Where to get a "do not duplicate" key duplicated?

December 2, 2016 6:40 AM

The outside door key for my apartment building has "do not duplicate" stamped on it, but I want to get a copy. I'd rather not contact the landlord. The local hardware store has refused and the "make it yourself" kiosks at big box improvement stores don't work for this type of key.

I don't want to contact the landlord because I don't want to out myself as transgender. I've actually never met him, just the maintenance guy, who's the type of older guy that patronizingly called me "little lady." I definitely don't look or sound like a lady anymore, and my name has changed (which I haven't told the landlord; no idea who he thinks is paying my rent). Maybe I'm being paranoid but there are NRA and Trump stickers on the maintenance guy's van, and I don't want to risk eviction because he disagrees with my "lifestyle" (no, I am not protected by any law, and yes, that has happened to friends of mine).

Anyway, I want a key because sometimes a friend cat-sits and if I return from vacation when she's not home, I can't get into my apartment. I'm also having surgery soon and will need someone to periodically help me. There's no buzzer that lets someone in, so I'd have to go downstairs to open the door. (Note: the key to my actual apartment can be duplicated without issue.)

Is it actually illegal for someone to duplicate this key? Can I slip someone $20 and wink? How do I find a shady character to do this?

posted by AFABulous to Home & Garden (26 answers total)

Response by poster: Forgot to mention that I'm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
posted by AFABulous at 6:41 AM on December 2, 2016

You might try a locksmith. Ours will duplicate those types of keys, but then we regularly do business with them...
posted by sarajane at 6:46 AM on December 2, 2016

These keys are very common in NYC, but its not hard to find a locksmith who will dupe them. Just go and ask them to duplicate it. They will either do it, or they won't. In the first case they'll probably charge you what seems like a crazy amount of money (I think I've paid $20-35). In the second case, just rinse and repeat with another locksmith.
posted by voiceofreason at 6:50 AM on December 2, 2016 [8 favorites]

Here's a story from my mom's college days.

Mom: (walks into hardware store) "Hi, I'd like to get this key duplicated."
Employee: (looks at key) "OK, sure. Do you want 'DO NOT DUPLICATE' stamped on it, like this one?"
Mom: "Oh, uh, that's not necessary."

He duplicated the key.

This was 40 years ago so YMMV, but most hardware stores probably care a lot less about this than you'd think. I'd guess you're much more likely to get someone at a small, independent store to do it than a big chain. If they say no, no harm done, just try another store.
posted by mekily at 6:56 AM on December 2, 2016 [5 favorites]

Yeah, if one guy wont do it, another will. Try a couple different places. Alternatively, you can always cover the top up with a coat of nail polish or something.
posted by cgg at 7:00 AM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Oops, I missed the part where you said you already tried your local hardware store. I think it would be worth driving around to a few more stores. Or a locksmith as suggested above.
posted by mekily at 7:00 AM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

I use a locksmith for the Don't Duplicate key. They routinely do it for landlords, but they never ask for any proof you're the landlord, not the tenant. If it's a weird key blank, it's possible local hardware stores won't have that blank (just like the big box store did not) and only a locksmith would anyway. So, it will cost more money than it will at Home Depot's key kiosk and it make take more than one try, but you should be able to get a locksmith to do it.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:10 AM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

You can do this online with your smartphone or at a kiosk with the service at a Kmart or lowes type place! Google!!

The app scans your key. Makes a copy. Sends it to you.

You can put tape or foil over the words "do not duplicate" but it's not necessary.

Ditto if you put one of those key decorative things on the key head (or decorative tape) where "do not duplicate" is stamped, the regular key folks will not check and just make the key for $1.50 like usual, no panic.
posted by jbenben at 7:21 AM on December 2, 2016 [2 favorites]

> They routinely do it for landlords, but they never ask for any proof you're the landlord, not the tenant.

Yeah, this is what I was going to say. Specifically, just say that you're the landlord/property manager. Alternately, say one of the true reasons you need the key(catsitter, surgery) and say that the landlord just told you to get a dupe made yourself.

