Non-destructive entry first, always - and we re-key Schlage, Kwikset, and Baldwin locks on the spot while you watch
You get a price before we start. It does not change when we arrive. No surprises.
Fast, Reliable Rekey Locks Across Citrus
Rekeying a lock in Citrus means swapping the internal pins so your old keys stop working, without replacing the hardware itself. A standard rekey of a Kwikset or Schlage deadbolt in Citrus typically runs $85 to $145 per cylinder, and the price is confirmed in writing before our technician leaves the dispatch lot. If you have a house or rental on the I-210 corridor between Citrus Avenue and the 605, our Residential Locksmith in Citrus can usually be at your door within 45 to 60 minutes. Call (409) 405-4485 and a live person answers, any hour, any day.
Why Preston Locksmith & Security Is Citrus’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
Citrus homeowners call us because we do two things most locksmiths won’t. First, we give you a written price before anyone is dispatched, and that price matches the invoice exactly. No on-site “discovery” charges, no bait pricing. Second, our technicians are background-checked, uniformed, and arrive with a live trackable ETA you can watch on your phone. Kevin Yoon, who leads our team, set that standard in 2008 and it hasn’t moved since.
We cover the full Citrus area: the Citrus Heights tract, the streets north of Arrow Highway, and the older neighborhoods near Palm Drive where 1960s and 70s homes still carry original Schlage and Kwikset cylinders. Our techs know those locks by feel. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers every rekey we do in Citrus. If it’s not done right, we make it right, backed by a written guarantee stamped on the job. No exceptions, no fine print.
Rekey House in Citrus
A Rekey Locks job for a whole house in Citrus means every exterior lock cylinder gets new internal pins, so one new key opens every door and every old key is dead. Most Citrus tract homes built between 1955 and 1985 have two or three exterior locks: a front deadbolt, a knob or handle set, and sometimes a rear door. Rekeying all of them typically runs $180 to $320 total for a standard 3-bedroom home, written price confirmed before we start.
What the Work Actually Involves
We pull each lock cylinder, replace the pin stacks so the old key no longer turns, and cut fresh keys on the spot. No drilling, no new hardware required as long as the cylinders aren’t cracked or worn past service. On original 1960s Kwikset deadbolts, which are everywhere in Citrus, we check the cylinder plug for wear and re-pin only if it still turns smoothly. If it’s too worn, we’ll tell you before we touch it, with a firm price for replacement.
When Citrus Homeowners Call Us
The most common trigger is a rental turnover. Tenant moves out, property manager or landlord on Citrus Avenue wants every lock rekeyed before the next tenant gets keys. Our Commercial Locksmith in Citrus handles these rekeys regularly. The second most common: a roommate leaves, or a contractor who had a key finishes the job. We rekey the whole house so nobody with an old key can walk in. Job takes 20 to 35 minutes for a standard single-story home.
Lock Rekey in Citrus
Lock rekey in Citrus differs from rekeying a house in one way: you might need just one cylinder done, not all of them. A single Schlage B60 deadbolt rekey in Citrus runs $85 to $130, including two new keys cut on site. We handle Rekey Locks in Citrus for single doors, detached garage side doors, and pool gates. The process is the same: pull the cylinder, swap the pins, cut new keys, test the key turn three times before we bag the old pins.
Single-Lock Rekey Timing
One cylinder takes about 15 minutes once the tech is at the door. The longer part is the drive to Citrus in traffic on the 210, which is why we give you a live arrival window with a trackable link instead of a vague four-hour range. Our dispatch coordinates from the Los Angeles office, and Citrus crews are staged nearby during peak hours. You get a real ETA, not a guess.
When One Lock Is Enough
Sometimes you don’t need the whole house rekeyed. A garage door got a new handle, or a pool gate lock was replaced and now it’s on a different key than the front door. We’ll rekey just that cylinder to match your existing house key, so you carry one key instead of three. That runs $35 to $55 extra on top of the cylinder rekey if we’re already on site.
Trusted Brands We Service in Citrus
We service Schlage and Kwikset deadbolts, the two brands that dominate Citrus tract homes from the 1955 to 1985 build era. We also carry Medeco and Abloy cylinders for Citrus homeowners who want bump-resistant, drill-resistant hardware on their front doors. Our techs stock common Schlage and Kwikset pins, springs, and key blanks in the truck, so we don’t need to run to a supply house mid-job. If you have a Baldwin or Yale entry set on a newer Citrus home, we service those too.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Citrus Homes
- Worn cylinders on original 1960s and 70s Kwikset deadbolts. The plug gets sloppy after 50 years of use. A rekey won’t fix a worn plug. We tell you before we re-pin it, and the price for a new Schlage B60 or Kwikset 660 is under $60 installed when bundled with the rekey.
- Mis-matched keys after a hardware change. Someone replaced the front door handle with a new Kwikset but never rekeyed it to match the deadbolt. Now you have two keys. We rekey the new cylinder to your existing key in about ten minutes.
- Mortise locks on older Citrus apartments. 1960s and 70s apartment and condo buildings along Citrus Avenue often have mortise locks that need specific pinning and a faceplate check before the rekey will hold. A standard pin set won’t work. We know this before we quote, so the price you hear on the phone is the price on the invoice.
