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 South Miami
Our South Miami Commercial Locksmith team typically charges $85 to $160 per cylinder for rekeying and takes about 20 to 40 minutes per lock once our technician arrives. We serve the neighborhoods around Sunset Drive, Red Road, and Ludlam Trail within 45 to 60 minutes of your call. The price we quote on the phone before dispatch is the price on your invoice, in writing, with no add-on when the van pulls up. Call (956) 275-7388 and you’ll speak to a live person who can give you an exact figure for your specific hardware, not a range pulled from a lead-gen site.
Why Ridley Locksmith & Security Is South Miami’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
South Miami homeowners call us because we operate under a written standard, not a dispatcher’s mood. Ridley Locksmith & Security has been part of the Garrison Partners family since 2007, and every technician answers to The Garrison Standard: a documented set of rules for pricing, conduct, and workmanship that independent shops don’t have and call centers can’t enforce. Drew Kowalski runs this operation, and he holds technicians to the same code on every single call, whether it’s a single deadbolt on a condo off Bird Road or a full Rekey Locks job across a commercial suite.
You get a written guarantee on every repair, covering the work for one full year. If a rekeyed cylinder fails inside that window, we come back and make it right at no charge. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s automatic, not something you have to ask for. The technicians who arrive are background-checked and uniformed, dispatched directly by us. No subcontractors, no unmarked vans, no mystery crew at your door.
We are also trained on the full spectrum of hardware you actually find in South Miami. Standard Schlage and Kwikset, yes. But also Baldwin mortise cylinders on older ranches, and high-security lines like Medeco and Abloy that require specific pin kits and key blanks. A lot of rekey calls in this city go sideways when a tech arrives with a Kwikset-only pin kit and finds an old Baldwin. That doesn’t happen on our trucks.
Rekey Door Lock in South Miami
Rekey door lock work in South Miami means changing the internal pins and springs inside your existing cylinder so the old keys stop working, without replacing any hardware. You need it after buying a home, ending a lease with a tenant, losing a key, or after a contractor or cleaner who had a copy no longer works for you. In South Miami, a standard single-cylinder deadbolt rekey runs $85 to $115, and a knob or lever cylinder runs $65 to $85. If the cylinder is high-security, like a Medeco or older Sargent, the price lands closer to the $125 to $160 range because the pin kit and key blanks cost more.
New Home, New Keys
You bought a house and you don’t know who has copies of the old keys. The previous owner, their kids, a neighbor, a contractor. Rekeying every exterior cylinder on move-in day gives you control. We can also key all your doors to one key if they currently work on two or three different ones, a common situation in older South Miami homes where locks were added piecemeal over decades.
Tenant Turnover and Key Control
When a lease ends or a tenant moves out, you need a rekey before anyone new gets keys. This is standard practice for landlords along the duplex-heavy streets south of US-1 and around the park neighborhoods. We give you a written record of the new keying so you always know how many copies exist and who holds them.
Rekey Service in South Miami
Rekey service in South Miami covers every cylinder on your property, from front and back doors to side gates, garage entry doors, and the deadbolt on the door that never gets used but still has a key floating around somewhere. The work itself is straightforward when the hardware is in decent shape, but South Miami throws enough curveballs that we inspect each cylinder before we re-pin it, not after. A full residential rekey of three to four cylinders typically runs $210 to $340 in this market, depending on brand and cylinder condition.
Inspection Before the Pin Swap
We check the cylinder face, keyway, and spring tension before we do anything. Salt air and humidity off the nearby canals rust internal springs in pin and tumbler cylinders. A rekey that skips replacing those springs leaves you with a lock that turns stiffly and fails again in a few months. If springs are corroded, we replace them as part of the job and tell you what we found.
Drilled or Non-Standard Cylinders
South Miami sits directly on the Miami Rock Ridge, and we regularly find pre-1970s ranch and duplex lock cylinders that previous owners drilled through hardened steel wrap plates and refitted with non-standard pin kits. A rekey here is rarely a simple pin swap. We tell you what we’re seeing, what it means for the job, and we agree on a price before we touch the cylinder. No surprise upsell at the door.
Trusted Brands We Service in South Miami
We stock pin kits and key blanks for Schlage, Kwikset, Yale, and Baldwin, plus high-security lines including Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy, and Sargent. That matters in South Miami, where a 1950s ranch may still have its original Baldwin mortise lock while a newer condo on Red Road runs standard Kwikset. Our trucks carry parts for both, so the rekey gets done on the first visit, not after a second trip to a supplier. We cut new keys on site and test every cylinder before we leave.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in South Miami Homes
- Drilled-and-refitted cylinders on older homes: Pre-1970s ranches and duplexes along the rock ridge often have cylinders that were drilled out and refitted with whatever pin kit was on hand. The keyway doesn’t match the brand stamped on the face, and a standard pin kit won’t work. We identify this before we start and price accordingly.
