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 Santa Monica
Rekeying a lock in Santa Monica typically costs $25 – $45 per cylinder for standard Kwikset or Schlage hardware, and most jobs are done in under an hour. If you’ve just closed on a condo near Wilshire Boulevard, lost a key somewhere between the Santa Monica Pier and Main Street, or a tenant moved out of an Ocean Park rental, we can rekey every lock so the old keys stop working. Call (409) 405-4485 and you’ll get a written price before we dispatch anyone.
We know Santa Monica’s housing stock; the pre-war bungalows, the 1960s courtyard apartments, the newer condos above retail on Montana Avenue. That matters because rekeying a 1920s mortise lock takes different work than a modern deadbolt, and we’ll tell you the real price for your actual lock before anyone shows up.
Why Preston Locksmith & Security Is Santa Monica’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
We’re the Rekey Locks team that Santa Monica property managers call when a tenant turns over a unit and every key needs to change hands. The reason is simple: we tell you the price before we dispatch, and the technician who arrives is the same background-checked, uniformed pro you expected. Kevin Yoon runs the crew, and he holds the standard that a written guarantee comes with every rekey, no exceptions.
Santa Monica customers get a live trackable arrival time, so you’re not sitting in a four-hour window guessing when we’ll show. Before-and-after photos come with the job, which matters when you’re a landlord who needs proof the locks were actually rekeyed. Our phones are answered by a live person 24/7, no voicemail tree, and we carry parts for the hardware you’ll actually find in Santa Monica: Schlage deadbolts on mid-century apartments, Kwikset knobs on Ocean Park rentals, Baldwin hardware on higher-end homes north of Montana.
Rekey House in Santa Monica
A Rekey House job in Santa Monica means changing the internal pins in every exterior lock cylinder so every old key stops working, without replacing the hardware itself. That’s the distinction: rekeying is different from replacing. You keep the existing locks, we swap the pin stack inside, and you get new keys. If you just bought a house in Sunset Park or closed on a condo near the 10, this is the first thing we recommend.
What a Whole-House Rekey Involves Here
We remove each lock cylinder, replace the pins to match a new key, and test every lock with the new key in front of you. A typical Santa Monica single-family home has three to four exterior locks, which puts most whole-house rekeys at $75 – $180 total, written price confirmed before we start. The old keys become useless immediately.
When Homeowners Call for This
New home purchase, lost keys, a roommate or tenant moved out, or a contractor who had a key and shouldn’t anymore. Any time you can’t account for every copy of your key, rekeying beats changing locks because the existing hardware on older Santa Monica homes often matches the door better than cheap replacements.
Lock Rekey in Santa Monica
Lock Rekey in Santa Monica is the hourly-basis description of the same pin-swapping work, but scaled to whatever you have: one lock, five locks, a mix of deadbolts and knob locks on a rental property. We charge per cylinder, not a mysterious hourly rate that inflates while the tech is stuck in traffic on Lincoln Boulevard.
Rental Turnover in Multi-Unit Buildings
Santa Monica has a dense stock of rent-controlled apartments, which means property managers need rekeys on a tight schedule between tenants. We handle master-keyed buildings where each unit key has to fit the unit lock but also work within the building’s master system. That requires re-pinning each cylinder to the correct hierarchy, not just swapping pins at random. Our team is trained on Medeco and Mul-T-Lock master key systems alongside the everyday Schlage and Kwikset keyways.
Commercial Storefronts and Office Suites
A storefront on Third Street Promenade or an office suite near the Expo Line terminus needs rekeying when an employee leaves or a manager changes. We re-pin the cylinder and can key multiple doors alike so one key opens what it should and nothing else. Pricing for a commercial lock rekey runs $30 – $60 per cylinder depending on the hardware grade.
