Change Locks in Pomona, CA

Should you rekey or replace when you change locks in Pomona?

Most people who call about a lock change in Pomona fall into one of a few groups. They just got the keys to a house. They moved into a place where earlier occupants may still hold keys. A key went missing, or a relationship ended and someone still has access. Everyone wants the same outcome: doors that open only for the people who should be able to open them.

The confusing part is the word change. In the trade it can mean two different jobs. Rekeying keeps the lock body you already have and swaps out the internal pins so the old keys stop working and a new key takes over. Replacing means taking the lock off the door and installing different hardware. Either way, the old keys are dead afterward. Which one fits depends on the condition of the hardware, what you want the lock to do, and whether the door itself is in good shape.

That decision is the heart of this service. We would rather look at your doors and tell you plainly what they need than sell you new hardware you don't need, or rekey a worn-out lock that will fail on you next year.

How do you change locks after buying a house?

If you've just closed on a home in Pomona, changing the locks should be one of the first things you do, ideally before you spend a night there. You have no way of knowing how many copies of the old keys exist. Previous owners, their relatives, agents, contractors, a neighbor who was handed a spare, a dog walker from three years ago. A lockbox on the door during the sale puts more hands on the property. Changing the locks resets that list to zero.

A locksmith for new homeowners is also a useful second pair of eyes. A walk around the exterior doors often turns up things a home inspection report doesn't dwell on: a deadbolt that doesn't fully throw, a strike plate held on with short screws, a sliding door with no secondary lock, a garage side door with only a basic knob lock. We'll point these out, and you decide what, if anything, to deal with now. If you're looking for a locksmith for a new house, this is the order that works well:

1. List every way into the property: front door, back door, side doors, the garage service door, sliding doors, and any gate.
2. Gather every key that came with the house, including garage, mailbox and outbuilding keys, so we know what has to match.
3. Decide whether you want one key that works on every door, or a separate key for certain doors.
4. Tell us who needs keys now and who might later, such as family members, a cleaner or a tenant, so we cut the right number.
5. Let us inspect each door and recommend a rekey, a replacement, or a mix of both.
6. Test every lock with the new keys before we leave, and keep the spares somewhere that isn't under the doormat.

How we change your door locks, step by step

When you call (213) 577-1366, a person answers, any hour of the day or night. We ask about the door, the lock brand if you know it, and what is prompting the change. From there, this is how a typical lock change goes:

1. We talk through your situation on the phone and tell you honestly whether it sounds like a rekey, a replacement, or something we need to see in person before we say.
2. A mobile locksmith van comes to your Pomona address. Our storefront is at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood, and our own vans do the traveling. Your job is not passed to a dispatch broker or a subcontractor.
3. We confirm you live at the property or have the authority to change its locks. A photo ID plus a lease, closing paperwork or a utility bill is normal. A trustworthy locksmith asks, and it protects you too.
4. We inspect each lock: how smoothly the key turns, whether the handle is loose, how worn the latch is, how the door sits in its frame, and how the strike plate lines up.
5. Before any work starts, we explain your options and what is driving the cost, so there are no surprises when we finish.
6. We rekey or replace the locks, cut the new keys, and fit everything back on the door cleanly.
7. We test each lock several times with the door open and closed, and we show you how to use anything new, such as a keypad or a different deadbolt.

How do we decide between rekeying and replacing?

There is no universal answer, but there are patterns we see over and over. Here is how we think about it at the door:

• Rekey when the locks are sound, a standard brand, and you like how they look. Your main goal is cancelling old keys, and lock rekeying is usually the more economical route for that.
• Replace when a lock is worn, loose, corroded, or damaged, for instance after a forced-entry attempt or years of heavy use. A tired lock that is rekeyed is still a tired lock.
• Replace when you want something rekeying can't add, such as a keypad, an app-connected lock, or a lever handle that is easier on arthritic hands. That is where lock replacement or smart lock installation comes in.
• Mix the two when it makes sense. Many homes do well with the existing knobs rekeyed and a new deadbolt installed on the doors that need more than a knob lock.
• Replace when the hardware is a patchwork of unknown brands. Some mismatched or damaged locks simply can't be rekeyed reliably, and we'll tell you so rather than force it.

What affects the cost of changing locks?

We won't quote numbers on a web page, because the real figure depends on your doors. What we can do is tell you exactly what moves the cost up or down, so you can judge any quote you receive, ours included.

Whatever the job, you should know the full cost before work begins. Be wary of a rock-bottom phone quote that grows once the technician is on your porch. We explain the factors on the phone and confirm them at the door.

