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 Millbrae
A rekey in Millbrae typically runs $65 to $160 for a standard pin-and-tumbler deadbolt or entry knob, including the trip to your door. That price is set on the phone before anyone is dispatched, and it’s the price on your invoice when the work is done. No teaser number that climbs in your driveway. No surprise line items. Just a written quote, matched by a written guarantee covering the rekey for one full year.
Millbrae’s housing mix makes rekey work interesting. West of El Camino Real you’ll find mid-century single-family homes with Schlage or Kwikset pin-and-tumbler deadbolts that have been there since the Kennedy administration. East toward the Millbrae Avenue/BART corridor, it’s newer condos and townhomes with builder-grade smart locks and keyless entry pads. We carry pin kits and cylinder parts for both on every truck that rolls into Millbrae. Call (956) 275-7388 and a live person answers, day or night.
Why Ridley Locksmith & Security Is Millbrae’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
Ridley Locksmith & Security operates under The Garrison Standard, a written code that has governed our work since 2007. Every technician who steps onto a Millbrae property is background-checked, uniformed, and dispatched by our own office, not a subcontractor. That structure matters here. A homeowner off Broadway or a condo owner near the BART station shouldn’t have to wonder whether the person at the door is actually the person who was sent.
Our local reputation in Millbrae is built on the same thing every job: a written price before work starts, and a written guarantee when the work is done. The 365-Day Done Right Promise means if a rekey we performed fails inside a full year, we return and make it right at no charge. Not a verbal promise. A document. Millbrae customers tell us they came to us after a bad experience with a teaser quote, and they stay because the invoice matches the phone quote every time.
Drew Kowalski leads Ridley Locksmith & Security, and the standard is his name on the work. Our techs are trained on standard residential hardware (Schlage, Kwikset, Yale, Baldwin) and high-security lines (Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy, Sargent), so the same crew that rekeys your front deadbolt can also handle a commercial cylinder on a Broadway storefront or a high-security Abloy lock on a Millbrae medical office.
Rekey Door Lock in Millbrae
A rekey door lock job in Millbrae means changing the internal pins inside your existing lock cylinder so the old key no longer turns it, while the hardware stays on the door. No new lock, no new holes, no patch work. You keep the deadbolt or knob you already have, but every old key, including that spare you gave the dog walker or the contractor, stops working. The lock is repinned to a fresh key, and only the keys we hand you will operate it.
When a Homeowner Needs It
You closed on a house in Millbrae and the prior owner handed over a drawer full of keys. You don’t know how many copies are floating around Millbrae, San Bruno, or beyond. A rekey door lock resets that risk in under an hour. Same logic applies after a tenant moves out of a rental unit near the BART corridor, or after a contractor finished a remodel and never returned the third spare.
What It Costs Here
A standard rekey door lock in Millbrae runs $65 to $160 per cylinder, depending on the lock type and whether it’s a basic Schlage or Kwikset pin-and-tumbler or something more involved. That’s an all-in figure: the trip, the labor, the new pins, and the fresh keys. If you want every exterior door on one key, the per-cylinder price drops as we work through the set. You get the total before we start.
Rekey Service in Millbrae
A rekey service in Millbrae covers every lock on the property that should turn with one key, or a defined key schedule for a larger building. We show up with a pinned scope: front door, garage-entry, back door, side gate, and any smart lock or keypad entry that needs its code reset. One call, one price, one trip. For a Millbrae homeowner, that means no second dispatch because the first tech forgot the back door.
Whole-Home Rekey
Most Millbrae homes have three or four keyed openings: the front entry, a garage service door, a back or side door, and sometimes a gate. A whole-home rekey service puts all of them on one new key in a single visit. The old keys stop working everywhere at once. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to, and it’s the standard our Millbrae customers expect.
Smart Lock and Keypad Integration
Newer Millbrae townhomes and condos along the Millbrae Avenue corridor often have a keypad entry or smart lock on the front door in addition to a conventional deadbolt. A proper rekey service includes resetting those entry codes so a prior occupant’s app access or four-digit code is dead. Skipping that step leaves the old household fully able to enter the property, which defeats the entire point of the rekey.
Trusted Brands We Service in Millbrae
We rekey Schlage and Kwikset deadbolts every week in Millbrae, and we also carry cylinders and pin kits for Medeco and Abloy when a customer wants an upgrade or already has high-security hardware on a commercial space near Broadway. The same trip can handle a Kwikset on the garage-entry and an Abloy on a storefront, because we stock parts for both. No special-order delay, no second visit. For Millbrae customers, that means the rekey you scheduled is the rekey that gets done, on the first trip, at the price you agreed to.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in Millbrae Homes
- Wrong pin kit on older Millbrae mortise or builder-grade deadbolts. A tech cuts the cylinder with the wrong depth pins and the new key turns the front door but not the garage-entry on the same set. We carry multiple pin kits so the whole home keys up in one pass.
