Burbank locksmith: home, business, car and emergency service

What kind of locksmith work do we do in Burbank?

Burbank is a city with a lot of different doors in it. There are 1920s bungalows with their original hardware, ranch homes on the flats, hillside houses in the Verdugo foothills, condo towers and controlled-access apartment complexes downtown, studio-adjacent offices, and storefronts along Magnolia Boulevard and San Fernando Boulevard. We work on all of them, and we work on the cars parked in front of them. This page is the overview. The pages it links to go deeper on each service.

Here is how our Burbank work breaks down:

• Emergency and lockout calls: homes, apartments, cars and businesses, at any hour.
• Residential work: rekeying, lock changes, deadbolts, repairs, smart locks, mailbox locks and gate hardware.
• Commercial work: storefront locks, door closers, panic bars, master key systems and access control.
• Automotive work: lockouts, lost-key replacement, key fobs, transponder programming and ignition repair.
• Property-manager work: turnovers for landlords and lock service for short-term rentals.

Locked out in Burbank at 2 a.m.: how emergency calls work

Lockouts do not keep business hours, and neither does our phone. Our line, (213) 577-1366, is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year, including holidays. If you are standing outside your door, tell us where you are and what kind of lock you are looking at. That is enough for us to send the right van with the right tools. Our emergency locksmith service in Burbank is built around that kind of call.

A house lockout is usually the simplest version. Most front doors can be opened without damage, and we try the non-destructive route first. We only drill a lock when it is the sensible option, and we say so before we do it. Our house lockout service covers single-family homes, bungalows and hillside properties.

Apartments add a layer. Many complexes near Downtown Burbank and along the Chandler Bikeway have a building entry system, a unit door and sometimes a deadbolt that the management installed. We will want to confirm that you live in the unit before we open it, and we may ask for ID or a lease or utility bill. That is not us being difficult; it protects you and your neighbors. Our apartment lockout service handles these calls regularly.

• Tell us your address and cross street, the type of door, and whether anyone is inside.
• Have photo ID ready, or something that ties your name to the address.
• If a key broke in the lock, do not keep turning it. Stop and call.

What home lock work do Burbank houses need most?

Much of Burbank's housing is older, and that shapes the work. Many homes still carry original mid-century door hardware. Some of that hardware is solid and worth keeping. A lock from that era can often be rekeyed rather than replaced, which means the old knob or lever stays on the door and only the internal pins change, so old keys stop working and new ones start. For a 1920s to 1940s bungalow in Magnolia Park, that is often the more economical route and it keeps the look of the house intact.

Other times the hardware is worn out, mismatched from decades of piecemeal repairs, or simply not secure enough. Then we talk through rekeying, a full lock change, a new deadbolt, or a higher-security cylinder. We will tell you which of those fits your door and why. If you moved in recently and have no idea who holds copies of the old keys, rekeying every exterior door is the standard first step.

We also do smart lock installs, key duplication, mailbox lock replacement, gate lock repair, and safe work. Rancho District properties, with their equestrian-zoned lots, often have long driveways and gates that matter as much as the front door. Those gates take sun, dust and daily use, and the latches and locks wear.

Business, storefront and office locks in Burbank

Commercial work is a different job from residential, and we treat it that way. A storefront on Magnolia Boulevard or San Fernando Boulevard has a glass door, a heavy-use cylinder, a closer that opens and shuts hundreds of times a day, and often a back door that must meet exit requirements. A media office in the Media District may need controlled access, keyed-alike doors for some staff and restricted keys for others, and gate hardware at the parking entrance.

Our commercial locksmith work in Burbank includes lockouts, storefront lock repair, commercial door hardware, door closer repair, panic bar installation, master key systems and access control installation. For a business, the practical question is often how to keep the doors secure and the place open while the work happens. We plan around your hours. Where we can do the job after closing, we do.

If you manage rental property, we also handle turnovers and lock service for landlords, and for short-term rentals where guests come and go and keys need resetting often.

Car keys and car lockouts around Burbank

Cars are a real part of our Burbank work. Hollywood Burbank Airport brings travelers who park for days and then discover a lost, broken or locked-in key at the worst possible moment. Others lock keys in a car near Burbank Town Center or at a hospital lot. We come to you with a van, so the car does not need to be moved.

Our automotive locksmith service covers lockouts, lost-key replacement, car key replacement, key fobs, transponder key programming and ignition repair. Here is the honest part. What your car needs depends on its make, model and year. Some keys can be cut and programmed by a locksmith; some vehicles may be dealer-only for certain key types. We do not guess at that over the phone. We confirm by VIN and in person, and if your car turns out to be a dealer-only case, we tell you plainly rather than start work we cannot finish.

If you have a spare key, say so when you call. Making a copy from a working key is a different job from creating a key when none exists, and the difference affects both time and cost.

How does a Burbank call work, start to finish?

We run every call the same basic way, whether it is a front door in the Hillside district or a gate in the Golden State District.

1. You call (213) 577-1366. Someone answers at any hour, and we ask where you are, what is wrong, and what kind of lock or vehicle it is.
2. We give you a plain description of the likely approach and what will affect the cost, so you know what you are agreeing to before a van is sent.
3. A mobile technician drives to your Burbank address from our Westwood base, about 16 miles away. We tell you what to expect for timing when we talk, based on your location and the traffic that day.
4. On site, we confirm who you are and that you have the right to open or change the lock. For cars, we confirm the vehicle details. For apartments and businesses, we may ask for proof of tenancy or authority.
5. We look at the lock and explain the options. Where a non-destructive method exists, we use it first. If anything needs to change, such as drilling, replacement or a different part, we say so before we do it.
6. We do the work, test the lock and the keys with you, and make sure you leave with everything working. David, who owns the company and leads our technicians, oversees how we run jobs.

