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 Half Moon Bay
Rekeying a lock in Half Moon Bay typically runs $25 to $45 per cylinder for standard Schlage or Kwikset hardware, and most homes are done within 45 minutes of our technician arriving. When you call Preston Locksmith & Security at (409) 405-4485, you’ll get a written price before anyone is dispatched, a live arrival time you can track, and a uniformed, background-checked technician who knows exactly what Half Moon Bay’s salt air does to lock cylinders. We serve the entire coastal stretch from Princeton-by-the-Sea to the Highway 92 corridor, and we’re familiar with the older knob locks in Arleta Park, the newer deadbolts in the Ocean Colony tracts, and everything in between.
Why Preston Locksmith & Security Is Half Moon Bay’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
Half Moon Bay homeowners keep our number because we answer the phone with a live person, every time, including 2 a.m. on a foggy Tuesday. No voicemail tree. No callback queue. We’ve rekeyed hundreds of locks across Half Moon Bay since 2008, and our technicians know the difference between a cylinder that just needs new pins and one that has been eating Pacific salt mist for a decade.
Our team is led by Kevin Yoon, who has built Preston Locksmith & Security around one promise that matters more than any sales pitch: the written price you approve before work starts is the exact price on your invoice. That’s the Relay Visibility Guarantee, and it includes a live trackable arrival time, before-and-after photos of every job, and a written guarantee on every repair. If it’s not done right, we make it right, free, for 365 days. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it applies to every rekey job in Half Moon Bay.
We also know what coastal hardware actually survives here. That means we stock marine-grade Schlage cylinders, stainless steel strike plates, and corrosion-resistant padlocks locally, so you’re not waiting on a part to ship from a warehouse in Sacramento while your front door won’t lock.
Keyed Alike in Half Moon Bay
Keyed Alike in Half Moon Bay means rekeying every exterior lock on your property so a single key opens them all: front door, back door, side gate, garage entry, shed. It’s the most common request we get from homeowners on Alsace Lorraine Avenue, Main Street, and the hillside streets off Higgins Canyon Road, because most Half Moon Bay homes were built with whatever hardware the original contractor had on the truck, which means three different keys for four different doors.
The job itself involves removing each lock cylinder, swapping the internal pins so they match a single key pattern, and reassembling everything. No new hardware is needed unless the cylinder itself is too far gone. For a standard three-door home in Half Moon Bay, keyed alike work typically runs $75 to $135 total, written price confirmed before we start.
Why one key matters more near the coast
When the fog rolls in on a winter evening, you don’t want to be fumbling through a ring of six keys on a dark front porch. Half Moon Bay homeowners with keyed alike locks get inside faster, and they stop guessing which key goes where. We also rekey new construction in the Ocean Colony and Miramar areas, where builders often install mismatched lock brands that have never been on a single key.
The rekeying process, step by step
We remove the cylinder, decode the existing key or re-pin to a new one, lubricate the internals with a corrosion-resistant lubricant, and test the key in both directions before we call it done. If we find a cylinder that’s too corroded to rekey, we show you the photos and give you a replacement price before we touch anything else.
Rekey Deadbolt in Half Moon Bay
Rekey Deadbolt in Half Moon Bay is the smartest first move after you move in, after a tenant leaves, or after a contractor has been working in your home. A deadbolt rekey costs $25 to $45 per cylinder in Half Moon Bay, which is far less than replacing the whole lock, and it’s done in about 15 minutes per deadbolt once we’re on site.
The work involves pulling the cylinder out of the deadbolt, replacing the pins so old keys stop working, and putting it back together with new springs if the old ones have gone flat from salt exposure. You keep the same exterior hardware, but every old key is dead. If you’ve recently bought a house in the Frenchman’s Creek or Wavecrest neighborhoods, rekeying every deadbolt should be on your first-week checklist.
Deadbolt-only rekeys for rental turnovers
Landlords in Half Moon Bay often call us between tenants for a deadbolt-only rekey, skipping the knob locks to keep costs tight. That’s a legitimate approach for vacation rentals near the Ritz-Carlton and beach cottages on Miramar Drive, where turnover is constant and you need fresh keys fast. We handle those as scheduled jobs with a written per-lock price, and we can leave a set of keys with your property manager.
When the deadbolt can’t be rekeyed
Some ocean-facing deadbolts in Half Moon Bay have been so thoroughly worked over by salt fog that the cylinder is beyond saving. The pins seize, the plug won’t turn, and even the key won’t go in without force. In those cases we replace the cylinder with a marine-grade Schlage or stainless steel unit, then rekey the rest of the house onto that key. We’ll show you the old cylinder and explain exactly what failed before we quote the replacement.
