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 Placerville
Rekeying a lock in Placerville typically costs $95 – $160 for the first cylinder and $25 – $45 for each additional cylinder on the same visit. The job usually takes under an hour, and you can have every exterior door working off one key before lunch. If you’ve just bought a house off Mosquito Road, ended a tenancy near Broadway, or lost a set of keys somewhere between Main Street and the Placerville DMV, call (956) 275-7388 and we’ll give you a written price before anyone gets in a van.
What makes rekeying different in Placerville is the spread of hardware out there. A Victorian on Coloma Street might still have its original mortise lock. A 1990s house off Missouri Flat Road probably has Kwikset knobs that a big-box rekey kit can handle poorly or not at all. We see both every week. That’s why our Rekey Locks team never quotes a flat number until we know what’s actually on the door.
Why Ridley Locksmith & Security Is Placerville’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
We’ve rekeyed homes and small businesses all over Placerville – from the older grid streets west of downtown up to the newer lots east of Missouri Flat Road. The common thread is people who don’t want surprises at the door. They’ve had a dispatcher quote one number and a technician arrive wanting another. Or a handyman rekey a lock to a keyway that means nothing else in the house matches. We run differently.
Ridley Locksmith & Security is part of the Garrison Partners family, and every technician works to The Garrison Standard. That’s not a slogan. It means background-checked, uniformed technicians on every call. A written price before any work starts. And a written guarantee on every repair, covering the work for one full year. If something fails inside that window, we come back at no charge. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it applies to every rekey we do in Placerville.
Drew Kowalski leads the team and holds every job to that standard. When you call (956) 275-7388, a live person answers. Not a voicemail, not a call center routing you to a stranger. A real person who can book your appointment and answer questions about what a rekey actually involves.
Keyed Alike in Placerville
Keyed Alike in Placerville means every exterior door in your house works off one key, and it matters most on older homes where the front and back doors were installed decades apart with completely different hardware. A homeowner near Church and Sacramento Streets may have a Baldwin mortise lock on the front and a modern Schlage deadbolt on the back. Both can be rekeyed to a single key without replacing either lock body.
What the Work Involves
We pull the lock cylinder, swap the pins to match a new key, and test the key at least twice before we call the job done. On a mortise lock, we remove the threaded cylinder from the lock body, re-pin it, and reinstall it. On a standard deadbolt, the cylinder comes out the back of the lock after removing two screws. Both are precise work, not brute force, and we quote each one accurately before we start.
A Useful Example from Coloma Street
We rekeyed a 1930s bungalow off Coloma Street where the front door had a Baldwin mortise the homeowner wanted keyed alike to a newer Schlage deadbolt on the back. Original brass cylinder came out, we repinned it to match the Schlage keyway, and both doors worked off one key the same visit. That’s the difference between someone trained on mortise hardware and someone who only knows pin and tumbler knobs.
Rekey Deadbolt in Placerville
Rekey Deadbolt in Placerville means re-pinning the deadbolt cylinder itself, not the handle below it, and on the 1980s – 90s subdivisions off Missouri Flat Road that usually means a Kwikset or generic builder lock. The deadbolt is where most of your actual security lives, so it’s the one worth getting right. Cost runs $95 – $160 for a standard single-cylinder deadbolt rekey, less per lock when we do several in one visit.
Rental Turnovers Need Deadbolts Done First
If you run a rental on Harvard Way or anywhere off Green Valley Road, a departed tenant’s key is a deadbolt problem, not a knob problem. We rekeyed three Kwikset pin and tumbler deadbolts at a Missouri Flat Road rental in under an hour, so the outgoing tenant’s keys died that afternoon. Landlords in this part of El Dorado County learn fast that a rekey that misses the deadbolt is not a rekey.
Big-Box Kits and What They Miss
Hardware-store rekey kits assume a standard keyway. We regularly see Placerville homeowners who bought one and tried it on an ANSI Grade 1 deadbolt with a non-standard keyway. The pins strip, the lock jams, and the fix is a replacement cylinder or a full rekey that costs more than calling us first would have. If your deadbolt says “Medeco” or “Schlage B-Series” on the face, keep the kit in the package.