What affects the cost of locksmith work in Burbank?

We do not quote numbers on a web page because the honest answer depends on the job. Here is what actually moves the cost, so you can judge any quote you get, ours or anyone else's.

Time of day matters. A call in the middle of the night costs more to staff than a weekday appointment. Distance matters too. Burbank is about 16 miles from our Westwood base, and we factor travel in honestly rather than hiding it in extras.

The lock itself is the other major factor. A standard rekey on a common house lock is a different job from a high-security cylinder, a commercial mortise lock or a vintage mid-century set that needs careful handling. Car work depends on the vehicle: its make, model and year, whether you have a spare key, and whether a dealer is the only route for that key type.

Finally, the choice between repair, rekey and replacement matters. Rekeying or repairing a sound lock is usually the more economical route. Replacement makes sense when the hardware is worn out or not secure enough. We will tell you which one we think fits, and we will not push the larger job if the smaller one solves the problem.

• Emergency timing, such as nights, weekends and holidays.
• Travel from Westwood to your Burbank address.
• Type and condition of the lock, from standard residential to commercial or high-security.
• Whether we can open the lock without damage or need to drill it.
• For cars: make, model, year, key type, and whether you have a working spare.
• Parts needed, such as new cylinders, deadbolts, closers or key blanks.

What is the local picture in Burbank?

Burbank is not one kind of neighborhood, and the locks follow the housing. In Magnolia Park, the 1920s to 1940s bungalows often have vintage hardware worth keeping, so we do plenty of rekeying on older sets. Across the flats, postwar ranch homes tend to have mid-century hardware that has been added to and patched over the years. Above Glenoaks Boulevard, hillside houses in the Verdugo foothills sit higher and more exposed. In the Rancho District, single-family lots with equestrian zoning mean gates and outbuildings need as much attention as the house.

Downtown Burbank and the Media District have added mid-rise condos and large controlled-access apartment complexes. Lockouts there often involve more than one barrier: a building entry, a unit door, sometimes a mailbox lock or a garage gate. Around the Media District we also see office and gate access hardware work for media companies.

Climate plays a part, too. Valley heat in the summer swells wooden doors, which makes a lock bind, a deadbolt hard to throw, or a latch miss its strike. People often think the lock has failed when the door has simply moved. Dry Santa Ana winds sweep down the Verdugo foothills, and hillside homes get more sun and wind exposure than houses on the flats. That wears finishes and can slam doors that are not latched. The upside is that there is no salt-air corrosion this far inland, so locks here tend to wear from use and heat rather than from rust.

We work across Burbank's ZIP codes: 91501, 91502, 91504, 91505 and 91506. Whether you are near Warner Bros. Studios or Walt Disney Studios, around Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, at McCambridge Park, near the Starlight Bowl or the Stough Canyon Nature Center, or in the South San Fernando Boulevard district, the Northwest District or along the Chandler Bikeway corridor, the same number reaches us.

These are the kinds of situations we plan for in Burbank:

• Rekeying vintage hardware on Magnolia Park bungalows.
• Apartment lockouts in complexes near Downtown Burbank and the Chandler Bikeway.
• Storefront lock service along Magnolia Boulevard and San Fernando Boulevard.
• Office and gate access hardware for media companies around the Media District.
• Car key replacement for travelers parked at Hollywood Burbank Airport.

Why do people in Burbank call Wilshire Lock & Key?

We will be straightforward about this. We are not a Burbank shop. Our storefront is at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood, Los Angeles, about 16 miles from Burbank, and our mobile vans travel to you. We serve 140 cities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties from that base, and Burbank is one of them. You can see more on our service areas page.

What we offer is a company that has been doing this since 1987. We are one company, not a dispatch service that forwards your call to whoever is free. The people who answer the phone and the technicians who arrive work for the same business. Having both a physical storefront and mobile vans also means we can cut keys, stock parts and handle work that a van alone cannot. David, the owner and lead technician, oversees the work.

We would rather you know that than hear a pitch. If the job is a simple rekey and you can wait for a weekday, say so, and we will schedule it that way. If it is an emergency, our mobile locksmith service is built for it.

What should you ask any Burbank locksmith before work starts?

Locksmith scams exist in every big metro area, and Burbank is no exception. A few simple questions protect you. California requires locksmith companies to hold a license from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS), specifically a Locksmith Company (LCO) license. Ask any locksmith for that license number before they start, and check it with BSIS. That applies to us as well.

Ask for the company name and the address of the shop. Ask what affects the cost, and whether the final amount can change once the technician arrives. Be cautious if a company will not tell you its name on the phone, if the person who arrives is from a different business, or if drilling is suggested before any other method is tried on a standard lock.

If you want to talk through a non-urgent project, such as rekeying a house you just bought or planning access control for an office, you can reach us through our contact page or by phone.

Neighborhoods and ZIP codes we cover

Burbank areas we serve include Magnolia Park, Downtown Burbank, Media District, Rancho District, Hillside district, Golden State District, Northwest District, South San Fernando Boulevard district, Chandler Bikeway corridor. ZIP codes: 91501, 91502, 91504, 91505, 91506.

Nearby service areas

• Glendale
• Toluca Lake
• North Hollywood
• Sun Valley
• Studio City
• Valley Village