- Tenants gone but deadbolts unchanged. Property managers rekey the knob but leave the deadbolt on the old key. The tenant walks back in through the deadbolt. We rekey both cylinders on every exterior door as a standard practice on rental turnovers.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Citrus, CA
Here’s the plain math for Citrus. A single deadbolt rekey runs $85 to $145. A whole house with two exterior doors runs $180 to $280. Three doors with a knob, deadbolt, and rear entry runs $260 to $380. The price includes labor, pins, and two keys per cylinder. What moves the price? High-security cylinders like Medeco or Abloy cost more to rekey because the pins and key blanks are proprietary. And if a cylinder is too worn to hold a rekey, you’re looking at $45 to $90 for a new Schlage or Kwikset cylinder installed. We give you the full price by phone before a truck moves. The price you hear is the price on the invoice. Call (409) 405-4485 for an exact quote – estimates are free, and nobody gets dispatched without your go-ahead.
One thing worth saying straight: we don’t advertise a teaser price. No “$19 rekey” bait. The Citrus homeowners who call us after a bait-pricing experience tell us the final bill was three or four times what they were promised on the phone. We won’t play that game. The price is in writing before we start, period.
We Also Serve Cities Near Citrus
Our rekey crews cover Citrus and the surrounding areas. If you’re in Citrus and need us, call (409) 405-4485. We also dispatch to Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco for scheduled rekey work. Same written-price guarantee, same background-checked techs, same live arrival tracking.
Serving Citrus, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Citrus area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Rekey Locks in Citrus
Every technician arrives with a Preston Locksmith & Security uniform, a photo ID, and your written quote already in the system. You’ll get a live trackable link with the tech’s name and photo before they arrive, so you see the same face at the door that you saw on your phone. We don’t subcontract rekey work in Citrus.
All of our Citrus jobs are done by our own background-checked technicians, backed by Kevin Yoon’s team. Call (409) 405-4485 and ask for verification if you ever want it. The answer is yes, every time.
Most of the time we can rekey it without replacing anything. The cylinder pins get swapped, new keys get cut, and the old key is dead. We’ll test the plug for wear first. If the cylinder is still mechanically sound, a rekey is all you need. If it’s too sloppy, we’ll show you the play in the plug and give you a fixed price for a new cylinder before we do anything.
Call (409) 405-4485 and describe the lock. We’ll give you a realistic price over the phone before we dispatch.
Rekeying costs less and keeps the existing hardware. We swap the internal pins so old keys are dead, then cut fresh keys for you. Replacing means new hardware: new deadbolt, new handle set, new strike plate. On a Citrus rental turnover, rekeying is usually enough unless the hardware is damaged or you want a keypad or smart lock upgrade. We’ll give you both prices on the phone: the rekey price and the replacement price, so you choose with real numbers in front of you.
No. The price you get for a rekey is the same Saturday night as it is Tuesday morning. On-call dispatch, weekend work, and after-hours rekey calls are included, not surcharges. We answer the phone 24/7 with a live person, and the price is confirmed before dispatch, regardless of when you call.
Call (409) 405-4485 any time. The person who answers can quote your job immediately.
We service both. A smart lock with a key cylinder can be rekeyed the same way as a traditional deadbolt – we swap the internal pins and your old physical keys stop working. The keypad programming stays as is, and the new physical key operates the keyed cylinder. If your smart lock has no key cylinder and is keypad-only, there’s nothing to rekey; we can reprogram the access codes and remove old user codes instead.
Tell us the lock brand and model when you call (409) 405-4485. We’ll tell you over the phone whether a rekey or a reprogram is the right move, and what it costs.
How a Citrus Rekey Quote Works: The Whole Process, No Surprises
Here’s exactly what happens when you call Preston Locksmith & Security for a rekey in Citrus. You call (409) 405-4485. A live person answers. You describe the locks: how many doors, what brand, what’s going on. We give you a written price range for your specific job. You approve the quote. Only then, a Citrus technician is dispatched. You get a live trackable link with the tech’s name, photo, and ETA. The tech arrives, confirms the on-site price matches the phone quote, and does the work. You get before-and-after photos of the lock cylinders, a digital invoice with a pay link, and a written guarantee on the job.
One of our Citrus calls went like this. A homeowner on North Citrus Avenue in the Citrus Heights tract called after a tenant moved out and her old key still opened the front door. Our tech confirmed the original Schlage B60 deadbolt was structurally sound, pulled the lock cylinder, replaced the pins so the old key was dead, and left two fresh keys. All done in under 25 minutes without drilling. We quoted the job before the truck was dispatched, and the on-site price matched the phone quote exactly. That’s the standard, for every rekey in Citrus, every time.
If you need a Rekey Locks job done in Citrus, call (409) 405-4485. Free estimate, written price, live arrival time. We’ll beat the bait-pricing runaround with a simple number you can trust before anyone shows up.
Written by Kevin Yoon, Owner at Preston Locksmith & Security, serving Citrus since 2008.