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 Vacaville
Rekeying a lock in Vacaville typically runs $25 – $45 per cylinder for standard builder-grade hardware, and $40 – $75 per cylinder when the door still carries an original mortise lock body from the 1950s or 60s. Same-day service is standard for most neighborhoods, including the Heritage District, the south side off Alamo Drive, and the subdivisions east of Leisure Town Road. You’ll get a written price before anyone is dispatched, a live trackable arrival time, and before-and-after photos of the actual work. Call (409) 405-4485 and a live person answers, 24/7.
Most Vacaville calls come down to one thing: you just closed on a house, you lost a key, or you fired someone who still has a key. The fix is a Rekey Locks job: we swap the internal pins inside the lock cylinder so old keys stop working. No new hardware. No drilling. Every old key is dead the minute we finish, and you get a matched set of new keys. The whole thing usually takes 20 – 40 minutes per door, depending on which side of I-80 your house sits on.
The split matters more than people expect. West of the freeway, homes near Merchant Street and Parker Street often still run original mortise lock bodies that take a slower, more delicate rekey kit. East of Leisure Town Road, it’s mostly builder Schlage and Kwikset deadbolts that go fast. We quote both accurately over the phone because we actually know the difference. That’s what Vacaville homeowners tell us they were missing from other locksmiths.
Why Preston Locksmith & Security Is Vacaville’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
Preston Locksmith & Security, founded in 2008 and part of the Relay Home Co. family, sends background-checked, uniformed technicians to Vacaville with a written price locked in before a single tool leaves the bag. Kevin Yoon leads the team, and the standard on every job is the same: state-licensed work, insured and bonded, with a written guarantee on the repair itself.
That guarantee is the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the rekey isn’t done right, we make it right, and if the repair fails within the year, the second visit is free. No charge, no argument. We put it on every invoice because a rekey is a security job, not a convenience job. You should never wonder whether the old key actually stopped working.
Vacaville customers also get The Relay Visibility Guarantee on every visit. A live arrival time you can track from your phone, before-and-after photos of the cylinders we opened and re-pinned, and a digital invoice with a pay link before we leave the driveway. No anonymous tech in an unmarked van. No hourly meter running while the guy sits in traffic on I-80.
Our techs train on Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Baldwin, and Sargent hardware alongside everyday Schlage and Kwikset, so the same team that rekeys a 1962 mortise lock on Parker Street can bump the east-side builder deadbolts into something sturdier the same afternoon.
Lock Rekey in Vacaville
A Lock Rekey in Vacaville means removing the lock cylinder from the door, replacing the internal pin stack, and cutting new keys to match. Old keys stop turning. New keys work. The lock housing, faceplate, and deadbolt bolt all stay in place. This is the standard job for homeowners who just bought a house, lost a key, or want roommates, tenants, or ex-contractors out of the building without buying all-new hardware.
What the Job Actually Involves
We pull the cylinder, disassemble it, swap the old pins for a new pin stack matched to a fresh keyway, reassemble, and test the lock through a full turn. On a Schlage or Kwikset deadbolt, that’s usually a 15 – 20 minute job per cylinder. On an older mortise lock body like the ones we see all over the Heritage District near Merchant Street, expect closer to 35 – 45 minutes per cylinder because the internal tolerances are tighter and the cylinder has to come out with more care.
When to Rekey vs. Replace
Rekey when the hardware is physically fine and you just want old keys dead. Replace when the bolt is loose, the faceplate is dented, the cylinder is seized, or you want to upgrade to a bump-resistant or high-security keyway. We’ll tell you which one you need and quote both before any work starts, so there’s no surprise upgrade pitch on site.
Locksmith Rekey in Vacaville
A Locksmith Rekey in Vacaville is the same mechanical job as a lock rekey, but it’s done by a licensed, background-checked pro rather than a handyman with a pin kit from the hardware store. The reason that matters: Vacaville’s older housing stock carries real key-control risk. A rekey only protects you if the person doing it knows how to pick the correct keyway for the specific lock body in front of them, and if they actually test the old key afterward to prove it’s dead.
Why Key Control Matters Here
East of Leisure Town Road, whole subdivisions were built with builder-grade Kwikset locks that share common keyways. If your tech rekeys one cylinder but leaves another on the same keyway, an old key still opens a door. We rekey every cylinder against the new keyway and physically test each old key before calling the job done. You’ll see that test in the after photos.
Mortise Locks, Not a Drill Job
Older Heritage District homes often have mortise lock bodies that don’t take a standard Kwikset or Schlage rekey kit at all. A tech who only carries builder-grade pins will either hand you a hack job or try to sell you a full replacement. We carry mortise-compatible rekey kits and cut new keys on the truck, so the job stays a rekey, the door stays un-drilled, and the price matches what we quoted on the phone.
