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 Kentfield
If you just closed on a house in Kentfield or had a key go missing, the first call you make shouldn’t be a gamble. A rekey costs less than replacing hardware, takes under an hour in most Kentfield homes, and leaves every old key dead. We dispatch background-checked technicians to Kentfield from our San Francisco Bay Area office, and the price we quote on the phone is the price on the invoice. Call (956) 275-7388 and you’ll get a written price before anyone rolls a van.
Why Ridley Locksmith & Security Is Kentfield’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
Kentfield homeowners tend to ask sharper questions than most. They want to know who’s coming through the door before they hand over a key, and they’ve usually heard a story about a neighbor who got burned by a bait-price rekey that turned into a full hardware swap once the tech saw a mortise lock. That’s the gap we fill. Ridley Locksmith & Security is independently owned and operated under The Garrison Standard, the operating code that has held every technician and every job accountable since 2007. Drew Kowalski runs our operation, and he’s built it around a very simple rule: written price, written guarantee, no exceptions.
Every tech who shows up at a Kentfield address is background-checked, uniformed, and carrying the written price you already approved. Not a subcontractor. Not an unmarked van. And every job carries a written guarantee covering the repair 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’s printed on the paperwork, not just said over the phone.
Rekey Service in Kentfield
Rekey Service in Kentfield usually means one of two things. Either you’ve bought a home and want every old key dead, or you’ve lost a key and need the lock changed internally so that key no longer turns. We remove the cylinder, swap the internal pins, cut new keys, and reinstall. The hardware stays. The old keys die. It’s the most cost-effective way to regain control of a property without buying all new locks.
A standard single-cylinder rekey in Kentfield runs $95 to $160 per lock. Mortise cylinders, which are common on the mid-century Baldwin and Schlage hardware found throughout this area, run $125 to $210 per lock because the cylinder has to be pulled and the pin stack worked separately. You’ll get the exact figure in writing before we dispatch.
Deadbolt Rekeying
Deadbolts are the workhorse of Kentfield security. We rekey them in place, replacing the internal pins so old keys stop working. If your deadbolt and knob share the same keyway, we can often key them alike in the same visit.
High-Security Cylinder Rekeying
Some Kentfield homes have been upgraded to Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, or Abloy high-security cylinders. These use restricted keyways and patented key control, so rekeying them requires the original card or a locksmith certified on that specific line. We hold those certifications and we carry the pinsets needed to rekey them on site.
Keyed Alike in Kentfield
Keyed Alike in Kentfield means taking every lock in your home, front door, side entry, back deadbolt, garage, and rekeying them all to the same key. One key runs the whole house. It’s the most common request we get from new owners in this area, because Kentfield homes tend to have multiple entries and the previous owner’s keychain often had six different keys on it.
Keying alike runs $95 to $160 per lock plus a $35 to $60 key-alike setup fee, depending on how many cylinders and how many key cuts are involved. We’ll give you a flat price for the whole job before we dispatch. No per-door surprises.
Multi-Entry Key Consolidation
Kentfield’s mid-century homes often have a front entry, a side door off the driveway, a back door to the yard, and a garage with its own deadbolt. We consolidate all of them onto one key, so the mess of old cut keys on your countertop becomes one or two fresh cuts.
Mortise Lock Keying
The front doors on many Kentfield homes are Baldwin or Schlage mortise locks, not standard bore knob sets. Keying these alike requires pulling the mortise cylinder and matching the pin stack across every other lock in the home. Our techs do this routinely in Kentfield. It’s not a special-order skill. It’s the default.
Trusted Brands We Service in Kentfield
We work on the hardware that’s actually installed in Kentfield homes, and that skews toward Schlage and Baldwin mortise locks on the front entries, with Kwikset and Yale on interior and side doors. We stock common pin kits and cylinders for these brands in our vans, so most Kentfield rekeys are finished in one visit. For Medeco and other high-security lines, we carry the factory pinning kits and certification to rekey them without sending the cylinder out. That matters when you want your locks back on the door the same day.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Kentfield Homes
- Phone-quoted prices that change at the door. A call center quotes a low rekey price, then the tech arrives, sees a Baldwin mortise cylinder instead of a standard residential lock, and suddenly it’s a hardware replacement at three times the price. In Kentfield, where mortise locks are more common than builder-grade knobsets, this bait-and-switch is rampant. We quote the actual lock, not the cheapest assumption.
