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 East Palo Alto
Rekey locks in East Palo Alto typically costs $25 to $45 per cylinder for most Schlage and Kwikset hardware, with mortise locks on older homes running $65 to $120 per lock. Most jobs take under an hour once we’re on site. Call (409) 405-4485 and you’ll get a live person who can quote the work before anyone is dispatched.
We know East Palo Alto block by block, from the 1950s ranchers off Pulgas Avenue to the newer townhomes near University Avenue and the ADU builds popping up throughout the city. That local knowledge matters because the age of your locks, not your zip code alone, drives the real price. You’ll get a written price before our tech leaves the truck, a live arrival time you can track, and before-and-after photos of every cylinder we touch. That’s how we work in East Palo Alto, on every job, no exceptions.
Why Preston Locksmith & Security Is East Palo Alto’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
Preston Locksmith & Security has been doing this since 2008, and our Rekey Locks team has handled everything from single deadbolts in East Palo Alto apartments to full door-by-door counts on homes with converted garages and backyard ADUs. We’re independently owned and operated, part of the Relay Home Co. family, and every tech who shows up in East Palo Alto is background-checked and in uniform. No anonymous contractors, no phone tag, no wondering who’s at the door.
Our East Palo Alto customers keep calling us back because the price we quote on the phone is the price on the invoice. Always written, always before the work starts. It’s the Relay Standard: a written price before work begins, a live trackable arrival time, before-and-after photos, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If a rekey isn’t done right, we make it right, free second visit included. That matters when you’re standing in a 1950s house on Cooley Avenue holding a key that doesn’t work.
We answer the phone 24/7 with a live person. No voicemail trees. When you call from East Palo Alto, you’re talking to someone who can schedule the work, not a callback queue. Response times to most East Palo Alto neighborhoods are same-day, and we’ll tell you the exact window before you commit. You’ll see your tech’s live location, you’ll know what they look like, and you’ll know the price hasn’t changed since the first call.
Lock Rekey in East Palo Alto
Lock rekey in East Palo Alto means swapping the internal pins inside your existing cylinder so old keys stop working, without replacing the hardware itself. It’s the right move when you buy a home, fire a contractor, end a lease, or lose a key you can’t account for. A standard Schlage or Kwikset deadbolt rekey in East Palo Alto runs $25 to $45 per cylinder, with the written price confirmed before we start turning any screws.
Residential Door Lock Rekey
Most East Palo Alto homes we visit need every exterior door on one key, and that usually means four to six cylinders when you count the front door, back door, side garage entrance, and any ADU add-on. We rekey all of them to match, cut fresh keys, and test each lock in front of you. The per-cylinder price drops slightly when you do the whole house at once, and we’ll give you that number up front, in writing.
New Home and Tenant Changeover Rekey
Bought a place off Willow Road or Newell Road? You don’t know who has copies of the old keys. We rekey every exterior lock on day one, and we can key the garage or an ADU separately so tenants or guests can’t access the main house. It’s not uncommon for East Palo Alto homes with converted garages to have five or six exterior locks the previous owner forgot to mention. We count them all door by door before we quote.
Locksmith Rekey in East Palo Alto
Locksmith rekey in East Palo Alto is the same core job, done by a licensed pro who carries multiple pin kits and cylinder tools for mixed hardware. When a house has Schlage on the front door, Kwikset on the back, and a Medeco on the garage, one generic pin set doesn’t cut it. We stock specific pin kits for Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, and Yale, and our tech picks the right one for each cylinder so key control actually holds. A mixed-hardware rekey in East Palo Alto typically runs $25 to $45 per standard cylinder and $65 to $120 for mortise or high-security locks.
Key-A-Like and Master Key Systems
Some East Palo Alto homes have a mix of old and new locks that no longer share a single key. We can rekey everything to one key, or set up a simple two-level master system for homeowners with an ADU or a locked home office. We recently rekeyed a 1950s ranch off Pulgas Avenue where the front door still had a mortise lock and the back slider used a Kwikset pin-and-tumbler cylinder. We swapped in fresh pins, cut new keys, and handed the homeowner a master key system so the new tenants on the ADU add-on could not open the main house.
Office and Commercial Rekey
Small business owners in East Palo Alto, from offices near Bay Road to shops along University Avenue, call us when an employee leaves or a master key goes missing. We rekey the affected cylinders, issue new keys, and document everything. Commercial jobs are scheduled and surveyed, not dispatched blind, and you get a written scope with a flat per-lock price before we begin.
