Change Locks in El Segundo, CA: rekey or replace, handled on site

Not sure whether to rekey or replace? Start here

Most people who call us about changing their locks are not really asking for a particular product. They are asking a simpler question: how do I make sure the wrong person can no longer get in? There are two honest ways to answer that, and the right one depends on the lock you already have, not on what is easier for us to sell.

Rekeying changes the inside of the lock so the old keys stop working and a new key operates it. The lock body, the finish and the handle stay exactly as they are. Replacing means taking the old hardware off the door and installing new hardware, which also gets you a new key. Both end the same way, with keys that nobody else holds. The difference is in what happens to the hardware around the key.

If your locks are in decent shape and you just want new keys, rekeying is usually the more economical route. If the hardware is worn, corroded, loose, mismatched from door to door, or simply not something you want to live with, replacing makes more sense. We explain both in plain terms on the page for lock rekeying in El Segundo, and this page is about how to make the call and what the visit looks like.

When does it make sense to change your locks?

There is no rule that says you must change locks on a schedule. There are, however, a handful of situations where doing it is simply sensible, because you can no longer account for every key that exists.

The most common one is a change of occupancy. When a house or apartment changes hands, you have no way of knowing how many copies of the old keys were made, who got them, or where they ended up. Previous owners, tenants, relatives, cleaners, contractors, agents and neighbors can all have held a key at some point. The lock does not know the difference between you and any of them.

• You bought a house or condo and want to be the only one holding keys.
• You moved into a rental and the landlord's key handling is unclear to you.
• A key was lost or stolen, especially one that had an address attached to it or was in a bag that went missing.
• A roommate, partner or former employee moved out and still has a key.
• A contractor, house sitter or short-term guest had access and you would rather close that loop.
• The lock sticks, spins, or has begun to feel loose, and you would rather fix it properly than keep working around it.
• You want every door on the property to open with one key instead of a keyring full of different ones.

How we handle a lock change, step by step

A lock change should not be a mystery. Here is how a visit normally goes, whether it is a single front door or every exterior door on a house.

1. You call (213) 577-1366. A person answers at any hour, and we ask what doors are involved, what kind of locks are on them, and why you want them changed. That last question matters, because it shapes the recommendation.
2. A technician from our mobile service comes to the property. We are one company with a storefront in Westwood and our own vans, so the person who arrives works for us rather than for a dispatch middleman.
3. We look at every lock in question before quoting anything. We check the brand and condition of the hardware, whether the door and frame are lined up, and whether the existing locks can be rekeyed at all.
4. We tell you what we see and lay out your options. If rekeying will do the job, we say so. If the hardware is worn or corroded enough that rekeying would be putting new keys into a failing lock, we say that instead.
5. You agree to the plan and the cost before work begins, so there are no surprises when we finish.
6. We do the work: rekeying the cylinders, or removing old hardware and installing the new, and then test each lock with the door open and closed.
7. We hand over the new keys, show you how each lock operates, and make sure the old keys no longer work. If you want extra copies, we can cut them while we are there.

Rekey or replace: how to decide

Here is the reasoning we use when we are standing at your door. It is not complicated, but it is easy to get wrong if you only look at the price of the visit.

• Rekey when the locks are working smoothly, the finish is acceptable to you, and the only goal is to cut off old keys. This keeps the hardware you already own and is usually the lighter-cost option.
• Rekey when you want several doors to share one key. Matching them is often a rekey job rather than a purchase of new locks.
• Replace when a lock is loose, sticky, rusted, or has been forced or damaged. New keys in a tired lock only gets you a tired lock with new keys.
• Replace when you want a different level of security, such as a stronger deadbolt, a higher-grade cylinder, or restricted keys that cannot be copied casually. Our pages on deadbolt installation and lock replacement go through what that involves.
• Replace when you are moving toward keypads or electronic locks. If that interests you, read about smart lock installation before you commit, because door prep and power needs differ from a standard lock.
• Replace when the hardware is simply discontinued or unusual enough that parts cannot be matched. Rekeying depends on the cylinder inside, and not every old lock allows it.

What affects the cost of changing locks?

We do not publish prices on this page, because they honestly depend on the job, and a number printed here would be wrong for half the people reading it. What we can do is tell you exactly what moves the cost up or down so you can judge any quote you receive, ours or anyone else's.

The first factor is the approach. Rekeying uses the hardware you already own, so you are paying for labor and parts inside the cylinder. Replacing adds the hardware itself, and the range between basic hardware and high-security hardware is wide.

The second is the number of locks. Several doors rekeyed at once to the same key is more efficient than separate visits, and a whole-house job is usually handled more economically per lock than a single door.

The third is the type and condition of the locks. Common residential brands are straightforward. Older, unusual or damaged hardware can take longer, need special parts, or turn a possible rekey into a replacement.

The fourth is the door itself. A door that is misaligned, warped, or has an oversized or damaged bore may need extra work before any lock will sit properly. Sometimes the fix is on the door, not the lock.

