Lock Rekey in San Marino, CA

What does a lock rekey actually do?

A lock rekey changes the inside of the lock cylinder so it works with a new key, and the old keys no longer turn it. The lock itself stays on the door. The knob, deadbolt or lever, the finish and the strike plate all remain in place, which matters in a city where so many front doors carry hardware chosen to suit the house.

Think of it as changing who has access without changing the hardware. If you are after a house rekey because you just closed on a property, or a home lock rekey because a set of keys has gone missing, rekeying is usually the first option worth looking at. You will also hear it called lock rekeying or a rekey service. The work is the same whatever name is on the invoice.

One honest limit: rekeying does not make a weak lock stronger. A rekeyed lock is exactly as secure as it was before, just with a different key set. If the lock itself is the problem, we will say so and point you toward a better fit rather than rekey something that should not stay on your door.

When should you rekey the locks in your San Marino home?

The trigger is almost always the same: you cannot say for certain who is holding a key to your door. These are the situations that bring most people to us.

Rekeying is not an emergency every time. Many people plan it for the week they get the house. But when keys are missing and the door is the only thing between a stranger and your belongings, it is worth doing promptly, and we are available at any hour.

• Rekey locks after buying a house: the sellers, their agents, past contractors, cleaners and relatives may all hold copies, and you have no way to count them.
• Rekey locks after moving: this applies when you move into a rental house or a family property too, because you inherit whatever key history came with it.
• Rekey locks after a tenant moves out: a tenant turnover rekey means the departing tenant's keys, and any copies they made, stop working before the next person moves in.
• Rekey locks after losing keys: if a ring went missing with an address attached, or you simply do not know where it ended up, new keys close that gap.
• After a change in who you trust: a former housekeeper, a finished contractor, a relationship that ended.
• To simplify your key ring: rekey all house locks so the front door, back door, side door and gate respond to one key instead of five.

How do we rekey your locks, step by step?

Rekeying is a hands-on job done door by door. Here is how a typical visit runs, whether it is one deadbolt or every exterior lock on a large property.

1. You call (213) 577-1366, day or night, and tell us what you have: how many doors, what the locks look like, and why you want them rekeyed. Photos of the keyholes and any brand names on the hardware help.
2. A mobile van comes to the property. We may ask for reasonable confirmation that you live at or control the address before we change who can open it.
3. We look at each lock before touching it. We check that it turns freely, that the cylinder is not worn out, and that the door and latch line up. A lock that is failing mechanically is a different job from a lock that just needs new keys.
4. We agree the plan with you before work starts: which locks, how many keys, and whether you want everything on one key or separate keys for certain doors.
5. We remove the cylinders, reset their internals to the new key, and reassemble them. Where a particular cylinder cannot be rekeyed, we tell you and offer a swap for that one lock only.
6. We test every lock with the new key, confirm the old key no longer works, and check that each door latches properly.
7. You get your new keys, and if you need more copies we can cut them. See our key duplication service for that.

Rekey, change the locks, or replace them: which one fits?

These three get mixed up, and the choice affects both cost and security, so it helps to know the difference before you call.

Rekeying keeps the lock and changes the key. It suits locks in good working order that you simply want under a new set of keys. Changing locks means swapping the hardware for different hardware, which is what you want if you also want a different style, finish or grade. Our change locks service covers that. Replacement is for locks that are damaged, worn through or failing, and our lock replacement page explains when it is the right call.

A few rules of thumb we use at the door:

• If the lock works smoothly and you like how it looks, rekeying is usually the more economical route.
• If the lock is loose, sticky, cracked or badly worn, rekeying only puts new keys into a problem, so replacement makes more sense.
• If you want stronger protection against picking, drilling or key copying, look at high-security locks rather than rekeying standard hardware.
• If you want to stop carrying keys altogether, a smart lock is a separate project and not a rekey.

How much does lock rekeying cost in San Marino?

We do not quote numbers on a web page, because the honest answer depends on your doors. What we can do is tell you exactly what moves the cost up or down, so there are no surprises when you call.

We explain the cost on the phone based on what you describe, and we confirm it at the property once we have seen the locks and before we start the work.

