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.
Before
AfterFast, Reliable Rekey Locks Across Los Gatos
Rekeying a lock in Los Gatos means changing the pins inside the cylinder so old keys stop working, while the hardware you already have stays in place. It’s the fastest way to take control of a property, whether you just closed on a house off Los Gatos Boulevard, had a tenant move out near Vasona Lake, or lost track of who has copies of your front door key. Ridley Locksmith & Security serves the entire Los Gatos area with background-checked, uniformed technicians and a written price before any work begins. Call (956) 275-7388 and a live person answers, 24 hours a day.
Why Ridley Locksmith & Security Is Los Gatos’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
Los Gatos homeowners and property managers put up with a lot from the locksmith trade: no-shows, unmarked vans, prices that move once the tech is at the door. We run on a different model. Ridley Locksmith & Security is part of the Garrison Partners family, and every job we do in Los Gatos has operated under The Garrison Standard since 2007. That’s a written code of conduct each technician carries, not a marketing line.
Our rekey work across Los Gatos’s neighborhoods from Almond Grove to the Glenridge area comes with a one full year, 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the repair fails inside that window, we return at no charge. Not a verbal “come back if anything’s wrong” – a written guarantee handed to you before we leave. Our Los Gatos customers see the price in writing before the first tool comes out. And the person who walks up to your door is a uniformed, background-checked employee of our company, not a subcontractor we’ve never met. We also operate to The Garrison Code, which holds every technician accountable for leaving the job site clean and the lock working exactly as specified.
Rekey House in Los Gatos
Rekey House work in Los Gatos is one of the most common calls we take, and it is usually driven by a change in occupancy or a lost key. A typical full-house rekey in Los Gatos, covering all exterior locks and the garage access door, runs $65 to $180 in labor depending on cylinder count, with additional charges for high-security cylinders or hardware pins. We give you that range on the phone, not as a teaser, and then confirm an exact written price before we dispatch anyone.
What A House Rekey Includes
Every exterior lock gets re-pinned to new keys. That means doorknobs, deadbolts, side gates, and the interior door from the garage. You keep your existing hardware. We check each cylinder for wear while it’s out and tell you plainly if one is close to wearing out, with a price to replace only that cylinder, not a full upsell package.
After You Move In
If you just closed on a home in Los Gatos, you have no way to know how many copies of the old key are floating around. The previous owner gave one to a dog walker, a cleaner, a contractor. Rekeying the day you get the keys means the first night you sleep in that house, you’re the only person who can open the front door. That’s not paranoia, it’s basic property security.
Lock Rekey in Los Gatos
Lock Rekey work in Los Gatos often means working on hardware that isn’t sold at the big-box stores anymore. A single lock rekey in Los Gatos generally runs $20 to $45 per cylinder for standard Schlage, Kwikset, or Yale hardware, with high-security brands like Medeco or Abloy running higher per cylinder because the pins and tools are specialized. We stock those pins on the truck, not at a warehouse across the Bay.
Mortise Locks And Older Cylinders
Los Gatos has a large stock of older homes with original mortise locks and non-standard backset cylinders rarely seen in newer Bay Area suburbs. Rekeying these requires pinning to the existing mortise cylinder rather than swapping in a standard deadbolt. The town’s strict historic-preservation rules in areas like the Almond Grove Historic District mean we cannot simply rip out and replace original hardware. Rekey kits for mortise locks and Baldwin cylinders are a specialty here, and our techs are trained on them.
One Key, Every Door
We get a lot of Los Gatos homeowners who want every exterior door on one key. That means re-pinning all cylinders to the same keyway. We do it in one visit. Your one new key turns the front door, the back door, the side gate, and the garage entry. If you want to go further, we can build a master key system for a property where you keep one key and each family member or tenant has a key that only opens their assigned doors.
Trusted Brands We Service in Los Gatos
Our Los Gatos trucks carry pins, springs, and common replacement parts for Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, and Abloy hardware, plus we’re certified on high-security lines like Mul-T-Lock and Sargent. That matters in this town because so much of the housing stock runs on mortise cylinders and Baldwin hardware that generic locksmiths don’t pin in-house. We do. If you have a Medeco cylinder on the front door and a Kwikset deadbolt on the garage, we rekey both in the same visit, and we don’t tell you to go buy new locks because we don’t have the pins.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Los Gatos Homes
- Teaser pricing that balloons at the door. Los Gatos has high parking and access costs, and some locksmiths quote a low rekey rate then add “historic home surcharges” or “difficult access fees” on the doorstep. Our written price before dispatch is the price on the invoice. No surcharges added on arrival.
