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 Rowland Heights
If you’ve just bought a house in Rowland Heights or handed a key to a contractor who’s now gone, the question isn’t whether you need a rekey. It’s how fast someone can get it done and whether the price you’re quoted is the price you’ll actually pay. We rekey deadbolts, entry knobs, gate locks, and mortise cylinders throughout Rowland Heights every week, with a written price before we dispatch anyone and a live arrival time you can track. Call (409) 405-4485 and you’ll talk to a live person, not a voicemail tree.
Why Preston Locksmith & Security Is Rowland Heights’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
Rowland Heights homeowners call us because we tell them the truth about what a rekey costs before a technician ever gets in the van. No teaser number for one cylinder that magically becomes a $200 bill by the time the job’s done. Our Rekey Locks team works on the specific hardware this area was built with: original Kwikset and Schlage cylinders from the 80s and 90s sitting in mortise lock faces and deadbolts that haven’t been touched since the Clinton administration. We keep the common pin kits for these locks stocked, so a rekey off Colima Road moves as fast as one off Fullerton Road.
Kevin Yoon, our owner, has built the Rowland Heights operation around a simple rule: the price written on your estimate is the price on your invoice. Every job includes The Relay Visibility Guarantee, which means you get a live trackable arrival time, before-and-after photos of the lock work, and a written guarantee stamped on the repair. If something isn’t right, we come back free under our 365-Day Done Right Promise. Phones are answered by a live person 24/7. The technician at your door is background-checked, uniformed, and ready to show ID before touching a single lock.
Rekey Deadbolt in Rowland Heights
A Rekey Deadbolt job in Rowland Heights typically runs $25 to $45 per cylinder for standard Kwikset or Schlage hardware, with the exact price written down before we start. You need this when someone who used to have a key no longer should: a previous owner, a roommate who just moved out, the contractor who finished your kitchen remodel last spring, or the cleaning service you’re not using anymore. We remove the cylinder, swap the internal pin and tumbler set so the old key no longer works, and hand you a new set of keys. No new hardware. No door patching. The deadbolt itself stays exactly where it is.
Single-Side and Double-Cylinder Deadbolts
Single-side deadbolts, the kind with a thumb turn inside, rekey in about ten minutes per lock. Double-cylinder deadbolts, which need a key on both sides, take a bit more care because the cylinder has to be removed from both faces. We see plenty of these on Rowland Heights doors that back up to alley-style side yards, where a window could otherwise be broken to reach an interior thumb turn.
Older Deadbolt Cylinders and Worn Hardware
Some 80s-era deadbolts in Rowland Heights have cylinders that were never meant to be rekeyed more than a few times. When we open one up and find worn wafers or a loose tailpiece, we’ll tell you before proceeding and give you a flat price to replace just the cylinder core, not the entire deadbolt. You’ll never pay for hardware you don’t need just because the first cylinder looked rough.
Rekey House in Rowland Heights
A full Rekey House job in Rowland Heights, meaning every exterior door and gate set to new keys, typically runs $85 to $180 depending on the number of cylinders and whether we’re keying everything alike or building a key control system with separate keys for the front, back, and side gate. Most of our Rowland Heights customers choose this right after closing on a home. The title company hands you two keys that fifty people might have copies of, and you want every lock in the house using a key only you control before movers unload the first box.
Keyed Alike Versus Keyed Different
Keyed alike means one key operates every exterior lock. Most homeowners want this for daily convenience. Keyed different means the front door, back door, and side gate each use a separate key. We’ll set whichever configuration makes sense for your household and explain the trade-off before we start cutting. The price doesn’t change based on this choice.
Matching Existing Door Hardware
On Rowland Heights homes with original factory-finished doors and consistent hardware throughout, a house rekey is straightforward: remove each cylinder, swap the pin sets, lubricate everything lightly, and key it to the new set. We photograph each step and send the images to your phone, so you can see exactly what was done even if you’re at work while we’re at the house.
Trusted Brands We Service in Rowland Heights
We’re trained on premium hardware including Medeco and Abloy, but most Rowland Heights rekey calls involve everyday Schlage and Kwikset cylinders, exactly what the area’s 80s and 90s homes were built with. We stock a full range of Schlage and Kwikset pin kits, springs, and key blanks in our vans, which means a standard rekey doesn’t require a second trip back to the shop. If your home already has Medeco or Abloy high-security cylinders, we can rekey those too, with the same written price before work starts.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Rowland Heights Homes
- Teaser-priced phone quotes that balloon on arrival. A homeowner calls, gets quoted a low per-cylinder price, and then the tech shows up and starts adding charges for the trip, the second lock, the third key. We write the full price down before dispatch. The number you see on the estimate is the number on the invoice, full stop.