- Rekeys that only cover the front door. We see this constantly: a lock gets rekeyed, but the side-entry deadbolt and garage keypad are still on the old key. In Kentfield’s multi-entry homes, a partial rekey is a security hole. Every quote we give covers every entry point, or we tell you exactly which ones are excluded and why.
- Unnecessary drilling. A rekey is a non-destructive process. It doesn’t require drilling. But techs who don’t carry the right pin kits or don’t know how to remove a mortise cylinder will drill it, then bill you for the replacement cylinder on top of the rekey. We don’t drill locks that can be pulled and rekeyed.
- Worn cylinders on aging mortise locks. Kentfield’s housing stock is older, and many Baldwin mortise cylinders have decades of wear on the pin chambers. A worn cylinder won’t hold a fresh rekey reliably. We inspect the cylinder before we pin it, and if it’s too worn, we tell you the truth and give you a written price for replacement before any work starts.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Kentfield, CA
Here’s what you should expect to pay in Kentfield, based on the work we do here weekly. A standard knob or deadbolt rekey runs $95 to $160 per lock. A mortise cylinder rekey, common on the front doors of this area’s mid-century homes, runs $125 to $210 per lock. Keying multiple locks alike adds $35 to $60 as a setup fee on top of the per-lock rate. High-security cylinders like Medeco run $150 to $240 per lock because the pin kits cost more and the key cuts require a certified tech.
What changes the price? Worn cylinders that need replacing, additional key copies, high-security hardware, and the total number of locks. The price we quote on the phone is the final price, held in writing before dispatch. There is no call-out surcharge added when the tech arrives. Call (956) 275-7388 and get a flat, written quote.
We Also Serve Cities Near Kentfield
Our service area covers Rekey Locks in Kentfield and the surrounding Ross Valley communities. We regularly send technicians to Larkspur, San Anselmo, San Rafael, and Corte Madera. If your home sits anywhere along Sir Francis Drake Blvd or the surrounding streets, you’re in our dispatch range. Our full Rekey Locks service detail applies to every city we cover.
Serving Kentfield, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Kentfield 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 Kentfield
You can rekey a Baldwin mortise lock in almost every case. We pull the mortise cylinder, replace the internal pins so the old key stops working, and reinstall it. The only time new hardware is needed is when the cylinder itself is too worn to hold a fresh pin stack, which we’ll tell you with the cylinder in hand and a written price for replacement before we proceed. Call (956) 275-7388 with the brand stamped on your lock face, and we’ll quote the exact rekey price on the phone.
A single-cylinder rekey takes 20 to 40 minutes. A full multi-entry Kentfield home with mortise locks, deadbolts, and key-alike work takes 45 to 90 minutes. The price is fixed in writing before dispatch, and it’s the price on your invoice. No call-out fee added at the door. Call (956) 275-7388 and you’ll have a firm number before we schedule.
Yes. We rekey each lock to a single keyway, so one key runs the front mortise lock, the side-entry deadbolt, the back door, and the garage. This is standard keyed-alike work, and in Kentfield’s multi-entry homes, it’s the most efficient way to secure the property. We quote the whole job as one flat price before dispatch.
Your tech arrives in a marked vehicle, wearing a Ridley uniform with visible identification. They’ll have the written price you already approved, on paper, before they touch a lock. If a tech can’t produce company ID or a written price that matches your phone quote, don’t let them in. That’s the exact scenario that burns homeowners, and we designed our dispatch process to make it impossible. Call (956) 275-7388 and you’ll talk to a live person, not an answering service, 24 hours a day.
A proper rekey is non-destructive. We pull the cylinder, swap the pins, and reinstall. Drilling is only a last resort for a lock that’s physically failed or a key that’s snapped off inside the cylinder, and we’ll never drill a lock that can be pulled and rekeyed non-destructively. We got a call from a new owner on Sir Francis Drake Blvd near the College of Marin who wanted every key in the house to stop working except hers. The front door was a Baldwin mortise lock with a worn cylinder, so our tech pulled it, rekeyed the pin and tumbler stack to a new Schlage keyway, and keyed the side-entry and back deadbolts alike so one key ran all three. Quoted before we rolled, done in under an hour, no drilling. Call (956) 275-7388 to get the same written-price process on your home.
If you’re in Kentfield and you need a rekey done right, call (956) 275-7388. We’ll give you a written price before anyone is dispatched, and the tech who arrives will be the one whose name and background you already know.
Written by Drew Kowalski, Owner at Ridley Locksmith & Security, serving Kentfield under The Garrison Standard since 2007.