- Rusted internal springs from canal humidity: South Miami’s salt air and high humidity work their way into pin and tumbler cylinders over time. Springs corrode and keys start sticking. A rekey that ignores this leaves you with a lock that fails again within months. We inspect and replace worn springs as standard practice.
- Mortise locks that vendors won’t touch: Older Baldwin and Sargent mortise cylinders are common in mid-century South Miami construction. Many locksmiths quote a rekey over the phone, then arrive and announce they don’t carry those pin kits. We do, and we quote the real price before dispatch, not after the tech sees the hardware.
- Bound deadbolts from door settlement: Miami Rock Ridge soil shifts with wet and dry cycles, and doors settle. A deadbolt that doesn’t throw fully may not need replacing, just a rekey and minor alignment. We’ll tell you the difference and only quote work that actually needs doing.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in South Miami, FL
Here’s what we charge in South Miami, in writing, before the tech is dispatched:
- Standard knob or lever cylinder rekey: $65 to $85 per cylinder
- Deadbolt cylinder rekey: $85 to $115 per cylinder
- High-security cylinder rekey (Medeco, Abloy, older Sargent): $125 to $160 per cylinder
- Cylinder inspection and spring replacement when needed: $15 to $25 per cylinder, disclosed before we do it
- Service call to South Miami: $45, credited fully toward the rekey work
The price we give you on the phone is the price on your invoice. We don’t run a teaser rate and then stack fees at the door. If we find the hardware is drilled, corroded, or non-standard and the job changes, we stop, we explain what we found, and we agree on a new price before any work continues. You are never surprised by a total. Call (956) 275-7388 for a free estimate on your exact hardware.
We Also Serve Cities Near South Miami
Our crews handle rekey jobs across the southern Miami area, including Rekey Locks in South Miami, plus Miami, Hialeah, Miami Gardens, and Homestead. Dispatch is coordinated from the brand’s Miami office, and crews work locally throughout the area. Same process, same written price before dispatch, same 365-day guarantee no matter where the job is.
One recent rekey in the South Miami neighborhood around Dante Fascell Park shows how we work. A 1960s ranch duplex had a Baldwin mortise lock with a worn cylinder and old keys floating around to a former tenant. Our tech pulled the cylinder, re-pinned it to a new Kwikset keyway, and used a non-destructive entry technique on the seized back deadbolt so the door hardware survived intact. The homeowner got key control back the same morning, and the price matched what we’d quoted before dispatch.
Serving South Miami, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the South Miami 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 South Miami
Most of the time you can just rekey, which is cheaper and keeps your original hardware. The only time we recommend replacement is when the cylinder is cracked, previously drilled beyond safe repair, or the lock body itself is failing. We inspect before we quote, so you get a straight answer. Call (956) 275-7388 and we’ll tell you what you actually need.
Schlage, Kwikset, Yale, Baldwin, Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy, and Sargent. We carry pin kits and key blanks for all of those on our trucks, which is important in South Miami where the housing stock runs from 1950s mortise hardware to brand-new smart-lock deadbolts. If you know the brand on the cylinder, tell us on the phone and we’ll confirm the price before dispatch.
Twenty to forty minutes per cylinder, so a three-door house is usually done in under two hours. Older drilled or corroded cylinders can add time because we inspect and sometimes replace springs or non-standard pins. We’ll give you a realistic window when you call, and the price doesn’t change just because the job takes longer than expected. You can reach us at (956) 275-7388.
Yes, as long as the smart lock has a physical key cylinder for backup, which most do. We rekey the mechanical cylinder and leave the electronics alone, so your codes and app still work and the old physical key no longer does. If the keypad entry is fully keyless with no backup cylinder, there’s nothing to rekey, and we’ll tell you that straight instead of selling you work you don’t need.
Because it’s written. We give you the full price on the phone, including the service call and every cylinder, before a technician leaves for South Miami. If we discover the hardware is drilled, rusted, or non-standard, we stop and agree on a new price with you before continuing. You approve it, in writing, before any additional work starts. Call (956) 275-7388 and test that yourself.
Written by Drew Kowalski, Owner at Ridley Locksmith & Security, serving South Miami and the southern Miami area since 2007.