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 Davis
Rekeying a lock in Davis typically costs $85 to $160 for a standard Kwikset or Schlage cylinder and takes 20 to 30 minutes per lock. Most Davis homes we service have mid-century hardware that rekeys cleanly without replacing anything. If you’ve lost a key, bought a house, or a tenant moved out, call (956) 275-7388 and we’ll give you a written price before anyone is dispatched to your door.
We know Davis. We know the ranch homes off Anderson Road, the student rentals east of the UC Davis campus, the condos near Wildhorse, and the older neighborhoods around Central Park. Our Rekey Locks technicians work in Davis every week, so we understand the hardware on these houses, the time it takes to get across town, and what a fair price looks like here. Not a call center routing you to whoever’s closest. A local crew with a live person who answers the phone.
Why Ridley Locksmith & Security Is Davis’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
We run on The Garrison Standard, and that’s not a slogan. It’s a written code every technician answers to: background-checked, uniformed, with a written price in your hand before any tool touches your lock. Davis homeowners tell us this matters more than saving ten bucks. You should know who is walking up to your door and exactly what the job costs before they start.
Our standing offer is simple. A written price before work begins. A written guarantee covering the rekey for one full year. If the work fails inside that window, we come back and make it right at no charge. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it applies to every Rekey Locks in Davis job, no exceptions, no fine print.
Drew Kowalski leads our team, and he holds every tech to the same standard on a rental turnover near E Street as he does on a commercial storefront near the Davis Food Co-op. One code. One price. One guarantee. Our response time to most Davis neighborhoods is under 45 minutes during regular hours, and a live person answers the phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not a voicemail. Not an answering service.
We’re certified to work on high-security hardware like Medeco and Mul-T-Lock, but most Davis calls are everyday Schlage and Kwikset. That’s fine. The rekey work is the same discipline either way: re-pin the cylinder, cut new keys, hand you the old ones, done.
Rekey Door Lock in Davis
A Rekey Door Lock job in Davis means changing the internal pins inside the existing cylinder so the old key stops working and a new key takes its place. No new hardware. No door modifications. The lock stays right where it is. For most Davis homes built between 1950 and 1980, the original Kwikset or Schlage pin and tumbler cylinders are still serviceable, and re-pinning them is faster and cheaper than swapping the whole lock.
You need this when key control is uncertain: you bought the house, you fired a contractor, a roommate left, or your kid lost a key somewhere between the Farmers Market and the Arboretum. Rekeying is the only way to know with certainty who can and cannot open your door.
Turnover Rekey for Landlords
If you manage rental property in Davis, rekeying between tenants is standard practice, and it should be treated as a line item, not an afterthought. We re-pin the entry locks and cut fresh keys on site, so new tenants start with clean key control and you don’t have old keys floating around town.
Lost Key Rekey
A lost key doesn’t always mean replacing the lock. If your key is gone and you can identify which locks it opened, rekeying covers the exposure. We re-pin those cylinders and give you new keys. The old key becomes useless.
Rekey Service in Davis
A Rekey Service in Davis covers the full scope: inspecting the existing cylinder, re-pinning it to a new key, cutting the new keys, and testing every lock to make sure it turns clean. The job runs $85 to $160 per lock for standard residential hardware, depending on whether the cylinder needs new pins or just re-pinning, and whether it’s a knob, deadbolt, or both.
Davis has a lot of student rentals and accessory dwelling units near the university, and many of those doors are still running the original builder-grade locks. The cylinders are worn, sometimes forty or fifty years old, and a straight rekey sometimes isn’t enough. We’ll tell you before we start if the pins and springs need replacement or the cylinder itself is too sloppy to hold a rekey. That’s the written price conversation, in plain English, before any work begins.
Multiple Lock Rekey
If you want one key to open the front door, back door, and garage access door, we can rekey all of them to a single new key. Most Davis homes with two or three entry doors finish in well under an hour.
High-Security Cylinder Rekey
Some Davis homes and small businesses have upgraded to Medeco or Mul-T-Lock cylinders. Those rekey differently than standard pin and tumbler locks, and they require a registered keyway and specialized pins. We’re certified for those systems, and the price is quoted up front, same as any other job.
