 0.005" difference isn't enough, and I'm pretty sure I could mix up a couple and the lock would still open.

I also bought some locks with no keys off eBay, thinking they would be easy to open. I guess I don't have the touch. I've only got one open, using a snap gun I bought from a retiring locksmith. No luck so far with the other two. Any tips?

Anyone watch "The Rookie"? Last week one of the main characters was trying to get some non-paying renters out of her house, and when they left they not only took all the furniture, they took the hardware off all the doors. Looking around at my house, that would suck having to replace all of that.

One other thing I did, once again wife related, was I put a storeroom lock on the shed door in the back yard. It's always locked, you turn the key, then you can turn the handle. As long has she remembers to pull the door shut, it's locked. Maybe I should invest in a door closer.