Trusted Brands We Service in Santa Monica
We rekey Kwikset, Schlage, Medeco, Yale, Baldwin, Mul-T-Lock, Sargent, and Abloy hardware, no adapter plates or “it’s too old” excuses. Because so much Santa Monica housing was built before World War II or during the mid-century apartment boom, we carry pins and cylinder parts for both original mortise locks and modern pin-and-tumbler deadbolts. If your Baldwin mortise lock on a San Vicente home needs the cylinder removed, cleaned, and re-pinned by hand, we do that on site. If your rental on 14th Street has builder-grade Kwikset knobs, we rekey those in about ten minutes per lock.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Santa Monica Homes
- Worn original mortise cylinders. Ocean Park and Sunset Park bungalows from the 1920s often have the original mortise lock on the front door. The cylinder is gummed up with 80 years of dust and coastal air, and the old key barely turns. Rekeying alone won’t fix it; sometimes the cylinder needs replacement first, and we’ll show you exactly why before recommending that.
- Builder-grade deadbolts with loose pin stacks. Many Santa Monica rentals use the cheapest Kwikset or Schlage deadbolt available at the time of construction. Pins wear down, keys wobble, and the old key still half-works after a rekey. We rebuild the pin stack, not just drop in new pins.
- Smart locks with prior user codes still active. A tenant moves out of a Wilshire corridor condo with a keypad entry. The physical rekey happens, but the app still has the old tenant’s code. Rekeying the cylinder doesn’t clear the app. We’ll flag this and walk you through deleting every prior code so key control actually passes back to you.
- Master key system mismatches. A building manager on Franklin Avenue calls for a simple unit rekey, but the building runs a master key system. A cheap rekey that ignores the hierarchy leaves the master key not working or a unit key working on the wrong door. We re-pin to the building’s existing system, and we ask about master keys before touching anything.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Santa Monica, CA
We Also Serve Cities Near Santa Monica
Beyond Santa Monica, we run rekey calls into Marina del Rey, Culver City, Beverly Hills, and El Segundo. If you manage a property in one of those and a unit turns over mid-week, the same crew and the same written-price guarantee apply. We schedule the route to keep drive time from eating your afternoon.
Serving Santa Monica, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Santa Monica 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 Santa Monica
How long does a rekey take on a typical Santa Monica apartment or bungalow?
Most Santa Monica apartments and bungalows take 30 to 60 minutes for a full rekey. A simple Kwikset deadbolt rekeys in about ten minutes per lock. An original 1920s mortise lock on an Ocean Park bungalow takes longer, often 20 – 30 minutes per cylinder, because the cylinder has to be removed, cleaned, and the pin stack rebuilt by hand. Call (409) 405-4485 for a time estimate on your specific locks.
Can you rekey a Kwikset or Schlage lock without replacing the whole deadbolt?
Yes. Rekeying swaps the internal pins, not the exterior hardware. We rekey Kwikset and Schlage locks every day in Santa Monica rental units, and the lock stays on the door. You only replace hardware when the cylinder is worn or frozen beyond repair, which we’ll show you with the lock in hand before suggesting.
Does rekeying work on a smart lock or keypad entry in Santa Monica?
It works on the physical cylinder, but not on the app. If your lock has a keypad or smart controls, rekeying the cylinder makes the old physical key stop working, but old codes may still work through the keypad or phone app. We’ll clear prior user codes with you during the visit or tell you exactly how to do it so the old tenant or contractor loses access completely.
How do we know the person at the door is actually from the locksmith we called?
You’ll get a live trackable arrival time before dispatch, and the technician arrives in uniform with a photo badge. The price was already in writing, so the person at your door knows the same number you approved. Before-and-after photos of the work get sent to your phone, which is the Relay Visibility Guarantee: written price, live arrival tracking, photo proof, written guarantee.
What if the rekey is more expensive than the phone quote once you see the lock?
If the lock is what you described on the phone, the written price holds. If the cylinder is frozen, the master key system is more complex than mentioned, or the hardware is Baldwin or Medeco instead of Kwikset, we pause and give you a new written price before any additional work starts. You never get a bill that swelled between the quote and the invoice.
Written by Kevin Yoon, Owner at Preston Locksmith & Security, serving Santa Monica with flat-rate rekey work and the 365-Day Done Right Promise.