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 San Francisco
Rekeying a lock in South San Francisco means changing the internal pins so old keys stop working, without replacing the hardware. A standard single-cylinder rekey in South San Francisco runs $25 to $45 per lock when done as part of a service call, with the trip charge typically ranging $45 to $75 depending on which part of town we’re coming from. For residents in Old Town, Sunshine Gardens, Terrabay, or the Westborough area, we arrive ready to rekey whatever you’ve got on the door, and we hand you a written price before any work starts. Drew Kowalski runs our crew, and he’s the person who makes sure that price on the phone is the price on the invoice. Call (956) 275-7388 and a live person picks up, day or night.
Why Ridley Locksmith & Security Is South San Francisco’s Preferred Rekey Locks Company
We’re independently owned and operated under the Garrison Partners family, and every technician dispatched in South San Francisco works to The Garrison Standard. That’s not a slogan. It’s a written set of rules we’ve been running on since 2007, covering how we quote, how we show up, and what we do if something isn’t right.
Our Rekey Locks crew knows the difference between a mortise lock body on a Grand Avenue bungalow and a fresh Schlage deadbolt on a Centennial Village apartment. That matters. A pin swap on the first takes different hands than a pin swap on the second, and someone who’s only seen new construction hardware can leave an old lockset binding or keying unevenly.
Every rekey job in South San Francisco gets a written guarantee covering the work for one full year. If the rekey fails inside that window, we come back at no charge. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s automatic. You don’t ask for it. It’s in writing.
We dispatch from our San Francisco Bay Area office, but the techs who arrive on your South San Francisco doorstep are ours. Background-checked, uniformed, and trained on hardware from Kwikset to Medeco. Not subcontractors. Not an unmarked van with a guy who got your call through a call center.
Rekey Service in South San Francisco
Rekey Service in South San Francisco means pulling the lock cylinder, swapping the internal pins to match a new key, and putting it all back so the old keys are dead weight. You keep the hardware. You just cut off whoever had the old keys. After a tenant move-out on Grand Avenue, a housekeeper change in Terrabay, or a divorce in Westborough, this is the work that gets your doors secure again without buying new locks.
Expect to pay $25 to $45 per cylinder for the rekey labor on a standard pin and tumbler lock, plus the trip fee. A typical South San Francisco home with two or three entry doors runs $95 to $180 all-in, keyed alike if you want it. We quote per cylinder over the phone, confirm it in writing before touching a screw, and the invoice matches.
Mortise Lock Rekeying in Older Homes
Pre-war bungalows in Old Town and Sunshine Gardens often still have their original mortise lock bodies in the door. Those aren’t a problem, but they’re not a modern Kwikset cylinder either. The rekey takes longer because the cylinder comes out of the mortise body differently, and it’s not a flat $25 job. We’ll tell you that on the phone before dispatch. No surcharge appears at the door that wasn’t already in the written price.
Standard Deadbolt and Knob Rekeys
For the newer Schlage and Kwikset hardware common around Oyster Point, Centennial Village, and the hills, rekeying is straightforward pin work. Most of these take 10 to 15 minutes per cylinder from start to finish. We confirm each lock throws cleanly before we leave, because a rekey on a lock that’s already failing doesn’t hold.
Keyed Alike in South San Francisco
Keyed Alike in South San Francisco is when we pin two or more locks so the same key operates them all. If your front door and side entrance have different keys now, we can make one key work both. It’s common on homes in the Westborough hills where the garage entry, front door, and back door have multiplied into a keyring full of confusion.
The labor is $25 to $45 per cylinder, same as any rekey, plus the trip fee. The only extra cost is the new keys themselves, and we cut them on the spot. For a house with three exterior doors, getting everything keyed alike in South San Francisco usually means $120 to $175 on the invoice, quoted before we arrive. You’ll know the number before you say yes.
One Key for Every Door
The most common request is front door plus back door plus interior garage door, all on one key. We pin each cylinder to the same biting, test each lock with the new key, and hand you the old keys so you can see they’re useless. The whole job usually takes under an hour on standard hardware.
Keyed Alike with a Master Key
Some South San Francisco landlords want tenants to have their own unit keys while the landlord holds one master that opens everything. That’s a master key system, and it’s a different job than simple keyed alike. We plan the pinning so the tenant key works one door and the master works all of them. Written quote before we cut, and a printed key schedule when we’re done.
