Change Locks in Sun Valley, CA

Should you rekey or replace your locks in Sun Valley?

People say change locks and mean two different jobs. Rekeying keeps your existing hardware and swaps the internal pins in each cylinder, so the old keys stop working and a new key takes over. Replacing means taking the lock off the door and installing different hardware. Both end with locks that only your keys open, but the route, the cost and the leftover wear are not the same.

Most Sun Valley callers who ask us to change door locks really want one thing: every key that existed before today should stop working. If the hardware is in decent shape, rekeying is usually the more economical route to that. If the lock is worn, damaged, loose, or simply not what you want on your door, replacement makes more sense. We'll tell you which one your door needs, and we won't talk you into hardware you don't need.

Our lock rekey service and lock replacement service pages go deeper on each job. This page is about making the call between them.

Not sure which one you need? That's the most common thing people tell us, and it's a fair place to start. Describe what's on the door and we'll walk you through it over the phone at (213) 577-1366.

Why change locks after buying a house or moving in?

When you buy a house or move into a new place, you hold only the keys you were handed. You can't know how many others exist. Previous owners, their relatives, agents, contractors, a house cleaner, a neighbor who watered the plants: any of them may have kept a copy, and nobody has to be doing anything wrong for that to happen. A lock change closes the question in one visit.

That's why a locksmith for new homeowners is usually one of the first calls after closing, and why a locksmith after moving makes just as much sense for renters. Ideally the locks are changed before your first night, or at least before the moving boxes are out and the doors are propped open all day.

The people who could still be holding a key are usually these:

• Previous owners or tenants, and anyone they handed a spare to
• Agents, lockbox users and contractors who had access during the sale or repairs
• Relatives, friends or house sitters from the previous household
• Anyone who found a lost key or was given one that was never returned

How does a lock change work, step by step?

Here is how a typical lock change goes with us, whether it's a weekday afternoon or the middle of the night.

1. You call (213) 577-1366. A person answers, any hour, any day of the year. Tell us what's going on: a new house, lost keys, a roommate moving out, or just not knowing where to start.
2. We ask about the doors. How many locks are there, what kind (knob, lever, deadbolt, older mortise-style), how old are they, and does anything stick or feel loose? Photos help if you can send them.
3. A technician comes to you in one of our mobile vans. You deal with our own company from first call to finish, not a dispatcher who hands your job to a stranger.
4. On site we look at every lock in person. Some will be fine to rekey and some should be replaced, and we explain why door by door so you decide with the facts in front of you.
5. We do the work, then test it: the new key in every lock, the old key on any rekeyed lock to confirm it no longer turns, and the door closing and latching the way it should.
6. We hand over your keys and talk through extra copies and keyed-alike options, so you aren't carrying a ring of six unrelated keys.

How do you decide between rekeying and replacing?

Think of it as a short checklist for each door. Different doors in the same house can end up with different answers, and that's fine.

One honest caveat: rekeying only changes which keys the lock answers to. It doesn't make a weak lock strong. If a basic knob lock is the only thing protecting your front door, the real question may not be rekey or replace but whether to add a deadbolt. We'll point that out, and you decide.

Occasionally we open a lock and find the answer is different from what it looked like outside: a cylinder worn past the point of rekeying cleanly, or mismatched parts from an earlier repair. When that happens we tell you before we change course.

• Rekey if the hardware is sturdy, turns smoothly, and you like it. The only problem is who might have keys.
• Rekey if you want several doors on one key. Keyed-alike setups are possible when the cylinders are compatible.
• Rekey if the finish and style are right and worth keeping, which matters on older homes with original hardware.
• Replace if the lock is worn, sticks, spins loose, or the latch doesn't hold reliably.
• Replace if the cylinder is damaged, was forced, or has a history of broken keys.
• Replace if you want a stronger deadbolt, higher-grade hardware, or a keypad or app-based lock. Our smart lock installation page covers that route.
• Replace if parts are missing or no longer available, so a dependable rekey isn't realistic.

What affects the cost of changing locks?

We don't put numbers on a web page, because honest pricing depends on your actual doors. Here is what moves the total.

Ask any locksmith for the full total before work starts, including the trip, labor and parts, and be wary of anyone who won't give it. Rekeying a handful of sound locks is generally the lighter-cost path compared with replacing every one of them. But a worn lock that gets rekeyed and fails a month later isn't a saving, so we'll be straight with you about when rekeying is the smart choice and when it isn't.

