Commercial Locksmith in Granada Hills, CA

What does a commercial locksmith do for a Granada Hills business?

A commercial locksmith solves a different problem than a residential one. A house has a front door, a back door and maybe a gate. A business has a public entrance, staff doors, a rear door onto an alley or loading area, storage rooms, a cash office, perhaps a server closet, and a number of people who each need a different level of access. The work is less about one key and more about who can open what, and when.

At Wilshire Lock & Key we cover that whole range as a business locksmith: lockouts, rekeying after staff changes, repair and replacement of commercial door hardware, panic bars, door closers, master key systems and electronic access control. We have been in business since 1987, with a storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood and mobile service vans that come to you.

This page is about the commercial side only. If what you need is a home or car service, those are handled separately, and the Granada Hills location page lists everything we do in the area.

Which kinds of businesses do we work with, and what do they usually need?

The doors differ from one trade to the next, and so do the problems. Here is how the calls tend to break down by building type.

• Office locksmith and locksmith for an office building: tenant suite doors, shared lobby and stairwell doors, rekeying when a tenant leaves or an employee is let go, and key systems so the manager can open everything while each tenant opens only their own space.
• Retail locksmith and locksmith for a retail store: street-facing glass doors, deadbolts that no longer throw cleanly, back doors, and keys that have been copied and passed around over the years. A sticking or worn storefront lock is the typical call, and our storefront lock repair service covers it.
• Restaurant locksmith: doors that open and close constantly, rear exits that are often propped, and hardware that takes heat, grease and cleaning chemicals. Worn latches and loose handles show up here first.
• Medical office locksmith: restricted rooms for records, supplies and storage, plus front-desk and back-hallway doors that need different access. We set up the hardware to match the access rules you decide on. We do not advise on regulatory requirements; your compliance contact does that.
• Warehouse locksmith and industrial locksmith: personnel doors beside roll-up doors, padlocked hasps, perimeter gates, and keys shared across shifts. Durability and key control matter more than looks.
• Factory locksmith: heavy-duty exit devices, restricted keyways, and doors that see steady daily traffic from many people.

How does a commercial locksmith call work, step by step?

Commercial jobs go more smoothly when the process is clear. This is how we run them.

1. Call (213) 577-1366. Tell us what kind of business it is, which door is the problem, and whether the building can be locked up securely right now. The line is answered around the clock, every day of the year.
2. If the premises cannot be secured, that comes first. Getting the space safely closed matters more than the neat fix, and we tell you plainly when a temporary measure is the sensible step.
3. We confirm who you are in relation to the property: owner, manager, tenant or employee. A lease often decides who controls the locks, and we need to know we are working for the right person before we open, rekey or replace anything.
4. On site, we look at the door, the frame, the hardware and how the door is used. A lock that fails is sometimes really a door that has dropped, a closer set wrong, or a strike plate that has shifted.
5. We explain the options and what drives the cost before work begins, so there are no surprises when you receive the invoice.
6. We do the work and test every door from both sides, with the door fully closed and latched, the way your staff will really use it.
7. We hand over keys and explain what was installed, who has what, and how to keep track of keys going forward.

What if you are locked out of your business after hours?

A lockout at a business is more pressing than one at home. Staff are waiting outside, a delivery is due, or you are closing up and one door will not secure. Our business lockout service is built for this, and the phone is answered 24/7.

Whenever possible we open doors without damaging them. Some commercial doors, such as heavy-duty or high-security hardware, cannot always be opened non-destructively, and we say so up front. If a door must be drilled or the hardware replaced to get you back in, we explain why before doing it and make sure the door can be secured afterward.

What affects the cost of commercial locksmith work?

We do not quote numbers on a web page, because commercial jobs vary too much for a number to mean anything. What we can do is tell you honestly what moves the cost up or down, so you can plan.

