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 San Rafael
Rekeying a lock in San Rafael typically costs $18 – $35 per cylinder and takes under an hour at most single-family homes. That’s the honest number we quote before dispatch, and it’s the number on your invoice. We don’t add a trip fee when we arrive, and we don’t call it a “mortise surcharge” after the fact. If you’ve just bought a house in Gerstle Park, lost a key in downtown San Rafael, or had a tenant move out of a Terra Linda rental, call (409) 405-4485 and we’ll tell you exactly what the job will cost before anyone gets in a van.
Rekeying means swapping the internal pins inside a lock cylinder so your old keys stop working. No new hardware gets installed. The lock stays on the door. You get new keys, old keys go dead, and the job is done the same day in San Rafael.
Why Preston Locksmith & Security Is San Rafael’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
We carry pin kits for both mortise lock bodies, which are common on pre-1940 Gerstle Park and downtown San Rafael doors, and standard cylindrical deadbolts found throughout Terra Linda and the Canal neighborhood. That’s unusual. A lot of locksmiths in Marin County stock one kit and drill the other. We don’t. We show up with the right kit for your door, a written price, and a live arrival time you can track on your phone.
Every tech who knocks on a San Rafael door is background-checked and in uniform. You’ll see their name and photo before they arrive. The Relay Visibility Guarantee means you get before-and-after photos of every cylinder we touch, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise means if a rekey isn’t done right, we come back and fix it at no charge. Kevin Yoon, our owner, set that standard in 2008, and it hasn’t changed.
Calls are answered by a live person 24/7. Not a callback queue. Not a voicemail tree. When you call about a rekey in San Rafael, a human picks up and either books the job or answers your question on the spot.
We’re part of the Relay Home Co. family, and this location is independently owned and operated. Our scheduling and dispatch for San Rafael is coordinated from our San Francisco Bay Area office, and crews serve San Rafael locally.
Rekey Deadbolt in San Rafael
Rekeying a deadbolt in San Rafael runs $18 – $25 per cylinder for a standard Schlage or Kwikset deadbolt, and $25 – $35 for a mortise deadbolt on an older entry door. The first thing our tech checks is the brand and the cylinder type, because on many San Rafael doors the deadbolt and the knob below it are different brands entirely. A Schlage deadbolt above a Kwikset knob is common, and both can be keyed to one new key in the same visit.
You need this service after a key is lost, after a roommate or tenant leaves, after you close on a house, or when a contractor, cleaner, or dog walker has had a copy of your key for too long. Some San Rafael homeowners rekey a deadbolt after a car break-in where the glovebox had a garage door opener and a spare house key. That’s a smart call.
Mortise Deadbolts on Older Entries
Downtown San Rafael and Gerstle Park have a lot of original mortise locks from the 1920s and 1930s. These aren’t the round cylinders you’ll find at a hardware store. Rekeying one takes a mortise pin kit and a tech who knows how to pull the cylinder without damaging the faceplate or the trim. We do these regularly in San Rafael.
Standard Cylindrical Deadbolts
Tract homes in Terra Linda, Santa Venetia, and the Dominican area mostly have bored cylindrical deadbolts. These rekey faster. We still open the cylinder, inspect the pin stack, and replace springs if they’re worn. San Rafael’s coastal air can corrode the small springs inside a lock after a decade, especially on west-facing doors. A quick spring replacement is included in the rekey when needed.
Rekey House in San Rafael
Rekeying a whole house in San Rafael typically runs $85 – $180 for the front door, back door, and interior locks, depending on how many cylinders and whether the entry doors are mortise or cylindrical. Most three-bedroom homes in San Rafael have between four and seven keyed cylinders. We quote the full price from a photo or a quick description before we dispatch, and that’s the price you pay.
Buyers closing on a house in Sun Valley or along Lincoln Avenue often book this before moving the first box in. You’ll never know who held copies of the previous owner’s keys. A rekey kills every one of those keys in about an hour. You keep the existing hardware, which matters when the lock is an original Baldwin or Schlage that matches the door.
Whole-Home One-Key Convenience
We can key every lock in your San Rafael house to one new key, even if the locks are different brands. A Schlage front door, a Kwikset back door, and a Yale privacy knob can all work on the same key. You’ll get a key count that matches your household, plus a spare or two at no extra charge within reason.
