When people rekey
- Just bought or moved into a home
- A tenant, roommate or employee left
- A key was lost or stolen
- Too many keys for too many doors
- Contractors, cleaners or a realtor had a key
- After a break-in, with the lock still sound
- Garage entry, side gate and back door onto the house key
- Rental units between every lease
What can be rekeyed, and what cannot
Most residential locks rekey easily: Kwikset, Schlage, Weiser, Yale, Baldwin, and the keyed cylinder on most smart locks, which is an ordinary cylinder behind the electronics. Kwikset SmartKey locks rekey with their own tool rather than by pinning. What rekeying cannot do is make two brands share a key when their keyways differ: a Kwikset key will never fit a Schlage cylinder. When a house has both, we swap the odd cylinder so everything matches, and we tell you which ones before we start. A worn or loose lock is also worth replacing rather than rekeying, because new pins in a tired lock only make a tired lock with new keys.
Where we rekey
Rekeys are most of what we do in the tract neighborhoods of Valencia, Saugus, Stevenson Ranch and Canyon Country, where whole streets were fitted with the same builder hardware, and in the rentals of North Hollywood, Van Nuys and Northridge, where units turn over every year. On the Westside we rekey by appointment.
Lock rekeying in 81 cities
Santa Clarita Valley: Canyon Country, Santa Clarita, Valencia, Stevenson Ranch, Newhall, Saugus, Castaic, Val Verde, Acton, Agua Dulce
San Fernando Valley: San Fernando Valley, Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Studio City, North Hollywood, Valley Village, Burbank, Glendale, Tarzana, Northridge, Reseda, Winnetka, Panorama City, Sun Valley, Lake Balboa, Valley Glen, Toluca Lake, Universal City
West Valley: Woodland Hills, Chatsworth, West Hills, Canoga Park
North Valley: Granada Hills, Sylmar, Pacoima, Mission Hills, San Fernando, Arleta, North Hills, Porter Ranch, Lake View Terrace, Shadow Hills
Crescenta Valley: La Crescenta, La Cañada Flintridge, Sunland, Tujunga, Montrose
Northeast LA: Eagle Rock, Atwater Village
Central LA: Hollywood, West Hollywood, Los Feliz
Las Virgenes: Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Hidden Hills
Santa Monica Mountains: Topanga
Conejo Valley: Westlake Village, Oak Park, Thousand Oaks
East Ventura County: Simi Valley, Moorpark
Heritage Valley: Fillmore, Piru, Santa Paula
Antelope Valley: Lancaster, Palmdale, Quartz Hill, Littlerock, Leona Valley
Westside, by appointment: Brentwood, West Los Angeles, Culver City, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Playa Vista, Venice, Santa Monica, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Westwood
Rekeying questions
Rekey or replace?
Rekey when the locks work well and you only want control of the keys; it costs much less. Replace when a lock is worn, loose, a cheap knob with no deadbolt, or a different brand that will not share your key. Most houses end up with a mix, and we say which door needs which at the door.
How long does a rekey take?
A few minutes per cylinder once we are there. A typical house, with the front, back, garage entry and a side gate, is well under an hour including cutting the new keys.
Can you rekey a smart lock?
Usually the key cylinder on it, yes, so the backup key matches the rest of the house. The code and app side is reset separately, and we can do both in the same visit.
How many keys do I get?
As many as you want. We cut them on site, and it is worth counting now who should hold one, because the point of a rekey is knowing exactly where every key is.
Want every door on one new key?
Text a photo of each lock and how many doors you have, and we will come back with a price.