Trusted Brands We Service in South San Francisco
South San Francisco’s housing stock runs a mix of eras and hardware, so we train on all of it. Standard Schlage and Kwikset cylinders cover most of the newer apartments and single-family homes from the 1980s forward. Baldwin hardware shows up on higher-end properties in the hills. And for commercial clients around Oyster Point and the industrial corridors, we work with Medeco and other high-security lines that take restricted key blanks. That means a rekey on one of those isn’t something any hardware store key machine can handle. We stock pins and parts for the common brands locally for our South San Francisco calls, so we rarely have to run back for a part.
Common Rekey Locks Problems We See in South San Francisco Homes
- Original mortise locks in Old Town and Sunshine Gardens bungalows. These pre-war locksets weren’t built for modern key blanks. Rekeying them takes a different cylinder follower and more patience than a standard deadbolt. A tech who’s never opened one will quote you a teaser price and then discover the “extra” on your doorstep.
- Corroded pins in locks near the bay. Salt air around Oyster Point and the eastern flats gets into older lock cylinders. Rekeying a lock with corroded pins means the new key works for a week, then binds. We check cylinder wear during every rekey and tell you if the cylinder needs replacement before we pin it, not after.
- New tenant, new keys, old deadbolt on the side door. South San Francisco’s mix of front mortise and side deadbolt means one door gets missed when a landlord hands over keys. We key the front and side alike so one key works both, and the previous tenant’s key works neither.
- Apartment turnover around Centennial Village and Oyster Point. Property managers need multiple units rekeyed between tenants on short notice. We schedule same-day rekeys for vacant units, key each one to its own new key, and provide a written key control sheet so the office knows exactly who holds what.
Pricing for Rekey Locks in South San Francisco, CA
A standard rekey in South San Francisco runs $25 to $45 per cylinder for the labor, plus a trip fee of $45 to $75 depending on your neighborhood. A typical two-door home rekey, keyed alike, lands between $95 and $165. If you have an original mortise lock in Old Town or Sunshine Gardens, expect the top of that range, because the cylinder work is slower and the springs and pins are older stock. Commercial and high-security hardware such as Medeco runs higher because the cylinders take restricted, patented key blanks. We quote the full price on the phone before anyone is dispatched. That quoted number includes the trip, the labor, the pins, and the first set of keys. No call-out surcharge gets added on arrival. If you want the exact price for your doors, call (956) 275-7388 and describe the locks. We’ll give you a firm number.
We Also Serve Cities Near South San Francisco
Our South San Francisco crews regularly work the neighboring cities along the Peninsula. Brisbane, Daly City, San Bruno, and Millbrae are all within our normal service radius, and the same written price and written guarantee apply in each. If you’re in one of those cities and need a rekey, the phone number is the same and a live person still answers.
Serving South San Francisco, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the South San Francisco 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 San Francisco
Yes, and we tell you before we dispatch. Mortise lock rekeys in South San Francisco’s pre-war homes take longer than standard pin and tumbler work, so the per-cylinder price sits at the top of our range or slightly above. You’ll have the exact number on the phone before any tech leaves the office. Nobody shows up and announces a vintage-lock surcharge.
Every Ridley technician in South San Francisco arrives in a uniform and carries identification from Ridley Locksmith & Security under the Garrison Partners name. You can expect a background-checked, company employee, never a subcontracted stranger. If you want to confirm who’s coming, the dispatcher will give you the tech’s name when you book, and the tech will give you the written quote before starting any work.
Yes, and that’s the most common request we get in South San Francisco. We rekey both cylinders to the same key, test each lock with the new key, and hand you the old keys to demonstrate they no longer work. Standard Schlage and Kwikset hardware takes under an hour for two doors. Mortise front locks add time, and we’ll tell you that in advance.
For a standard Schlage or Kwikset deadbolt, 10 to 15 minutes per cylinder once the tech is inside the unit. A two-door apartment rekey is usually done in under 40 minutes. Old mortise locks in some of the older apartment buildings in Old Town push that longer. We’ll give you a realistic window when you call, based on what you describe on the door.
Yes. That’s the point of a rekey. We replace the internal pins with new ones cut to a new key, and every key that worked before stops working immediately. The mechanical parts of the lock stay in place, but the old key is useless the moment we finish. If you want an extra layer of certainty, we’ll test the old key in front of you before we leave. Call (956) 275-7388 for an exact quote, free, before anyone is dispatched.
Written by Drew Kowalski, Owner at Ridley Locksmith & Security, serving South San Francisco under The Garrison Standard since 2007.