- Smart lock or keypad code skipped during a rekey. The physical cylinder gets repinned but the old entry code stays live. The prior occupant, or a teenager who used to live there, still walks in. We reset all digital access as part of the rekey, not as an upsell.
- Teaser quote inflates at the door. A Millbrae homeowner calls a number off a website offering a $19 rekey and the tech arrives quoting $219 because “your lock is different.” We quote the real number on the phone, in writing, before dispatch. The price we quote is the price you pay.
- Cheap hardware fails within months. Non-ANSI Grade 1 lock hardware on a rental near the Millbrae BART corridor gets bumped or the cylinder galls, and the lock fails inside a year. We recommend hardware that lasts and we back our work for a full year under the 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in Millbrae, CA
Rekey locks in Millbrae run $65 to $160 per cylinder for standard residential hardware, and $95 to $220 per cylinder for high-security brands like Medeco or Abloy. A whole-home rekey on a typical three-door Millbrae house lands in the $180 to $300 range. A single deadbolt on a condo near the BART station is usually at the lower end. Factors that move the number: smart lock code reset, mortise lock on an older Broadway property, or a high-security cylinder that needs a specialized pin kit. Every job gets a written price before any work begins. Call (956) 275-7388 and you’ll know the number before we roll a truck to Millbrae.
We Also Serve Cities Near Millbrae
Ridley Locksmith & Security handles Rekey Locks work throughout the mid-Peninsula. Our same technicians serve San Bruno, Burlingame, South San Francisco, and Pacifica with the same written price and written guarantee on every job. If you’re in Millbrae proper, we’re minutes out, and if your property sits on the line between Millbrae and Burlingame, the service area is seamless.
Serving Millbrae, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Millbrae 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 Millbrae
No, a rekey in Millbrae keeps your existing lock hardware on the door and changes only the internal pins inside the cylinder, so the old key no longer operates it. The deadbolt or knob you have stays, your key holes stay, and only the new key we cut will turn the lock. It’s faster and less expensive than replacing the entire lock, and it achieves the same security goal: old keys stop working. Call (956) 275-7388 for a written quote before we dispatch.
A standard rekey of one to three cylinders in Millbrae takes 30 to 60 minutes on site, and a whole home with four or five openings is usually done in 60 to 90 minutes. Cost runs $65 to $160 per cylinder for standard Schlage or Kwikset hardware, with a full Millbrae home typically landing between $180 and $300. You get the exact dollar figure on the phone before anyone is dispatched, and that figure is the invoice.
Yes, we rekey the physical cylinder on a smart lock and also reset the digital access codes so prior app users and keypad entries no longer work. Many Millbrae condos and townhomes along the Millbrae Avenue and BART corridor have keyless entry, and skipping the code reset leaves the old household with full access. We treat the digital access as part of the same rekey job, priced in the written quote before we arrive.
Every Ridley Locksmith & Security technician who serves Millbrae is background-checked, uniformed, and dispatched by our own office under The Garrison Standard, a written operating code in place since 2007. You’ll know the name of your tech before they arrive, and the written price you received on the phone is the price they carry to the door. No subcontractors, no unmarked vans, no surprise on the invoice.
If the existing deadbolt is a sound Schlage or Kwikset unit and the door frame is in good shape, a rekey is sufficient and the most cost-effective way to cut old key access. If the hardware is a cheap builder-grade lock, especially on a rental near the Millbrae BART corridor, we may recommend upgrading to an ANSI Grade 1 deadbolt at the same visit. We’ll give you a straight answer on site, with the replacement priced in writing before any work begins. Call (956) 275-7388 for a free estimate.
Our tech was called to a townhome just off Millbrae Avenue near the BART station where the new owner had receipts for six keys handed out by the prior occupant, including a contractor and a pet sitter. We rekeyed the front and garage-entry Kwikset deadbolts on the spot, repinned the lock cylinders to a fresh key, and reset the existing smart lock keypad entry code so nothing from the old household still worked. Total time on site was under an hour, and the homeowner watched every step.
For Millbrae homeowners, that’s the entire service: the old keys die, the new key works, the smart code is reset, and the price was fixed before the truck rolled. If the rekey fails inside a year, we come back under the 365-Day Done Right Promise and fix it at no charge. Call (956) 275-7388 now and a live person will answer.
Written by Drew Kowalski, Owner at Ridley Locksmith & Security, operating to The Garrison Standard since 2007.