- Drilling a mortise lock that could have been rekeyed. Old Los Gatos homes often have mortise locks where the cylinder can be re-pinned, but an inexperienced tech may default to drilling, destroying irreplaceable antique hardware. We rekey the existing cylinder instead.
- Using a standard cylinder on a non-standard backset. Los Gatos homes with original doors sometimes have backsets that don’t match off-the-shelf deadbolts, leading to a rekey that looks fine but leaves a gap or misaligned strike. We measure and pin to the existing hardware, not a generic replacement.
- Worn-out cylinders in older locks. Decades of use in Los Gatos’s older housing stock means cylinders with worn pins that won’t hold a new key reliably. We assess cylinder wear during the rekey and give you a straight answer, with a replacement price only if it’s actually needed.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Los Gatos, CA
We Also Serve Cities Near Los Gatos
Ridley crews cover Los Gatos and the surrounding communities, including Saratoga, Campbell, Cupertino, and Santa Clara. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our San Francisco Bay Area office, but the tech at your door is local to the Los Gatos area. If you’re in a neighboring city or want to see the full scope of our rekey work, visit our Rekey Locks page for details on how the service works anywhere in the region. Of course, if you’re right here in town, our Rekey Locks in Los Gatos coverage means a familiar face and a fully stocked truck.
Serving Los Gatos, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Gatos 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 Los Gatos
Can you rekey the original mortise locks in my Los Gatos historic home without replacing them?
Yes. We rekey the existing mortise cylinder by disassembling the lock, re-pinning the cylinder to your new key, and leaving the original brass faceplate and hardware intact. We got a call from a homeowner on Bicknell Avenue in the Almond Grove Historic District whose original 1920s mortise lock had a worn cylinder that was starting to stick. Our tech arrived, disassembled the mortise lock without damaging the antique brass faceplate, re-pinned the existing cylinder to match the homeowner’s new key, and left the original hardware intact, finished in under an hour. The homeowner later called back to have us rekey the matching Baldwin deadbolt on the back door so one key worked both. Call (956) 275-7388 and we’ll walk you through what your specific hardware needs.
How long does a rekey typically take for a Los Gatos house?
Most full-house rekeys in Los Gatos take 45 to 90 minutes from arrival to final test of every lock. Mortise locks and non-standard cylinders can add time because we don’t rush the disassembly on irreplaceable hardware. We give you an honest time window on the phone before dispatch. Call (956) 275-7388 for a schedule that fits yours.
Do you charge a trip fee or give a price over the phone before dispatching?
We give a written price over the phone before anyone is sent to you. There is no call-out surcharge added on arrival, no historic home fee, no difficult access fee. The price we quote is the price on the invoice. If you decide not to go ahead when we arrive, there’s no charge for the visit. Call (956) 275-7388 and ask for the rekey price for your specific lock setup.
What brands of locks do you service for rekeys in Los Gatos?
We rekey Schlage, Kwikset, Yale, Baldwin, Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy, and Sargent hardware. Our techs are certified on high-security lines that many locksmiths won’t touch, and we carry pins and parts for standard residential brands as well. If you’re not sure what brand you have, describe the lock over the phone and we’ll tell you what we’re working with. Call (956) 275-7388 for a free brand and condition check.
Can you rekey my locks to a master key system so one key opens everything?
Yes. We can set up a master key system in Los Gatos where you keep one key for every door, and each family member, tenant, or employee gets a key that only opens the doors you assign. We build the system on-site, hand you the written key chart, and give you our one full year, written guarantee on the entire setup. This works on both standard and high-security hardware. Call (956) 275-7388 and tell us how many doors and how many key holders you need.
Call Ridley Locksmith & Security for Rekey Locks in Los Gatos
If you need locks rekeyed in Los Gatos, call (956) 275-7388 right now. A live person answers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, not a voicemail and not an answering service. We’ll ask about your locks, tell you what it costs in writing, and have a background-checked, uniformed technician at your door. Every job carries The Garrison Standard, the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and a written guarantee covering the work for one full year. That’s how we’ve operated since 2007, and it’s how we operate in Los Gatos today.
Written by Drew Kowalski, Owner at Ridley Locksmith & Security, serving Los Gatos under The Garrison Standard since 2007.