The fifth is timing and location. A scheduled visit during the day is a different request from a late-night call, and travel to the property is part of any mobile service. We will explain this plainly when you call.

If a quote arrives as a single flat figure with no explanation of what it covers, ask what is included. A reasonable locksmith can tell you.

Changing locks after buying a house or moving in

If you are searching for a locksmith for a new house, this is the situation we see most often, and it is worth doing in a sensible order. Changing locks soon after you get the keys is one of the simplest ways to start off knowing exactly who has access to your home.

Do it before you unpack if you can. Boxes, furniture and moving crews bring a lot of people through the door, and it is easier to work on the locks before everything is stacked in front of them. A locksmith after moving still helps, but the earlier the better.

• Make a list of every way into the property: front door, back door, side doors, garage entry door, patio or sliding door, and any gate.
• Do not forget the less obvious ones: mailbox lock, shed, storage areas, and any detached garage.
• Ask the seller or agent what keys, remotes and codes were handed over, and assume more copies exist than you were given.
• Decide whether you want one key for everything. Matching the exterior doors is convenient and is often a simple job.
• Tell us if you are planning to add a deadbolt or upgrade a door later, so we can recommend something that fits the long-term plan.
• Keep a record of who you give keys to, and ask us for extra copies at the time of the change rather than copying from a copy later.

Changing locks in El Segundo: what is specific here

El Segundo is a small, compact city, and what you need from a lock change depends heavily on which part of town you are in. The residential area on the west side is a tidy grid of 1920s to 1950s bungalows, Spanish-style homes and low-rise apartments, with single-family houses dominating. Many of those homes still have original wood doors and older hardware. That is where the rekey-or-replace decision gets interesting. A well-kept older lock can often be rekeyed and keep going, but original doors are worth looking at closely before we cut or drill anything, because an old door deserves careful work. If you live in 90245 and recently bought one of those homes, we would normally walk every exterior door before recommending anything.

The beach sits directly west of the neighborhood grid, and that matters for hardware. The coast brings a persistent marine layer and salt air, which corrode exterior locks, hinges and gate hardware on the west-side homes closest to the water. Replacing salt-air-corroded exterior locks is one of the real local jobs. When a lock is corroded, rekeying is often the wrong answer, because new keys will not fix a cylinder that is sticking, a latch that is seizing, or a deadbolt that no longer throws cleanly. If your front door lock has been getting harder to turn, we will look at replacement, and we will also look at the hinges and strike plate, since corrosion rarely stops at the lock. For gates, see our page on gate lock repair if that is the part giving you trouble.

Apartments in the westside grid raise a different issue. Tenants moving in often cannot assume the lock was changed since the last resident, and an apartment lockout is a common reason people first call us. If you are in that spot, our page on apartment lockouts in El Segundo covers getting back inside. If you manage rental units, locksmith service for landlords explains how turnover lock changes can be handled across several doors.

Business space is its own category. In Smoky Hollow, converted creative offices regularly need locks changed when a new tenant takes over, and Downtown El Segundo along Main Street has storefronts with their own hardware needs. Those are commercial jobs rather than home lock changes, so we point you to our commercial locksmith page instead of mixing the two. The east side of the city is mostly aerospace, media and office campuses with little housing, and that work is a separate conversation as well.

Why call Wilshire Lock & Key

We have been in business since 1987, and we serve 140 cities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, El Segundo among them. We run a storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood alongside our mobile vans, so the people answering the phone and the people arriving at your door are part of the same company. There is no dispatch service passing your call along to whoever is available.

David owns the company and is its lead technician, and he oversees how the work is done. That matters on a lock change, because most of the value is in the judgment: seeing that a lock can be rekeyed, or that it should not be, and saying so even when the smaller job is the less profitable one.

Our phone is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year, at (213) 577-1366. If you want to arrange a visit during the day, or you have a question before anyone comes out, you can also reach us through our contact page, and the broader Los Angeles area list shows where else we work.

What we will not do is pressure you into replacing perfectly good locks, or tell you a rekey is impossible when it is not. If you are comparing locksmiths, that is the question to ask: would they tell you the lighter-cost option when it works?

What to ask any locksmith before they touch your door

Whoever you call, a few questions are worth asking. California requires locksmith companies to hold a license from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, known as a BSIS LCO license. Ask any locksmith for it, and ask them to explain it plainly. A company that dodges that question is telling you something.

Ask whether the person coming is a company technician or a subcontractor. Ask what the cost depends on and whether the figure you are given covers parts, labor and travel. Ask whether they will recommend rekeying if your locks are in good shape. Ask whether they will leave you with the original keys or extra keys once the work is done.

A reasonable locksmith answers all of these without irritation. If someone quotes a surprisingly small amount over the phone and then adds charges on arrival, stop and ask what changed before the work begins.

More locksmith help in El Segundo

• Deadbolt Installation in El Segundo
• Gate Lock Repair in El Segundo
• High Security Locks in El Segundo
• Key Duplication in El Segundo
• Lock Installation in El Segundo
• Lock Rekey in El Segundo
• All services in El Segundo

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