Pasadena locksmith: home, business, car and emergency service

What locksmith work do we do in Pasadena?

Pasadena is a city where nearly every kind of locksmith job turns up. In the same week you can have a Craftsman homeowner who wants old locks rekeyed without wrecking original hardware, a condo resident shut out of a controlled-access building, a Colorado Boulevard shop whose door closer has started slamming, and a driver whose key went missing after an event near the Rose Bowl. We handle all of it as one company, and this page is the overview of how that works.

Our Pasadena work falls into four groups. Each one has its own page with more detail, and you can reach every one of them through the same phone number.

We come to you in a mobile van, so most of this work happens at your door, your storefront or your curb. Our mobile locksmith service page explains what we carry and what we can do on site. Our storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood is the home base the vans work from.

• Emergency: lockouts, broken keys, failed locks and break-in damage, at any hour.
• Home: rekeying, lock replacement, deadbolts, smart locks, key copies and mailbox locks.
• Business: storefront locks, door closers, panic hardware, master key systems and access control.
• Car: lockouts, lost keys, key fobs, transponder programming and ignition problems.

Locked out in Pasadena: how emergency calls work

A lockout is the most common reason someone finds us, and it rarely happens at a convenient time. Our line is answered around the clock, every day of the year, by the same company that sends the van. Our emergency locksmith page covers the full range of after-hours work, from a stuck deadbolt to a door that will not latch after a break-in attempt.

In Pasadena the lockouts we see most often are apartment and condo lockouts around Old Pasadena and the Playhouse District. The buildings there are dense, many have a mix of keyed deadbolts and electronic entry, and a resident locked out at night often has no one to call. The details differ by building. A unit door with a standard deadbolt is a different job from a door with a restricted keyway or a lock the property manager controls. Our apartment lockout page explains what we can open, what we need from you first, and when the building manager has to be involved.

Where possible we open a lock without damaging it. Picking or bypassing keeps your hardware intact and usually keeps the work lighter. If a lock is worn out, damaged or high-security enough that opening it without drilling is not realistic, we say so before we start, and we tell you what replacing it would involve.

Home locks in Pasadena, from Craftsman bungalows to condos

Housing here is unusually varied. There are landmark Craftsman bungalows in Bungalow Heaven, larger estates in Oak Knoll and San Rafael, and a denser core of mid-rise condos and apartments around Old Pasadena, the Playhouse District and Lake Avenue. Each type of home asks for something different from a locksmith, and our residential locksmith page lists the full set of home services.

The job that needs the most care is heritage-sensitive rekeying. Pasadena has numerous designated historic landmark districts, and original early-1900s door hardware is still in service in many of them. Owners usually want to keep the original knobs, plates and mortise cases, not swap them for modern hardware. In many cases a lock can be rekeyed so old keys stop working and new ones take over, while the original hardware stays on the door. Our lock rekey page walks through how that works. Not every old lock can be rekeyed, because some are worn past saving or have missing parts. We look at it in person and tell you plainly which case you have.

Other common home jobs here include moving into a house or condo where you do not know who has keys, upgrading a weak deadbolt, setting up a smart lock, and replacing a mailbox lock. We do all of these, and we will tell you when a simpler fix is enough.

Business locks along Colorado Boulevard and South Lake Avenue

Pasadena has a busy retail and office scene, with storefronts along Colorado Boulevard in Old Pasadena and shops in the South Lake Avenue shopping district. Doors in those places get opened and closed constantly, and the hardware wears out faster than people expect. Our commercial locksmith page covers the full list, including storefront locks, panic bars, commercial door hardware, master key systems and access control.

The call we hear most from shops is about a door closer. When one goes weak, the door hangs open and the shop loses heat in winter and cool air in summer. When one goes too strong, it slams, damages the frame and wears out the latch. A door that does not close fully also does not lock, which becomes a security problem overnight. Our door closer repair page explains when an adjustment is enough and when the closer needs replacing.

Business work often has a time pressure that homes do not. If a storefront lock fails at closing time, someone has to stay on site until it is secured, and we treat that as urgent. If you manage more than one door, ask about a master key system, so you are not carrying a ring of keys that nobody can account for.

Car lockouts and keys in Pasadena

Car calls in Pasadena tend to cluster around places where people park and walk away for hours. Our local scenarios include car lockouts at Rose Bowl events and Brookside Park lots, and lockouts in the campus area near Pasadena City College and Caltech. Keys get locked inside, dropped in a bag that went somewhere else, or lost entirely. Our automotive locksmith page covers everything we do with vehicle keys, and our car lockout page covers getting into a locked vehicle.

Replacement keys are a different question, and we are careful here. Whether we can cut and program a new key depends on the make, model and year, and whether the car uses a transponder chip, a smart key or a remote fob. Some vehicles can be handled by a locksmith at your location. Some are dealer-only, or need information that only the manufacturer can release. We confirm by VIN and by looking at the car in person before promising anything, and if your car is a dealer-only case, we tell you so instead of letting you wait on us.

Before we make or program a key, we ask for proof that the car is yours. That is for your protection as much as ours.