Trusted Brands We Service in Placerville
We work on the hardware Placerville actually has. Schlage and Kwikset are the most common on deadbolts and knobs from the 1980s forward. Yale and Baldwin show up consistently on the older Main Street Victorians and on some custom builds near El Dorado Hills. Our technicians are certified on Medeco and other high-security lines as well, so if the previous owner, tenant, or property manager installed restricted-key cylinders, we can work with that without sending you to a different contractor. We carry common pins, springs, and cylinders on the truck, which means most Placerville rekeys finish in a single visit.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Placerville Homes
- Gold Rush-era mortise locks with no modern replacement. The original brass mortise cylinders on Main Street Victorians are robust but they take specialized work to re-pin. A technician who only knows modern deadbolts will try to sell you a replacement you don’t need.
- Builder-grade Kwikset locks from the 1980s and 90s at peak wear. Homes off Missouri Flat Road were often fitted with the least expensive Kwikset hardware available at the time. After 20 to 30 years, cylinders bind and pins seize, making a rekey slower than it looks.
- Mismatched hardware from past partial fixes. A Schlage deadbolt upstairs, a Kwikset knob on the side door, a Yale rim lock on the garage. Keying them all alike is absolutely possible, but it takes planning and sometimes a new cylinder for one or two locks.
- Rental turnover rekeys that uncover master key systems. On Placerville rental properties, the prior landlord may have installed a master key system, sometimes without telling the owner. A rekey becomes a key-control question before any pins get swapped, and no honest locksmith skips that step.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Placerville, CA
A standard rekey for one lock in Placerville runs $95 – $160. Each additional lock on the same visit runs $25 – $45. If you want all exterior doors keyed alike, a three-door house typically lands between $145 and $250 total. A mortise cylinder on an older Main Street home sits at the higher end because the work is slower and the pins are different. A straightforward Kwikset deadbolt is toward the lower end. We quote the full price on the phone before anyone is dispatched, and that written price is what appears on the invoice. No call-out surcharge added on arrival. Call (956) 275-7388 for an exact quote.
We Also Serve Cities Near Placerville
Our technicians cover Placerville and the surrounding parts of El Dorado County. That includes Diamond Springs, Shingle Springs, Georgetown, and El Dorado Hills. If you’re on the edge of any of those towns, give us a call and we’ll tell you straight whether we can get there on the schedule you need.
Serving Placerville, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Placerville 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 Placerville
Yes. We ask what kind of lock you have, and if you’re not sure, we talk through what the door looks like. Based on that, you get a written price before the technician leaves the shop. That is the price on your invoice, and it includes our 365-Day Done Right Promise. Call (956) 275-7388 for a free quote.
In most cases, yes. We re-pin each cylinder to match a single keyway, which preserves your existing locks and hardware. The exceptions are severely worn cylinders or mismatched keyways that require a new cylinder. A quick phone description of your doors tells us which situation you’re in.
Every Ridley Locksmith & Security technician arrives in a marked van, wearing a uniform, with company identification. We are part of Garrison Partners and operate to The Garrison Standard, which means background-checked employees, never subcontractors. You’ll know who’s at your door before they touch a lock.
Most single-cylinder deadbolts and standard knobs rekey in under 15 minutes each. A full three-door house usually finishes in under an hour. Mortise locks on older homes take longer because the cylinder is threaded and has to be treated carefully. We’ll give you a realistic time frame on the phone along with your written price.
Rekeying is the faster and cheaper route unless the hardware is physically damaged or obsolete. A rekey makes every old key dead and gives you a fresh keyway for under $200 on a typical home. Replacement is only worth it when the lock itself is failing. Call (956) 275-7388 and we can tell you which case applies.
Written by Drew Kowalski, Owner at Ridley Locksmith & Security, serving Placerville under The Garrison Standard since 2007.