• How many locks are involved. A single front door is a different job from a house with five entries plus a garage door.
• Rekey or replace. Rekeying reuses your hardware, so it is generally the lighter-cost option. Replacement adds the cost of the new lock itself.
• The grade of hardware. A basic builder-grade deadbolt and a high-security cylinder with restricted keys are very different products.
• Special features. Keypads, smart locks, and keyed-alike setups across several different lock brands add work or parts.
• Condition of the door. If the bore holes are damaged or the door has swollen and no longer meets the latch, fixing that is separate from the lock itself.
• How many keys you need. More copies mean more cutting time.
• Time of day. Our phones are answered around the clock, and after-hours or holiday calls can be priced differently from a scheduled daytime visit.
• Travel. Pomona is about 43 miles from our Westwood base, so distance is a real factor in how we plan the visit.

Changing locks in Pomona's historic districts, tracts and apartments

Pomona isn't one kind of housing, and the right lock change depends on which kind you live in. We serve all of Pomona's ZIP codes, including 91766, 91767 and 91768, and the work looks different from one block to the next.

The Lincoln Park, Wilton Heights and Hacienda Park historic districts hold much of the city's Victorian, craftsman and period revival housing. Period hardware service for Victorian and craftsman homes in Lincoln Park is a regular kind of request. Homes of that age can carry older locksets, heavy original doors, and trim you don't want chewed up by a careless install. In many of those cases, rekeying is the better way to change locks, because you keep the original hardware and its look while the old keys stop working. If a lock is too worn to rekey or the set is missing parts, we'll show you what is wrong and talk through replacement options that suit the door.

Much of the rest of Pomona is postwar tract housing, and Phillips Ranch in the southwestern hills is a planned community from the 1980s. In neighborhoods like Ganesha Hills, North Pomona, South Pomona and Phillips Ranch, a house that has had the same locks since it was built is common enough, and builder-grade hardware may have been through a lot of years and a lot of hands. That's another reason to change locks soon after buying: we can rekey the set to one key, or replace the tired ones, and you start fresh.

Pomona's inland valley climate matters too. Summers are hot and dry, with periodic Santa Ana winds, and wood doors and frames expand and stick during prolonged heat. If your door binds or the bolt doesn't line up with the strike in August, a new lock won't cure that on its own. We check the alignment before we install anything, and tell you if the door needs adjusting so your fresh lock doesn't wear out fighting the frame.

Along the denser corridors, such as Holt and Garey, security screen doors are common, and that screen door's lock often gets forgotten in a lock change. If it uses a key, ask us to include it so one key set covers everything.

Changing locks after moving into a rental or apartment

Moving into an apartment or rental is a different situation from buying. Who may change the locks depends on your lease and your landlord, so check with them first. In many buildings the landlord handles it or has to approve it. If you're a tenant and the landlord agrees, we can do the work and cut keys for you.

Near Western University of Health Sciences downtown and the apartment buildings along Holt and Garey, rekeys between residents are a normal part of how a building runs. The same goes for student housing near Cal Poly Pomona, where tenants turn over frequently and a key that walked off with last year's roommate is a real concern. If you're locked out while you sort out a move-in, our apartment lockout service is a separate call, and we'll gladly take it.

Property owners with several doors to turn over each season should look at our locksmith for landlords service. A planned rekey between tenants is almost always smoother and more economical than an emergency change later.

What to do after your locks are changed

The new lock only helps if you handle the key side well. A few habits keep the benefit of the change:

• Hand out keys deliberately. Know how many exist and who holds each one.
• Order spares now, from the original key set rather than a copy of a copy. Our key duplication service covers that, and cutting from the original keeps the fit accurate.
• Change any codes that aren't physical keys: garage keypad, alarm panel, and any smart lock user codes.
• Check the less obvious entries, like a side gate, shed or storage cage, that may still use the old key.
• Keep the receipt or notes on what was installed, so a future locksmith knows what is on your doors.

Why call Wilshire Lock & Key for a lock change?

Plenty of companies advertise lock changes in Pomona. Here is what is different about ours, stated plainly:

• We have been in business since 1987. We have seen almost every kind of lock, door and mistake that comes with changing them.
• We have a real storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles 90024, plus mobile service vans. You aren't calling a number that routes to an unknown operator.
• It is one company. The person who answers is part of the same outfit that sends the van. There is no dispatch middleman taking a cut or making promises for someone else.
• David, the owner and lead technician, oversees the work and the standards behind it.
• Phones are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round, at (213) 577-1366.
• We serve 140 cities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and Pomona is one of them. We say openly that it's a drive from Westwood, because that is part of what shapes the visit.

What should you ask any locksmith before they change your locks?

Locksmithing is a trade where the customer is often stressed and in a hurry, which is exactly when bad actors do their worst work. A few questions protect you with any company:

California requires locksmith companies to hold a BSIS LCO license. Ask any company, ours included, for its license number before work begins, and check it with the state if you want to be sure.

Ask for the full cost before anyone touches the lock. Ask whether they are recommending a rekey or a replacement, and why. Ask whether the technician is from the company you called or a subcontractor. And be cautious if anyone wants to drill out a lock that could simply be rekeyed. A straight answer to these questions tells you most of what you need to know.

More locksmith help in Pomona

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

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