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 Residential Locksmith Across Millbrae
Lost your house key somewhere between the Millbrae BART station and home, or dealing with a deadbolt that no longer turns? A residential locksmith in Millbrae typically reaches most addresses in 30 to 45 minutes, and a standard rekey runs $65 to $180 depending on the lock type. Call (409) 405-4485 and you’ll get a written price before anyone is dispatched, not an estimate that changes when the van pulls up.
We work both sides of El Camino Real every week. Millbrae’s housing stock splits hard along the 101/BART corridor: west-side tracts like Millbrae Meadows and Lomita Park run heavily toward older mortise-lock and single-cylinder deadbolt doors, while the transit-adjacent condo stock near Millbrae Station leans on builder-grade Kwikset and Schlage keypad entry. That means the same “lost my keys” call pulls two completely different toolkits depending on which side of town you live on. We carry both.
Why Preston Locksmith & Security Is Millbrae’s Preferred Residential Locksmith Company
Kevin Yoon founded Preston Locksmith & Security in 2008, and the company has been part of the Relay Home Co. family since day one, with each location independently owned and operated. What Millbrae homeowners notice first is the phone: a live person answers 24/7, no voicemail tree, no callback queue. You tell us what’s wrong, we give you a written price, and you get a live trackable arrival time before the tech leaves the office.
Our technicians are background-checked, uniformed, and trained on hardware that runs from standard Schlage and Kwikset deadbolts to Medeco high-security cylinders. Before any work starts, the price is in writing and the invoice will match it. That is not a slogan. It is the Relay Visibility Guarantee: written price before work begins, live arrival tracking, before-and-after photos of every job, and a written repair guarantee including a free second visit if the repair fails. Millbrae customers see the tech’s name and photo before the knock.
We also understand the local rental turnover. Millbrae sits close to SFO, and a lot of homes change hands or tenants every year. Landlords call us between tenants for a rekey, and new homeowners call us the day they get keys because they don’t know who still has a copy. We handle both calls the same way: fast, priced in writing, done right the first time or we return under the 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Lost Key Replacement in Millbrae
Lost Key Replacement in Millbrae is the call we get most often, usually from a homeowner in Millbrae Meadows or a condo owner near Millbrae Station who just realized the only key is gone. The job means either rekeying the existing lock, swapping the internal pins so old keys no longer work, or replacing the cylinder entirely if the key cannot be duplicated because no original exists. A straightforward single-cylinder deadbolt rekey in Millbrae runs $65 to $110 per cylinder. A full lock replacement, including new hardware, runs $140 to $260 per door for standard Schlage or Kwikset hardware.
When you call, we ask one question before quoting: is the door a modern single-cylinder deadbolt, or an older mortise lock with a rectangular faceplate and a long body set into the door edge? That single answer changes the labor, the parts, and the price. We never quote a “starting at” number and pad it on arrival.
Rekey vs. replace after lost keys
If you still have a key that operates the lock, a rekey is almost always faster and cheaper. We change the internal pin stack so your old key stops working and a new key operates the lock, no new hardware required. If you lost the only key, we can usually cut a new key by decoding the existing cylinder, then rekey it. Replacement only makes sense when the cylinder is worn, damaged, or you want upgraded hardware anyway.
New key, price confirmed before dispatch
The price we quote over the phone is the price on the invoice. Full stop. No call-out surcharge added on arrival, no “I need to see it first” unbilled extras. Before the tech opens the van, you have a written price for the rekey or replacement, and it does not move.
House Key Locksmith in Millbrae
House Key Locksmith work in Millbrae covers more than duplicating keys. It means new key cutting, rekeying existing locks, keying all doors to one key, and in a lot of Millbrae homes, rebuilding worn mortise lock cylinders so keys stop sticking in the hallway. A single key copy from an existing key runs $5 to $15. Rekeying a standard lock runs $65 to $110 per cylinder. Keying all your exterior doors to one key, called a house rekey, typically runs $150 to $300 for a three-lock setup, written price confirmed before we start.
We had a caller on Murchison Drive near Millbrae Meadows with a jammed front door. The original mortise lock on her 1950s ranch had a worn pin and tumbler stack and the key would only turn halfway. Our tech diagnosed it on the doorstep, quoted the rekey plus mortise rebuild before opening the van, and had the deadbolt operating with a fresh key and no drilling. She kept the original Baldwin trim and we left her with two keys under a written key control count.
Keying all doors alike
Most Millbrae homes have two or three exterior doors, and plenty of older houses have different keys for each door. We can rekey all of them to a single key, so the key you carry opens the front door, the side door into the garage, and the back door. It costs less than buying three new locks, and you stop juggling a keyring that looks like a janitor’s.
When the key turns but the lock doesn’t
A key that turns halfway or a deadbolt that grinds is often a worn cylinder or a misaligned strike plate, not a key problem. We clean, lubricate, and rebuild the cylinder, and we realign the strike plate if the door has settled. On older Millbrae ranch houses with original Baldwin or Schlage mortise hardware, a rebuild usually costs less than a replacement and keeps the original trim.