• The type of work: opening a locked door, repairing existing hardware, replacing it, and installing something new are all different jobs.
• Hardware grade: light-duty hardware and heavy-duty commercial hardware are priced very differently. The usually more economical route is to repair what is sound and replace only what is worn out.
• Number of doors: rekeying one office is a different job from rekeying a whole floor, though a larger job is often more efficient per door.
• Door and frame condition: a bent frame, a sagging door or a damaged strike can add work beyond the lock itself.
• Fire and egress needs: some doors must open from the inside without a key, and rated doors limit what can be done to them.
• Key system complexity: a simple matching set is quick, while a master key system with several levels takes planning.
• Electronics: card readers, keypads, electric strikes and wiring add parts and labor.
• Time of day: after-hours and holiday calls are handled by the same team, but they are not the same as a scheduled weekday visit.
• Distance: Granada Hills is roughly 23 miles from our Westwood storefront, and travel is part of the picture.
• Parts availability: common hardware can often be done in one visit, while specialty items may need to be ordered.

What commercial hardware should you ask for, and when is it worth upgrading?

Commercial locks are generally rated by grade, with Grade 1 the heaviest-duty. A door that is opened hundreds of times a day should not carry hardware designed for a bedroom. If your storefront lock is failing every few months, the usual cause is that the hardware is the wrong class for the traffic. Our commercial door hardware service covers the options, from handles and latches to strikes and hinges.

Exit doors need extra thought. Building and fire codes generally require that people be able to leave without a key or special knowledge, and the local building or fire authority has the final say on what your space requires. Where a panic bar is the right answer for a rear or side exit, we handle panic bar installation and make sure the door still closes and latches properly afterward.

If you are tired of rekeying every time someone leaves, an electronic system may make sense. Access control installation lets you add and remove users without changing a single cylinder. For buildings with several tenants or departments, a master key system gives one key that opens everything and individual keys that open only their own doors. Neither is the right choice for every business, and we will tell you if a simpler setup does the job.

Commercial locksmith service in Granada Hills and ZIP 91344

Granada Hills sits in the north Valley, and commercial locks here live a different life than they do in a dense urban core. Most of the neighborhood is single-story ranch tracts, so businesses tend to cluster along the main corridors: the Devonshire Street corridor, the Zelzah Avenue corridor and the San Fernando Mission Boulevard corridor, all within ZIP 91344. Old Granada Village, the Chatsworth Street business district, is its own compact pocket of street-facing shops.

Storefront lock service is the scenario that fits Old Granada Village. Street-facing glass doors, a rear door, and keys passed among several employees are the usual pattern in a business district like that, and they lead to the usual problems: a deadbolt that sticks, a latch that no longer catches, and a key set nobody can fully account for. That is where storefront lock repair or a full rekey tends to come in. Hmm

The foothill setting also affects hardware. Summers are hot, and gusty Santa Ana winds blow off the hills in fall. Sun-exposed, south-facing doors see the most seasonal wear, and a door that expands in the heat can start to bind against its frame, so the lock gets blamed for a door problem. Wind is hard on closers and gates, so a door closer repair or gate lock repair call often follows a windy week. We look at the whole door, not only the lock, so the repair holds through the next season.

Whether your business is in North Granada Hills above the 118 or on one of the boulevards below, we come to you in a mobile van, with the storefront in Westwood as our base.

How do you check that a commercial locksmith is legitimate?

Commercial work gives a locksmith access to your whole business, so it is fair to ask questions first. 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 company for its license number before work begins, and check it with the state if you want to be sure.

A few other things are worth asking about:

• Where is the company based, and does it have a real storefront?
• Will the person who answers the phone be the one who sends the technician, or is it a dispatch service that passes the call along?
• Will they explain the work and the cost drivers before starting?
• Will they ask who you are in relation to the property before opening or rekeying a door?

Why call Wilshire Lock & Key for your business?

We try to keep the reasons simple and checkable.

• We have been in business since 1987.
• We have a real storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, plus mobile vans that travel to you.
• You deal with one company. There is no dispatch middleman between you and the technician.
• David, the owner and lead technician, oversees the work.
• Our phone, (213) 577-1366, is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round.
• We serve 140 cities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, so we know how to handle a job at a distance from our base.
• We tell you plainly when a repair is enough and when replacement is the better choice.

More locksmith help in Granada Hills

• Access Control Installation in Granada Hills
• Commercial Door Hardware in Granada Hills
• Door Closer Repair in Granada Hills
• Master Key System in Granada Hills
• Panic Bar Installation in Granada Hills
• Storefront Lock Repair in Granada Hills
• All services in Granada Hills

Commercial Locksmith near Granada Hills

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• Mission Hills
• North Hills
• Sylmar
• Chatsworth