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 Albany
Rekeying a lock in Albany typically costs $95 to $160 for the first cylinder and $25 to $45 per additional cylinder, with most houses finished in under an hour. The written price you get on the phone is the price on the invoice, no arrival surcharge and no upsell once we’re at your door. We serve every Albany neighborhood from the flats near San Pablo Avenue to the hills above Marin, usually within 45 to 60 minutes of your call to (409) 405-4485.
If you just moved into a house off Solano, had a tenant leave a unit on Adams Street, or lost a key somewhere between the Bulb and your front steps, rekeying is the fast fix. We swap the internal pins inside your existing lock so old keys stop working and new keys take over. The hardware stays on the door. Nothing gets replaced unless it actually needs to be.
Why Preston Locksmith & Security Is Albany’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
Our Rekey Locks team has worked Albany’s mix of pre-war bungalows, mid-century ranches, and newer infill for years. That matters because the lock on a 1928 Marin Avenue house is not the same job as the lock on a 2016 condo near San Pablo Avenue. We know both. We carry cylinders and pinning kits for both on the truck.
Kevin Yoon leads our local operation. When you book, you get a written price before anyone is dispatched, a live trackable arrival window, and before-and-after photos of every cylinder we touch. That’s the Relay Visibility Guarantee, and it applies to every rekey in Albany no exceptions. We’re not sending an anonymous subcontractor in an unmarked van. The technician at your door wears a Preston uniform, has a background check on file, and already knows the job details from the office.
The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers every rekey we do. If a cylinder we pinned stops working correctly within a year, we come back and fix it free. No phone tree, no case number, no argument. You call, a person answers, and we schedule the return visit.
Lock Rekey in Albany
Lock Rekey in Albany means opening each lock body, pulling the old pins, and installing a new pin set matched to a new key, so every old key that used to turn that cylinder goes dead. On a typical Albany house built before 1940, the front door often has a mortise lock body that takes a different cylinder and a different pinning approach than the Kwikset or Schlage deadbolt on the back door. We identify each lock type by phone before dispatch, quote by cylinder, and arrive with the right parts.
What Gets Rekeyed
Most Albany jobs cover exterior doors: the front entry, a back or side door, sometimes a garage walk-through. We also rekey interior locks like bedroom doors or home-office doors when a homeowner wants selective access. Every cylinder on the job gets keyed to the new key unless you tell us otherwise.
Typical Albany Costs
Count on $95 to $160 for the first cylinder, which includes the service call to any Albany address, then $25 to $45 for each additional cylinder. A full exterior rekey on a two-door bungalow usually lands between $120 and $205 total. The figure is written down before we head your way.
Locksmith Rekey in Albany
Locksmith Rekey in Albany is the service Albany homeowners and small landlords call when they need every exterior door to stop accepting an old key without replacing the hardware itself. It’s the standard move after a move-in, a tenant turnover, a divorce, a roommate departure, or a key that went missing somewhere between the Albany Library on Marin and the Little League fields at Cougar Field. We rekey each cylinder to a fresh key and hand you as many copies as you need.
New Keys, Same Locks
The locks stay on your doors. The metal housing, the latch, the deadbolt throw, the strike plate: all untouched. Inside the cylinder, we swap out the tumblers and springs so the old key physically cannot align the pins anymore. You get new keys, and the old ones become useless brass.
When It’s the Right Call
Rekeying makes sense when the lock itself works fine but you’re unsure who holds a working key. If the cylinder is damaged, the latch is grinding, or the deadbolt wobbles, we’ll tell you plainly before any work starts. We don’t sell replacement hardware a rekey would solve.