How does a Pasadena call work, step by step?

The process is the same whether you are in a Craftsman bungalow or a mid-rise condo. Here is what happens.

1. You call (213) 577-1366. A person answers, day or night, and you describe the situation: what is locked, what kind of lock or car it is, and where you are.
2. We ask a few questions that decide the job: the type of door or vehicle, whether keys are inside, whether anyone is at risk, and whether the lock is damaged.
3. We tell you what the work will involve and what affects the cost, and we give a realistic arrival window based on traffic, since our base is in Westwood and Pasadena is 23 miles away.
4. A technician arrives in a mobile van with tools and common hardware. We ask for ID and proof you live at, own or manage the property, or own the vehicle.
5. We open, repair, rekey or replace, testing every lock and key before we leave so you know it works.
6. We explain what we did, point out anything else worth fixing, and give you copies of new keys if you need them.

What affects the cost of locksmith work in Pasadena?

We do not quote prices on a web page, because honest locksmith pricing depends on the specifics. Here is what moves it up or down.

Pasadena adds one real factor: distance. Our storefront is in Westwood, 23 miles from the city, so travel is part of any mobile call. Timing matters too, because late-night and holiday calls need a technician who is already on the road. We explain how these things apply to your call when you phone, before anyone is sent.

If a lock can be opened without damage and rekeyed, that is usually the more economical route compared with replacing the hardware. If the lock is worn, broken or unsafe, replacement is the honest answer, and we will say so.

• The kind of job: opening a door, rekeying, replacing a lock, programming a car key, or adjusting a closer all take different amounts of work.
• The lock itself: a standard deadbolt, a mortise lock in an older home, a high-security cylinder and an electronic access system differ in parts and labor.
• Condition: a worn or damaged lock can take longer to open, and may need replacing after it is open.
• Vehicle details: make, model, year and key type decide whether a key can be made on site or has to go through a dealer.
• Time and distance: nights, weekends, holidays and the drive from Westwood all play a part.
• Parts: new locks, cylinders, fobs or closers add to the total, and you can choose among grades when options exist.

The Pasadena picture: houses, weather and neighborhoods

We work across Pasadena's ZIP codes: 91101, 91103, 91104, 91105, 91106 and 91107. The city covers a lot of ground, and the lock problems change from one part of it to another.

In the older residential neighborhoods, such as Bungalow Heaven, Madison Heights, Garfield Heights and Normandie Heights, the concern is usually older hardware that is worth keeping. In Oak Knoll, San Rafael and Linda Vista, larger homes often have multiple entrances, side gates and outbuildings, so a rekey can mean a lot of cylinders. Hastings Ranch, Lamanda Park, Daisy Villa and Northwest Pasadena each have their own mix of homes, and we treat each address as its own case. In the core around Old Pasadena, the Playhouse District, the South Lake District and the Civic Center district, there are mid-rise buildings, shops and offices. Controlled-access condo and apartment buildings concentrate along the Metro A Line corridor.

Weather plays a part. Pasadena runs hotter than coastal Los Angeles in summer, and Santa Ana wind events come off the San Gabriels. Sun and dryness are the main stress on wood doors here. A door that has dried out can shift, warp slightly or drop, and then a lock that worked fine begins to bind or will not latch. Turning the key harder is not the answer. Along the northern foothill edge there is more wind-blown dust than on the flats, and dust works into cylinders and gate locks and makes them stiff. If a lock has started to feel rough, a service visit is usually better than waiting for it to fail.

Landmarks give you a sense of where our calls come from: events at the Rose Bowl Stadium, the campuses of Caltech and Pasadena City College, Pasadena City Hall, the Norton Simon Museum, Huntington Hospital and Brookside Park all bring people into one place and keep them there for hours. We have no special arrangement with any of them. We simply know how people end up locked out around them.

Why do Pasadena customers call Wilshire Lock & Key?

We are honest about the basics. We are a Westwood company, and Pasadena is 23 miles from our base. We are not around the corner, and we will not pretend to be. What we do offer is a company that has been in business since 1987, with a real storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd and mobile service vans, serving 140 cities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Our locations page shows where else we work.

When you call, you reach the company that does the work. There is no dispatch middleman who takes your call and sells it to whoever is nearby. David, the owner and lead technician, oversees the work, and that is who is accountable for it. When you phone, ask who is coming and what the job will involve.

One more thing worth knowing: California requires locksmith companies to hold a BSIS LCO license, which is the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services company license. Ask any locksmith you call, including us, for that license number, and check it against the state's records before you let anyone work on your home. A real company will not mind the question.

Neighborhoods and ZIP codes we cover

Pasadena areas we serve include Old Pasadena, Playhouse District, South Lake District, Civic Center district, Bungalow Heaven, Madison Heights, Oak Knoll, Linda Vista, San Rafael, Garfield Heights. ZIP codes: 91101, 91103, 91104, 91105, 91106, 91107.

Nearby service areas

• South Pasadena
• Altadena
• San Marino
• La Cañada Flintridge
• Sierra Madre
• Alhambra