Trusted Brands We Service in Half Moon Bay
Our technicians carry parts and pin kits for Schlage, Kwikset, and Yale locks, which covers the vast majority of what’s installed in Half Moon Bay homes. We also service Medeco high-security cylinders for commercial properties on Main Street and the harbor area, and we can order Medeco keys cut to code when you need restricted keyways. Because we stock local inventory for Half Moon Bay customers, we can usually rebuild a corroded Schlage deadbolt or rekey a Kwikset knob lock on the first visit, without a follow-up appointment. If you have a Baldwin handle set on your front door, we’ll work on that too, though we typically recommend marine-grade Schlage cylinders for ocean-facing doors because the hardware holds up measurably better against salt corrosion.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Half Moon Bay Homes
- Seized cylinders from marine-layer salt: The pin and tumbler stack inside exterior lock cylinders rusts together when salt-laden fog gets into the keyway year after year. The key won’t turn, and rekeying the existing cylinder is a waste of money because the core is already fused.
- Pitted strike plates and face plates on ocean-facing doors: Zinc and brass hardware flakes and pits within a few seasons near the bluff. The bolt binds, then the screws strip out of the jamb, and suddenly the deadbolt won’t seat even though the key works fine.
- Corroded padlocks on gates and sheds: Cheap zinc-alloy padlocks on side gates and garden sheds seize into a solid block within two seasons in Half Moon Bay. By the time you want to rekey, there’s nothing left to rekey, and you’re shopping for a stainless steel replacement instead.
- Mismatched lock ages across one house: Additions and remodels in older Half Moon Bay neighborhoods leave homes with a mix of 1980s Kwikset knobs and brand-new Schlage deadbolts. Rekeying all of them onto one key means working with different cylinder types in a single visit, which is routine for us but trips up a lot of generalist locksmiths.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Half Moon Bay, CA
A standard rekey in Half Moon Bay runs $25 to $45 per cylinder. A typical three-door home, keyed alike, lands between $75 and $135 total. If a cylinder is too corroded to rekey, a marine-grade Schlage cylinder replacement adds $35 to $65 per lock, and you’ll see that price in writing before we install anything. We charge a flat labor rate for the first hour in Half Moon Bay, and we don’t add a separate call-out surcharge on top of that. Every job gets a written price before work starts, and that price is the price on your invoice. Call (409) 405-4485 for a free estimate on your specific locks.
We Also Serve Cities Near Half Moon Bay
Our Rekey Locks team covers the full Half Moon Bay coast plus the nearby communities of El Granada, Burlingame, Millbrae, and Belmont. If you’re just over the hill or up the coast, we can usually reach you the same day with the same written-price guarantee we give our Half Moon Bay customers.
Serving Half Moon Bay, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Half Moon Bay 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 Half Moon Bay
Because the existing cylinder is often too corroded to rekey, so the job turns into a cylinder replacement plus a rekey on the remaining locks. That’s the direct answer, and it happens more in Half Moon Bay than almost anywhere else on the Peninsula. Salt fog off the ocean gets into the keyway, rusts the pins together, and by the time you want a rekey, that Schlage or Kwikset cylinder from the original build is a solid block of corrosion. The written price you get before work starts will include any replacement cylinders you need, so there’s no surprise. Call (409) 405-4485 and we’ll walk you through what’s likely on your specific doors.
Marine-grade stainless steel and quality solid brass hardware survive, while zinc-alloy, pot metal, and cheap plated steel do not. For cylinders we recommend marine-grade Schlage or Kwikset with corrosion-resistant springs and a dry-film lubricant. For strike plates and face plates, stainless steel holds up where the standard brass plated plates flake and pit within two or three seasons. We stock these specifically for Half Moon Bay jobs because the same hardware that works fine in San Mateo gives out fast once it’s breathing ocean air every night.
Yes, keyed alike rekeying is one of our most requested services in Half Moon Bay, and it’s done the same day we arrive. We’ll pull each cylinder, re-pin it to a single key, test every door, and hand you a set of keys that opens everything. If some locks are too far gone to rekey, we’ll replace just those cylinders and match them to the same key. A three-door property typically runs $75 to $135, with the written price set before work begins. Estimate is free, call (409) 405-4485.
Probably not. If the key won’t turn at all, the pins and springs inside that cylinder have likely rusted into a mass from years of salt exposure. We see this constantly on ocean-facing doors in Half Moon Bay, especially on older Kwikset deadbolts. Attempting a rekey on a seized cylinder is a waste of money because the core is already fused. The fix is a marine-grade replacement cylinder, rekeyed to match the rest of the house, and we can do that in the same visit. We’ll show you the old cylinder so you can see exactly what failed, then give you a written price before we install anything.
Yes. For lockouts in Half Moon Bay we use non-destructive entry methods whenever possible, which means picking or bypassing the lock without drilling. Once you’re inside, we can rekey the lock on the spot so the old keys no longer work, and we’ll give you a written price for the rekey before we do it. If the lock is a high-security Medeco or a Baldwin handle set, non-destructive entry can take a little longer, but we’ll still aim for it first and only drill if there’s genuinely no other option.
If you need a rekey in Half Moon Bay today, call (409) 405-4485. A live person answers, the estimate is free, and the price is in writing before anyone shows up.
Written by Kevin Yoon, Owner at Preston Locksmith & Security, serving Half Moon Bay since 2008.