If pulling this off authoritatively makes you nervous (or if it's going to trigger anxiety about passing), I do not think that there is any shame in having a friend do it for you.
posted by desuetude at 7:23 AM on December 2, 2016 [12 favorites]

As a fellow Milwaukeean, I have heard in the past that stores like Home Depot would do it, but I copied a key at a Home Depot the other day and they had a sign saying "we will not copy "Do Not Duplicate" keys. If you're on Facebook, you might join a neighborhood page, such as "Riverwest Neighborhood" or "Bay View Town Hall," and ask there. There are bound to be plenty of folks who know.
posted by Slinga at 7:46 AM on December 2, 2016

Just to be clear: there's no legal status around "Do Not Duplicate" on a key. (Except maybe California, and even then it's not obvious.) The locksmith is making a judgment call.
posted by Nelson at 7:46 AM on December 2, 2016 [3 favorites]

I've had all kinds of keys copied in the tire center area at Walmart, no questions asked.
posted by Malleable at 7:47 AM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Tape a note to the maintenance guys door, asking for a key so a friend can check your apartment while you are away. Tell him that it is fine for him to slip it under your door because you probably won't be around at the same time.
posted by 445supermag at 8:04 AM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Just an anecdote- I had a bathroom key from my work copied at a mall kiosk and only noticed afterwards that it said "Do no Duplicate". My sense is that bigger stores might have policies against copying the keys, but a smaller operated might be more likely to do it.
posted by beau jackson at 8:18 AM on December 2, 2016

If it's a standard kind of key, just put a piece of tape over the top of the key.

If it's something like a Medeco key (which has the teeth cut at oblique angles), it will require a special key-cutter, and you won't be able to get duplicates made at most places.
posted by adamrice at 8:32 AM on December 2, 2016

You just need to find a sufficiently unscrupulous locksmith.
posted by deathpanels at 8:37 AM on December 2, 2016

Maybe a minuteKEY machine machine will do it. It is a fully automated self-service kiosk. I see there are 10 in Milwaukee.
posted by tinker at 8:39 AM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

"That's the key they gave me when I bought the place."
posted by Mr. Yuck at 9:20 AM on December 2, 2016 [6 favorites]

So it depends on what type of key it is. There really isn't any reason why a normal key won't be copied, there's nothing to be nervous about if it's a normal key. Most shlage or kwikset keys are very common and a locksmith will be more interested in matching the blanks than they would be in if someone had stamped do not copy on there. Part of the reason for this is that there are higher end security systems that people have to pay into to actually have copy control over the key. If it's a medeco or a high end schlage it might be protected. That's to say that there's a requirement, I think it's a contract, that doesn't allow a locksmith to just copy and distribute those keys (there might also be a tech aspect as well, where a locksmith in a given area has a unique pattern or something so you can only go to that shop, it really depends).

That's not to say all medeco keys are protected, so it would be worth taking the key into a locksmith regardless and asking. It really depends on the type of key and the contract that the shop has with your landlord. 95% of the time it's not going to matter at all, but if it is a higher security key it's going to be more of a hassle and probably more expensive too sadly.
posted by Carillon at 9:35 AM on December 2, 2016

Response by poster: It's slightly longer than a regular key and on one side it says

BEST (TM)
DUPLICATION
PROHIBITED

on the other side it says
HT1

I think the local hardware store did say something about not having the right kind of blank or equipment. Again, I cannot use those kiosks, it rejects it.
posted by AFABulous at 9:43 AM on December 2, 2016

I have a Medeco key, and wasn't able to get it copied, even at the classic small independent shop with a young man staffing -- what he said was that the key is registered with a particular locksmith, who will ask for ID before copying the key and see that it matches one of the permitted copiers on record.
posted by batter_my_heart at 10:11 AM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

locksmiths have more resources for blanks and equipment.
i would go to a locksmith that your landlord probably doesn't use-- in other words don't go to the one the maintenance guy would be sent to--
sometimes landlords or their staff have a regular relationship with the closest locksmith.

i think the main problem is the shape of the key, not the stamp on it...
posted by calgirl at 10:12 AM on December 2, 2016

I've definitely had this done by a locksmith. I think hardware stores just don't have the correct blanks.
posted by radioamy at 11:23 AM on December 2, 2016

I recently had this done at the second small hardware store I tried. Weirdly, they didn't have the blank for my individual apartment key, which didn't say anything about not duplicating it, so I had to go to two different places for our two keys.
posted by ldthomps at 11:26 AM on December 2, 2016

Best answer: Try Whitlow's, in West Allis, around 107th and Greenfield Avenue.

I've had hundreds of keys duplicated there over the years. I've had them fail to have a blank once in that time, I think, and unlike the local hardware stores, I have never had any issues with the key actually working in the lock. They've duplicated keys marked "DO NOT DUPLICATE".
posted by jgreco at 2:20 PM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Locksmith or specialist lock & key shop owned by a locksmith. Every neighborhood has one.
posted by w0mbat at 2:38 PM on December 2, 2016