Trusted Brands We Service in Millbrae
We service, rekey, and repair Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, Baldwin, and Abloy hardware throughout Millbrae, from standard residential deadbolts to high-security cylinders. Kevin Yoon started the company with the view that a locksmith who only carries one brand’s parts is a locksmith who will try to sell you a whole new lock instead of repairing the one you have. Our vans carry pinning kits, cylinders, and trim parts for all of these brands, so a repair in Lomita Park or near Millbrae Station does not turn into a “come back next week” job. We stock parts locally, and if it’s repairable, we repair it before we suggest replacing it.
Common Residential Locksmith Problems We See in Millbrae Homes
- Mortise lock wear on west-side ranch houses. Millbrae Meadows and Lomita Park have a lot of 1950s and 1960s ranch homes with original mortise locksets. Those locks are built into the door, and after 60 years, the internal springs and pins simply wear out. We rebuild them because replacements in matching Baldwin or Schlage trim are hard to source and expensive.
- Builder-grade keypad deadbolts near Millbrae Station. Condo stock near Millbrae Station, and the rental units along El Camino Real, often came with builder-grade Kwikset or Schlage keypad entry. The keypads fail in two ways: dead batteries that lock out a renter at night, or worn keyways from high tenant turnover. Both are fast fixes, but only if the tech carries the right programming tools.
- Rental turnover rekeys. Millbrae’s proximity to SFO means a lot of landlords rekey between almost every tenant. The smart ones call us before the new tenant moves in and get all exterior doors keyed alike plus a written key control count, so nobody can claim a missing key later.
- Strike plate and door-settlement failures. Millbrae sits on varied fill along the old El Camino Real corridor, and some of the older homes settle just enough that deadbolts no longer line up with the strike plate. The fix is often a realignment or a longer strike plate screw, not a new lock, but a generic locksmith will sometimes sell you a lock you never needed.
Pricing for Residential Locksmith in Millbrae, CA
Every job is quoted in writing before work begins, and that quote is the invoice. No surprises, no “starting at” games. Here is what Millbrae homeowners can expect: lockout service runs $75 to $150 for a non-destructive entry, a standard rekey runs $65 to $110 per cylinder, a deadbolt installation runs $120 to $220 including hardware, and a full house rekey of three exterior doors runs $150 to $300. A mortise lock rebuild, common on the west side of Millbrae, runs $110 to $200 per lock. Window lock replacement runs $35 to $90 per lock, and door reinforcement, meaning a heavy-duty strike plate and longer screws, runs $60 to $140. Call (409) 405-4485 for a free estimate, and the price you hear is the price you pay.
We Also Serve Cities Near Millbrae
Preston Locksmith & Security handles Residential Locksmith jobs across the Peninsula. If you’re in San Bruno, Burlingame, South San Francisco, or Pacifica, the same written-price guarantee and live-trackable arrival applies. Dispatch is coordinated from our San Francisco Bay Area office, and crews serve Millbrae and the surrounding cities daily.
Serving Millbrae, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Millbrae 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 Residential Locksmith in Millbrae
No. When you call (409) 405-4485, we give you the full price over the phone before anyone is dispatched. There is no trip fee added when the tech arrives, no “diagnostic fee” on top of the work. The written price is the final invoice. If we arrive and the job is not what was described on the phone, we write a new price before any work begins.
Rekey, in almost every case. If your lock is a standard single-cylinder deadbolt, we decode the cylinder, cut a new key, and rekey the pins so the lost key stops working. That runs $65 to $110 per cylinder in Millbrae. If the lock is an older mortise lock, we may need to rebuild the cylinder as part of the rekey, which runs $110 to $200. Replacement only makes sense if the cylinder is damaged or you want upgraded hardware. Call us for the exact price for your door.
Before the tech arrives, you get their name, photo, and a live trackable arrival link on your phone. They arrive in uniform and introduce themselves. You will see the truck, the uniform, and the face match the photo we sent. That is the Relay Visibility Guarantee, and it is standard on every Millbrae job, no exceptions.
Almost always, yes. Our techs carry non-destructive entry tools including picks, bypass tools, and air wedges, and we use drilling only as a true last resort. On Millbrae’s older mortise locks, a careful pick or bypass usually works in under two minutes. We quote the non-destructive entry price before we start, and if drilling is genuinely necessary, we tell you before we pick up the drill and you approve that price in writing.
That depends on whether you own or rent, and on your condo board’s rules. Many Millbrae condo buildings near Millbrae Station allow keypad deadbolts that match the existing Schlage or Kwikset footprint. For owner-occupied condos, a keypad entry with a physical key backup is a solid upgrade, and installation runs $150 to $280 including the lock. For rentals, a rekey plus a key control count is usually the better use of money. Call (409) 405-4485 and we’ll give you a straight answer for your building.
Written by Kevin Yoon, Owner at Preston Locksmith & Security, serving Millbrae since the company’s founding in 2008.