• Number of cylinders: a single deadbolt is a smaller job than every exterior lock on a large property.
• Type of lock: standard residential cylinders are the simplest. Mortise cylinders, high-security cylinders and specialty keyways take more care and sometimes special parts.
• Condition: a healthy lock rekeys cleanly. A worn or damaged one may need a cylinder swapped, which changes the work.
• Key arrangement: putting every lock on one key can take more effort than rekeying each lock independently, especially when the locks are different brands.
• Number of keys: more keys cut means more time and material.
• Time of day: after-hours and emergency calls cost differently from a scheduled daytime visit.
• Distance: San Marino is roughly 22 miles from our Westwood base, and that travel is part of the job.
• Residential or commercial: business hardware often involves different cylinders and more doors to coordinate.

What about the original mortise locks on older San Marino homes?

San Marino's housing is almost entirely single-family, and much of it was built in the 1920s and 1930s in Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor, Monterey and other period styles. Many of those homes still have their original mortise locksets and period door hardware. That hardware is part of the house, and ripping it out for an off-the-shelf replacement often costs the door its character.

Rekeying is frequently the better path here. In many mortise locks the keyed cylinder is a separate piece from the lock body, so we can rekey or swap the cylinder while the original case, trim, handles and finish stay on the door. Some very old mortise mechanisms work differently, and we will not promise anything until we have looked at yours in person.

Heat matters too. San Marino sits in the inland San Gabriel Valley, with hot, dry summers, and that heat can swell wood doors and pull older mortise hardware out of alignment. A lock that sticks in August is not always a cylinder problem. Sometimes the door has shifted against the latch. When we rekey a period lock we check the fit of the door as well, so you do not end up with fresh keys in a lock that still binds. Salt-air corrosion is not an issue this far from the coast, so wear here tends to come from age, use and heat rather than weather damage.

Rekeying across San Marino: Lacy Park, Huntington Drive and ZIP 91108

Most of our work in 91108 comes down to one question: how many exterior doors does this property have? On the large lots around the Lacy Park area and the Huntington Library area, the answer is often more than people expect, with a front door, rear doors, side doors and sometimes gates. A full rekey of all those cylinders is a bigger visit than a standard house, but it is the same job: new keys, same hardware.

Home sales are a regular reason for a rekey. After a sale near San Marino High School, buyers often want every lock on one fresh set of keys before the first night in the house. We do these full-house rekeys, and we can schedule them for the day you get the keys or handle them at odd hours if your move runs late.

Along the Huntington Drive corridor, fenced lots mean gate locks and side-door locks carry as much weight as the front door. If a gate latch needs repair rather than new keys, our gate lock repair page covers that. If you are locked out of the house while sorting out lost keys, start with house lockout service, and we can rekey afterward.

We also work the Oak Knoll border area near Pasadena and the El Molino Viejo and Old Mill area. Wherever you are in the city, the vans come to you.

Can you rekey a business, a rental or a tenant-turnover property?

Yes. Commercial rekey and business lock rekey follow the same logic as a house: keep the hardware, change the keys. The difference is the number of doors, the type of cylinders and who needs access. San Marino's small Mission Street business district is mostly storefronts, and the usual reasons for a commercial lock rekey are a change of ownership, a departing employee, a lost shop key or a new tenant taking over a space. For anything bigger than a rekey, such as new door hardware or multiple access levels, see our commercial locksmith page.

Apartment lock rekey is a different story here. San Marino's zoning allows essentially no apartment development, so you will rarely find a multi-unit building to rekey in the city. What you will find are single-family homes that owners rent out. If you own one, a tenant turnover rekey between occupants is the cleanest way to make sure the last tenant's keys, and any copies, no longer work. If you manage rentals more broadly, our page for landlord locksmith services goes into how we handle turnover work.

Why call Wilshire Lock & Key for a rekey?

We have been in business since 1987, and rekeying is one of the oldest jobs in the trade. We run a storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood along with mobile service vans that reach customers across 140 cities in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, San Marino included.

When you call (213) 577-1366, you reach us, not a call center that sells your job to whoever is closest. We are one company, with no dispatch middlemen between your phone call and the person at your door. David, the owner and lead technician, oversees the work. The line is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, year-round.

One more thing worth knowing: California requires locksmith companies to hold a BSIS LCO license. Ask any locksmith who comes to your door for it. A real one will not mind the question.

More locksmith help in San Marino

• Change Locks in San Marino
• Deadbolt Installation in San Marino
• Gate Lock Repair in San Marino
• High Security Locks in San Marino
• Key Duplication in San Marino
• Lock Installation in San Marino
• All services in San Marino

Lock Rekey near San Marino

• Pasadena
• South Pasadena
• San Gabriel
• Alhambra
• Temple City
• Arcadia