Trusted Brands We Service in East Palo Alto
Our techs carry dedicated pin kits and cylinder tools for Schlage, Kwikset, and Medeco, plus Yale hardware on most trucks. That means we’re not forcing one generic pin set across different lock brands on your East Palo Alto property. A mortise lock on a 1960s front door takes different pins than a modern ANSI Grade 1 deadbolt on a 2020 townhome near Cooley Avenue. We stock what East Palo Alto’s housing actually uses, so the rekey is done the same visit, not scheduled for a second trip after we “order parts.”
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in East Palo Alto Homes
- Mixed hardware on the same property. A pre-1960 front door with a mortise lock next to a Kwikset deadbolt on the back door and a Medeco on the garage. A single generic pin set doesn’t work across those three, and trying it anyway breaks key control.
- Undercounted locks. The caller says two doors, but East Palo Alto homes with converted garages and backyard ADUs often have five or six exterior locks. We do a door-by-door count before the written price, not after we arrive.
- Legacy mortise locks on old single-wall houses. These need a different cylinder tool, a different pin kit, and more time than a modern deadbolt. A flat “per lock” quote that assumes modern hardware is wrong for a lot of East Palo Alto homes.
- Smart lock and deadbolt combos. A Kwikset smart lock on the front door and a standard Schlage deadbolt on the side entrance. Both can be rekeyed to one key, but the smart lock needs a specific pin kit and a rekey tool that not every locksmith carries.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in East Palo Alto, CA
Rekey locks in East Palo Alto run $25 to $45 per standard Schlage or Kwikset cylinder, $65 to $120 per mortise or Medeco high-security cylinder, and an additional $15 to $25 each for new keys cut on site. A typical whole-house rekey with five cylinders lands around $125 to $225. The written price you get on the phone is the price on the invoice. No call-out surcharge added when the tech arrives, no “we found something” upcharge after the first lock comes apart. If a door needs a cylinder replacement rather than a rekey, we tell you the new number in writing before any parts come off the truck.
We Also Serve Cities Near East Palo Alto
Preston Locksmith & Security serves East Palo Alto and the surrounding Bay Area communities. If you’re in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, or San Francisco, our crews can reach you with the same written price, live arrival tracking, and 365-Day Done Right Promise. Call (409) 405-4485 and we’ll get you scheduled.
Serving East Palo Alto, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the East Palo Alto 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 East Palo Alto
We ask how many exterior doors you have and what kind of locks they are: Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, or older mortise hardware. From that, we give you a per-cylinder price range in writing, and the final written quote is confirmed before any work starts. Most East Palo Alto rekeys run $25 to $45 per standard cylinder and $65 to $120 for mortise locks. Call (409) 405-4485 to get your exact number.
A single deadbolt takes about 15 minutes. A whole house with four to six cylinders, mixed hardware, and new keys cut on site usually takes 45 to 75 minutes. Older mortise locks on East Palo Alto’s pre-1960 homes add about 20 minutes each. We’ll give you a realistic time window when you call, and your tech’s live arrival time is tracked on your phone.
Yes. We carry separate pin kits for Schlage, Kwikset, and Medeco, and our techs know which cylinders take which pins. That’s actually one of the most common mixed setups we see in East Palo Alto, with Schlage on the front door, Kwikset on the back, and a Medeco or Yale on the garage or ADU. Using one generic pin set across those brands is how key control quietly fails, so we don’t do it. Reach us at (409) 405-4485 to schedule a mixed-hardware rekey.
Your tech arrives in a Preston Locksmith & Security uniform, shows a company ID before stepping inside, and matches the name and photo you received when the dispatch was confirmed. You also get a live trackable arrival time through the Relay Visibility Guarantee, so you can watch the truck pull up on your street. Every job gets before-and-after photos and a digital invoice with a payment link. Call (409) 405-4485 to book, and we’ll send you the tech’s name and arrival window before they head your way.
Yes. Mortise locks on East Palo Alto’s pre-1960 single-wall homes require a different cylinder tool, a specific pin kit, and more labor than a modern Kwikset or Schlage deadbolt. Expect $65 to $120 per mortise cylinder versus $25 to $45 for a standard pin-and-tumbler cylinder. Some older mortise locks are too worn to rekey cleanly, in which case we quote a cylinder replacement in writing before any work starts. Call (409) 405-4485 and we’ll walk you through what your specific doors need.
Written by Kevin Yoon, Owner at Preston Locksmith & Security, serving East Palo Alto and the Bay Area since 2008.