Trusted Brands We Service in Albany
Most Albany doors carry Schlage, Kwikset, or Yale hardware, and we stock pinning kits for all three on the truck so a same-day rekey doesn’t turn into a parts wait. On the higher-security side, we regularly work on Medeco and Baldwin cylinders, including the mortise lock bodies common on pre-war houses west of San Pablo Avenue. If your Albany home has a Baldwin full-mortise lock from the 1930s or a high-security Medeco deadbolt, we carry the cylinders and pinning depth charts to rekey them properly. No drilling, no damaging original trim, no replacing a handsome old lock that just needs fresh pins.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Albany Homes
- Mortise lock bodies on 1920s and 1930s bungalows. Houses along Marin Avenue, Key Route Boulevard, and the flats near Pierce Street often have original mortise lock bodies with a separate cylinder that unscrews from the edge plate. A flat-rate rekey quote that assumes a modern deadbolt will miss this, and then the tech arrives without the right cylinder. We ask about your door hardware on the phone.
- Mixed lock brands on the same house. An Albany house might have a Schlage deadbolt on the front door, a Kwikset on the back, and an old Yale night latch on a side door. Three different pin depths, three different cylinder types. We carry all three pinning kits so one visit finishes the job.
- Tenant turnover on duplexes and ADUs. Albany has a lot of rear cottages, in-law units, and split-level duplexes. When a tenant moves out, the owner needs every exterior door rekeyed the same day. We rekey main-house doors and the ADU to different keys if you want, or all to one key. Your call.
- Drilling where drilling wasn’t needed. On older Albany doors, a stuck latch can feel like a failed cylinder. A less careful tech drills the lock, ruins the hardware, and charges for replacements. We check the latch, the strike plate alignment, and the cylinder tailpiece before any destructive step. Most locked-out Albany calls end with a non-destructive entry.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Albany, CA
Our standard rekey in Albany runs $95 to $160 for the first lock cylinder, including travel to any Albany address, then $25 to $45 for each cylinder after that. A mortise lock body found on pre-war bungalows typically adds $40 to $70 per mortise cylinder because the cylinder unit itself costs more than a standard deadbolt cylinder. A full exterior rekey on a typical two-door Albany house lands between $120 and $230. You’ll get the exact figure in writing after we ask a few questions about your doors. No charge for the estimate, no added dispatch fee when the tech arrives, and no price change between the phone call and the invoice.
We Also Serve Cities Near Albany
We run the same rekey standards in Albany and the surrounding East Bay cities: El Cerrito, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Richmond. If you manage rental property across the city line or need a rekey at a commercial space near the Berkeley border, the written price and the trackable arrival work the same everywhere we go.
Serving Albany, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Albany 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 Albany
Yes. A mortise lock cylinder on an Albany bungalow costs $40 to $70 more per cylinder than a standard deadbolt rekey because the cylinder unit itself is more expensive and takes longer to pin correctly. We’ll ask about your door hardware when you call so the quote reflects the actual locks on your house, not an assumption. Call (409) 405-4485 and describe your front door; we’ll tell you the exact price before dispatch.
Most Albany rekeys take 30 to 60 minutes on site for two or three exterior doors. A single deadbolt rekey can be done in about 20 minutes. Older mortise lock cylinders add a little time because the cylinder needs to be fitted back into the lock body cleanly. You’ll see before-and-after photos of every cylinder we pin.
The technician arrives in a Preston uniform with a photo ID and knows your job details before knocking. You’ll get a live trackable arrival time when you book, so you’ll see who is coming and when. That’s the Relay Visibility Guarantee, and it’s baked into every Albany rekey. The written price you approved on the phone is the same price on the invoice.
Yes. Rekeying changes the internal pins so the old keys no longer turn the lock, and you get a set of new keys matched to the new pin configuration. If you want multiple locks to work on one key, we can do that. If you want different keys for different doors, like a separate key for an ADU or tenant unit, we key them separately.
Yes. We rekey individual cylinders to new keys, and when a landlord wants a master key that opens every unit while each tenant key only opens their own door, we set that up at the rekey visit. This is common on Albany duplexes along Washington Avenue and cottage-in-back situations. Tell us the door count and which doors the master key needs to operate, and we’ll quote the full setup before dispatch. For a master key system, we schedule a short survey rather than a same-day dispatch, and you get a written scope with a flat per-cylinder price.
Written by Kevin Yoon, Owner at Preston Locksmith & Security, serving Albany rekey needs with written pricing and trackable arrivals.