- Worn mortise lock bodies and misaligned strike plates. On older Rowland Heights doors, especially those that have shifted slightly with the area’s dry-season settling, the bolt can bind after a rekey if the strike plate is out of alignment. We check for this while the cylinder is out and adjust the strike plate if needed, so the new key turns smoothly from day one.
- Mixed hardware brands on the same house. Plenty of Rowland Heights homes have a Schlage on the front door, a Kwikset on the back, and an off-brand cylinder on the side gate. If we don’t confirm pin compatibility before dispatch, a tech can arrive without the right pins. We ask about your hardware by phone so the right kit is in the van on the first trip.
- Previous owners who still have a working key. We get calls from new homeowners who found out the hard way that the last owner’s cousin still had a key to the back door. A rekey kills every old key instantly. It doesn’t matter how many copies were made or who has them. None of them work once the pins are swapped.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Rowland Heights, CA
Here’s what you can expect to pay in Rowland Heights right now. Rekeying a standard Kwikset or Schlage cylinder runs $25 to $45 per lock, with most single-family homes needing three to five exterior cylinders done. A full house rekey with all exterior doors and gates keyed alike typically lands between $85 and $180. High-security cylinders like Medeco or Abloy cost more, usually $35 to $65 per cylinder, because the pin kits and key blanks are proprietary. We quote the full price over the phone before anyone is dispatched, and that price includes labor, pins, new keys, and any minor strike plate adjustment. There is no call-out surcharge added when the tech arrives. That is the entire point of The Relay Visibility Guarantee.
One more thing worth knowing: Rowland Heights has a high concentration of 1980s and 90s single-family homes, many still running original Kwikset or Schlage locks on doors and gates that open directly onto shared driveway walls and alley-style side yards. On these blocks, rekeying is often the fastest security upgrade available because the cylinders still fit the existing mortise lock faces and factory-finished doors. You avoid the cost of replacing hardware and the patching that comes with it. The lock body stays. Only the pins change. For an exact quote on your house, call (409) 405-4485. The estimate is free and the price is locked before a single tool leaves the bag.
We Also Serve Cities Near Rowland Heights
Our rekey crews cover Rowland Heights and the surrounding communities daily, including Walnut, Brea, La Puente, and Hacienda Heights. That means if you manage rental properties in Rowland Heights but live one town over, we can still meet you at the property with a written price and a live arrival time. For a full look at our coverage area, see Rekey Locks in Rowland Heights.
Serving Rowland Heights, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Rowland Heights 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 Rowland Heights
A standard rekey with three to five exterior cylinders takes about 45 minutes to an hour from the time we knock to the time we hand you the new keys. If the locks are older and need lubrication or a strike plate adjustment, budget up to 90 minutes. You’ll get a live arrival time before we dispatch, so you’re not sitting in a four-hour window wondering where we are.
No. We give you a written price over the phone before anyone is dispatched, and we never advertise a teaser number to get you off the line and then pad the bill later. The price you’re quoted is the price you pay. No trip fee, no dispatch fee, no last-minute add-on for the second door. Call (409) 405-4485 and ask for a quote on your specific locks. It takes two minutes.
Yes, in almost every case. The cylinder comes out of the lock, we swap the internal pin and tumbler set, and the cylinder goes back in. The deadbolt body, the faceplate, and the strike plate all stay. This works on the original Kwikset and Schlage hardware that’s common in Rowland Heights homes from the 80s and 90s. We only recommend replacing hardware when the lock body itself is worn to the point that rekeying wouldn’t fix the problem.
Have all the keys you currently use for the home gathered in one place, plus a list of every exterior door and gate you want included. If any lock is sticky or hard to turn, tell us on the phone so the tech brings the right tools for adjustment. You don’t need to remove any hardware or prep anything else. The technician will handle the rest and show you before-and-after photos when the job is done.
Our technicians arrive in uniform, drive marked vehicles, and carry ID they’ll show without being asked. You also receive a live trackable arrival time through The Relay Standard, so you can see who’s coming and exactly when they’ll pull up. If anything about the person at your door doesn’t match what you were told, don’t open the door and call (409) 405-4485. We’ll confirm on the spot.
If you need a rekey in Rowland Heights today, call (409) 405-4485 for a free estimate. A live person answers. You’ll get a written price before anyone is dispatched, a live arrival time you can track, before-and-after photos of the work, and our 365-Day Done Right Promise on top of it. That’s the way it should work, every single time.
Written by Kevin Yoon, Owner at Preston Locksmith & Security, serving Rowland Heights since the company’s founding in 2008.