• How many locks and cylinders are involved, counting deadbolts, knobs, side doors and gates
• Rekey versus replace, since replacement adds the cost of the hardware itself
• Hardware grade, brand and finish if you're replacing
• Whether the hardware is older or unusual and needs extra care or sourcing
• Keyed-alike requests and how many keys you want cut
• The condition of the door and frame, if something needs adjusting for the lock to work properly
• Time of day, since nights, weekends and holidays can affect the total
• Where you are relative to our storefront and vans

Why call Wilshire Lock & Key for a lock change?

We've been in business since 1987, working from a storefront at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood with mobile vans that go out to customers across 140 cities in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Sun Valley is about 17 miles from our storefront, and the vans come to you.

When you call, you reach our own company, not a dispatch service that sells the job to whoever is available. David, who owns the company and leads our technicians, oversees how we work, including the habit of telling you plainly when the lighter-cost option is the right one and when it isn't.

One more thing worth knowing: California requires locksmith companies to hold a BSIS LCO license. Ask any locksmith for it before they touch your door. It's a fair question and a good locksmith won't mind it.

Changing locks in Sun Valley: what the neighborhood looks like at the door

Sun Valley sits in ZIP code 91352, and its housing gives lock changes a flavor you wouldn't find in a newer subdivision. Much of the area is postwar single-family bungalows and ranch houses from the 1940s through the 1960s. Houses that age have usually been through several owners, repairs and rounds of hardware, which is one more reason to change the locks after buying a house here. The key history is long.

The Stonehurst tract is known for 1920s river-rock cottages, and many of them keep vintage hardware. Before recommending anything we look at what's on the door. Old hardware is sometimes worth keeping and rekeying, and sometimes it's too worn to trust. We'd rather keep a good original piece working than swap it for the sake of swapping. Where a particular piece can't be rekeyed, we say so plainly and talk through the options rather than guess.

Along the Glenoaks Boulevard corridor you'll find apartment pockets, and a lock change there often comes with a question about the mailbox after a tenant turns over. Our mailbox lock replacement page covers that side of it.

Near the Shadow Hills edge, horse-zoned lots mean ranch properties with more than one entry: the house, gates, outbuildings. Rekeying ranch properties is a real Sun Valley job, and the question is usually how many separate keys you want to carry. Keyed-alike rekeying can often pull several locks onto one key, while a worn gate latch is a different problem, handled under gate lock repair.

We also work the Roscoe Boulevard and Sunland Boulevard corridors, the Sun Valley Park area, La Tuna Canyon and the streets near Hansen Dam. The San Fernando Road industrial corridor is mostly business work, such as yard gates and commercial padlocks, which is separate from a home lock change.

Do Sun Valley heat and Santa Ana dust change the answer?

They can. Hot, dry summers in the eastern San Fernando Valley can swell wooden doors and frames. A swollen door rubs, and the bolt may land off-center in the strike plate. People often blame the lock and sometimes replace a perfectly good one. If your key turns hard only in summer, or the deadbolt needs a shoulder push to throw, tell us. A binding door needs adjustment at the hinges or strike, and a new lock won't fix that.

Seasonal Santa Ana winds carry dust that works into exterior lock cylinders. A gritty, sticky cylinder is a common reason a key feels rough. Sometimes cleaning and the right lubricant are enough. A cylinder that has been dragging for years is often better replaced than rekeyed, since rekeying disturbs the same worn parts. We check this in person so you aren't paying to rekey something that's on its way out.

Winters here are mild, with the occasional damp marine-layer morning, so in our experience the dust and the summer heat matter more for hardware decisions.

Rentals, landlords and other situations

Tenants: a lock change in a rental starts with your lease and your landlord. Many leases limit what you can alter, so ask first. If your landlord approves, we can rekey rather than replace, which keeps the original hardware in place and is easier to put back later.

Landlords and property managers: changing locks between tenants is routine, and rekeying is usually the practical choice, since the hardware stays and only the keys change. Our locksmith for landlords page covers turnover work in more detail.

Upgrades: if the real concern is that the existing locks are easy to defeat, a lock change is a good moment to improve them. Our high-security locks page explains what that means in practice.

Locked out right now: a planned lock change and an emergency lockout are different jobs. If you can't get in, start with house lockout. We can talk through the lock change afterward.

What should you have ready when you call?

You don't need to know lock terminology. A few details save time and let us give you a better answer on the phone.

• How many exterior doors and gates need new locks, and any interior doors that matter
• Whether each lock is a knob, lever or deadbolt, or something older
• Roughly how old the house or the hardware is
• Anything that sticks, rattles, spins or feels loose
• Whether you want all doors on one key
• Whether you own the property or rent, and whether the landlord has approved the change

More locksmith help in Sun Valley

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

Change Locks near Sun Valley

• Pacoima
• North Hollywood
• Burbank
• Arleta
• Panorama City
• Lake View Terrace