Trusted Brands We Service in Davis
We work on Schlage, Kwikset, Yale, and Medeco hardware every day, and our vans carry the pins, springs, and key blanks to service most Davis locks without a second trip. If you’ve got original mid-century Kwikset knobs near the UC Davis campus or a newer Schlage deadbolt in Mace Ranch, we can rekey it on the spot. High-security lines like Medeco require registered key blanks and a bit more prep, but we handle those too. One phone call to (956) 275-7388 gets you the written price before we roll.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Davis Homes
- Worn cylinders from decades of use. The original Kwikset and Schlage pin and tumbler cylinders on Davis ranch homes have been turned thousands of times. Pins wear down, springs lose tension, and the lock gets sticky. We see it constantly in the older neighborhoods west of Highway 113.
- Landlord key control chaos around campus. Student rentals near UC Davis cycle through tenants every year, and sometimes every quarter. Keys get copied at hardware stores, roommates hand them to friends, and by year three nobody knows how many keys exist. A master key system, not just a rekey, solves the recurring problem.
- Mixed hardware on one door. Many Davis homes have a Schlage deadbolt above a Kwikset knob. Different brands, different keyways, two keys for one door. We can rekey both to a single key if the keyways allow it, and we’ll tell you plainly if they don’t.
- Sticky or sloppy turns after a rekey. If the cylinder is too worn, a cheap rekey makes the problem worse. The new pins ride in old grooves and the key binds. We quote cylinder replacement up front when we see that coming, not after we’re halfway through.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Davis, CA
You won’t get a $19 teaser from us, and you won’t get a number that changes when our tech steps out of the van. Here’s the honest range for Davis: a standard single-cylinder rekey runs $85 to $160 per lock. A deadbolt and knob on the same door rekeyed together runs $150 to $280. Multiple locks keyed alike typically run $85 to $160 per cylinder, with a lower per-lock rate on three or more. High-security cylinders like Medeco or Mul-T-Lock run higher, and we’ll quote that exactly before dispatch.
What affects the number: the condition of the cylinder, whether it’s pin and tumbler or a mortise lock, and how many locks you want on one key. We give you a written price on the phone before anyone is dispatched, and that is the price on the invoice. No call-out surcharge added on arrival. No “labor fee” that appears later. Call (956) 275-7388 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Davis
Our service area covers Davis and the surrounding communities. We regularly take calls from Dixon, Woodland, West Sacramento, and Winters. If you’re just outside Davis in one of these towns, the same written price policy and 365-Day Done Right Promise applies. One call, one standard, no surprises.
Serving Davis, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Davis 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 Davis
A standard rekey on a Kwikset or Schlage pin and tumbler cylinder takes 20 to 30 minutes per lock. Most Davis homes with two entry doors finish in under an hour, including cutting new keys on site. Harder jobs, like worn mortise cylinders or high-security hardware, take longer, and we’ll tell you that before we begin.
No. We rekey non-destructively in almost every case. If a lock is so worn or damaged that it needs drilling, that’s a last resort, and we’d tell you before touching it. On mid-century Davis hardware, we’ve rarely had to drill anything. Call (956) 275-7388 and we’ll walk through what you’re seeing before dispatch.
Rekeying replaces the pins inside the cylinder so the old key no longer aligns them. The lock body, deadbolt, and strike plate stay the same. You’re changing the key, not the hardware. It’s the fastest way to restore key control without replacing a door lock entirely.
Usually yes. The builder-grade Kwikset and Schlage cylinders on mid-century Davis homes are pin and tumbler locks that rekey cleanly with fresh pins and springs. We inspect the cylinder first. If it’s too worn to hold a rekey, we quote a cylinder replacement before starting, and that quote is part of the written price.
Every technician is background-checked, uniformed, and arrives in a marked vehicle. You’ll get the technician’s name before dispatch, and the written price you agreed to over the phone is what you’ll see on the work order. If the person at your door doesn’t match that, don’t open the door. Call us back and we’ll confirm. Our techs answer to Drew Kowalski and The Garrison Standard, and they know it.
Call (956) 275-7388 for a free estimate on rekeying your Davis home or rental property. A live person answers, the price is written before we dispatch, and the work carries a one-year written guarantee. That’s how it should work.
Written by Drew Kowalski, Owner at Ridley Locksmith & Security, operating to The Garrison Standard.