Trusted Brands We Service in Vacaville
We rekey and service Schlage, Kwikset, Yale, and Medeco hardware across Vacaville, plus Baldwin and Mul-T-Lock for high-security setups. We keep the most common Kwikset and Schlage pin kits stocked on every truck that rolls into Vacaville, which means no waiting on a parts run for the standard east-side deadbolts. Medeco and high-security jobs usually take a little longer because the cylinders are keyed to a restricted keyway, and we cut those keys to control cards, not to whatever key the last owner handed you. If you’re not sure what brand is on your door, send a photo with your call and we’ll identify it before we quote.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Vacaville Homes
- Phone quotes based on “how many doors” that don’t survive contact with the actual hardware. A 1960s mortise body near Parker Street or Merchant Street takes a different rekey kit than a 2010s Kwikset deadbolt off Alamo Drive. We ask about the lock body itself, not just the door count, before we give you a written number.
- Worn or seized cylinders in older Heritage District locks. If the cylinder is too far gone to rekey cleanly, you deserve to know that before we open it up, not after. We quote the rekey and the replacement option up front so the price never changes mid-job.
- Mixed keyways on the same house. A homeowner rekeys the front door but not the garage side door, and the old key still works on the garage. We rekey every exterior cylinder to the same new keyway and test each one against the old key before we leave.
- Builder-grade locks that are too weak for a rekey to be worth it. In some east-side subdivisions, the original Kwikset deadbolts are so worn that a rekey works mechanically but the lock is still a five-second bump. We’ll tell you if a bump-resistant cylinder is a smarter spend, and we’ll quote the rekey either way.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Vacaville, CA
Rekeying a standard Kwikset or Schlage deadbolt in Vacaville runs $25 – $45 per cylinder. Mortise lock bodies, like many originals near Merchant Street and Parker Street in the Heritage District, run $40 – $75 per cylinder because the work is slower and the pin kit is different. A typical three-door house on the east side, all builder-grade deadbolts, lands around $75 – $135 total. A Heritage District ranch with two exterior doors and original mortise bodies lands around $80 – $150.
Anything beyond a straight rekey – a seized cylinder replacement, a high-security Medeco keyway, or a fresh cut of restricted keys – is quoted separately before we start. You always get the full price on the phone, before anyone is dispatched, and that’s the price on the invoice. No call-out surcharge added on arrival. No hourly meter. Call (409) 405-4485 for a free estimate, and you’ll have a written number in minutes.
We Also Serve Cities Near Vacaville
Our Rekey Locks in Vacaville customers often have rental properties or businesses in the surrounding area, so we run the same written-price, live-arrival-time standard out to Fairfield, Suisun City, Dixon, and Winters. Same trucks, same background-checked techs, same 365-Day Done Right Promise on every job.
Serving Vacaville, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Vacaville 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 Vacaville
Most rekey jobs in Vacaville take 20 – 40 minutes per cylinder once we arrive. Builder-grade Schlage and Kwikset deadbolts on the east side go fast; original mortise lock bodies near the Heritage District take about 35 – 45 minutes per cylinder because the hardware is older and more delicate. Dispatch from the San Francisco Bay Area office means typical arrival in Vacaville is same-day for calls before early afternoon. Call (409) 405-4485 and we’ll give you a live arrival window before you hang up.
No. We don’t drill locks to rekey them. The cylinder comes out with the key or with standard lock picks if no key is available, and we swap the pins from there. Drilling is a last resort for a seized cylinder, and we’d only do it with your written okay and a quoted replacement part in hand.
Yes, and we’ve done exactly that on east-side Vacaville homes where the original builder deadbolts are wearing thin. We can rekey a standard Kwikset or Schlage cylinder to a bump-resistant keyway, or move you up into a Medeco or Mul-T-Lock restricted keyway if you want actual key control. The rekey price doesn’t change; the high-security cylinder is quoted separately and written before work starts.
We test every old key against every rekeyed cylinder before we leave. If the old key turns, the job isn’t done and we stay until it doesn’t. We also include before-and-after photos of each cylinder so you can see the pin swap happened. That’s part of the written guarantee on every rekey, and if anything fails within the year, the second visit is free.
You’ll see the tech’s name and photo in the confirmation text before they arrive, they’ll be in a Preston Locksmith & Security uniform, and they’ll hand you a written price before any tool comes out. The live tracker shows the van moving toward Vacaville in real time under The Relay Visibility Guarantee. You can also call (409) 405-4485 any time and a live person will confirm who’s dispatched to your address.
For a free rekey estimate in Vacaville, call (409) 405-4485. A live person answers, the price is written before anyone is dispatched, and every job carries The Relay Visibility Guarantee with the 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Written by Kevin Yoon, Owner at Preston Locksmith & Security, serving Vacaville since 2008.