Rental Turnover and Move-In Service
Landlords in the Canal District and around downtown San Rafael rekey between every tenant. It’s the cheapest way to know the previous tenant’s key and any copies they made are dead. We’ll rekey all cylinders on site, provide new keys, and email you a digital invoice with a pay link before we leave the driveway.
Trusted Brands We Service in San Rafael
We rekey and service Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, and Yale hardware across San Rafael. If your home has a Medeco high-security cylinder, we have the pin kits and a card system to rekey it without replacing it. For standard hardware, we carry Schlage and Kwikset pin stock in the van, so there’s no second trip across the Richmond – San Rafael Bridge to grab parts. We also work on Baldwin and Mul-T-Lock, but we name those only when they’re on your door. Most San Rafael homes have Schlage or Kwikset, with Yale showing up on older privacy sets, and Medeco on a handful of higher-end or security-conscious homes.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in San Rafael Homes
- Mortise locks shimmed with the wrong brand. We’ve pulled cylinders on Gerstle Park H Street doors that had been patched years ago with a mismatched Kwikset cylinder jammed into a Schlage mortise body. It sort of worked, but the key stuck, the tailpiece was off, and a proper rekey fixed the whole door without new hardware.
- Stiff keys from coastal moisture. San Rafael’s proximity to the bay means locks within a few blocks of the water collect more internal corrosion. A rekey that includes spring replacement and a light lubricant solves a key that’s hard to turn or sticks in the cylinder.
- One door, two different keys. On older multi-lock entries, we often find the deadbolt rekeyed by one person and the knob left on the old keyway. The homeowner thinks the door is rekeyed, but the old key still opens the knob. We re-pin both cylinders to one key as standard.
- Drilling a lock that only needed re-pinning. A tech without the right pin kit will sometimes drill a stuck or high-security cylinder rather than rekey it, then sell you a $200-plus replacement lock. A San Rafael homeowner called us recently after another company quoted exactly that on a bump-resistant Schlage. We pulled it, re-pinned it, and had it working in 20 minutes for a fraction of the price.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in San Rafael, CA
Rekeying standard cylinders in San Rafael runs $18 – $25 each. Mortise cylinders run $25 – $35 each. A typical single-family home comes in between $85 and $180 total. Commercial storefronts, multi-unit buildings, or Medeco cylinders cost more because they take longer and the pin kits are specialized. You’ll get a written price before we dispatch, and it’s the same number on the invoice. No trip charge added when the van pulls up. No after-hours surprise if you schedule after 5 p.m. and we confirm the rate on the phone. Call (409) 405-4485 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near San Rafael
Our Rekey Locks crews regularly run through Larkspur, Kentfield, Corte Madera, and San Anselmo. If you’re one or two exits north or south of the San Rafael border, we treat it as a local job. Same live tracking, same written price before dispatch. For more detail on the areas we cover, see our Rekey Locks in San Rafael service area page.
Serving San Rafael, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Rafael 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 San Rafael
A typical San Rafael home with four to six locks takes 45 to 90 minutes on site. Mortise locks on older Gerstle Park or downtown entries add 10 to 15 minutes per cylinder. We’ll tell you the expected time on the phone before dispatch. Call (409) 405-4485 and we’ll give you a realistic window.
Almost never. Drilling is a last resort after pulling the cylinder, lubricating, and re-pinning fails. In San Rafael, we re-pin more stuck locks than we drill, including bump-resistant Schlage and older Yale cylinders. If drilling does become necessary, we’ll stop, show you what’s happening, and get your approval on the new lock price first.
Yes. We re-pin both cylinders to the same keyway and hand you one key that operates both. Mixed-brand doors are common in San Rafael, especially where a previous owner swapped one cylinder without swapping the other. We carry both Schlage and Kwikset pin stock in the van, so this is done in one visit.
Before the tech arrives, you’ll get their name, photo, and a live trackable arrival time through The Relay Visibility Guarantee. They’ll be in a Preston Locksmith & Security uniform, and they’ll have your written quote in hand. You’re never guessing who’s at the door in San Rafael. That’s the whole point.
Rekeying is usually enough and costs a lot less than new hardware. Once we change the pins, every old key is dead. If the lock is worn, loose, or damaged, we’ll tell you that and show you a photo. But for a tenant turnover in San Rafael, rekeying is the standard and the smart move. Call (409) 405-4485 for an exact quote before you sign anything.
Written by Kevin Yoon, Owner at Preston Locksmith & Security, serving San Rafael since 2008.