Rekeys and lock changes for Encinitas homes
Just bought, just lost a key, or just not sure who has copies. One visit, every door on one key.
Rekey or replace? A straight answer
A rekey changes the pins inside your existing lock so the old keys stop working and a new one works. It costs less than new hardware and keeps the look of the door. It's the right call when the lock is sound: a decent Schlage or Kwikset deadbolt, an Emtek set, or the original mortise lock in a Leucadia cottage.
Replace when the lock is worn, builder-grade and loose, or salt-damaged. A cylinder that's pitted and green from a few years a block off Neptune isn't worth pinning; it will seize again. Text a photo and we'll tell you which you have before we come. When it's a replacement, what goes on the door is over on the hardware page.
Moving in? Every lock on one key
The most common job we do. Encinitas homes have more doors than people count: front, back, the garage side door, the door from the garage into the house, a side gate, the mailbox, and often a casita or an ADU. A three-bedroom in Village Park with a detached garage and a side-yard gate usually comes to six to eight cylinders. We rekey all of them to one key, so you carry one, not a ring.
The previous owners, their contractor, their dog walker and their tenants may all have a copy of what's on the door today. After a rekey, none of those work.
In the HOA neighborhoods, Encinitas Ranch and Village Park especially, the front-door hardware may need to match the CC&Rs. Rekeying keeps what's there, which keeps the HOA happy. More on the inland neighborhoods.
How a rekey visit goes
Count. We walk the doors with you and count cylinders, so the total is known before anything comes apart.
Pin. Each lock comes off, gets pinned to the new key, and goes back on.
Test. Every lock from both sides, door open and door closed. A deadbolt that works with the door open and binds with it shut is a strike problem, and we fix that too.
Tag and hand over. Keys are cut on the van and tagged by door. The old keys leave with you or with us, your call. The porch is left the way we found it, brass shavings included.
Mixed brands on one key
Homes built around 1980, which is the median here, often have a Kwikset knob and a Schlage deadbolt on the same door, added in different decades. Those take different keys and can't be pinned to the same one. The fix is either to swap one cylinder so both match, or to replace the odd lock with a matching one. We carry both keyways on the van and will tell you the cheapest route to one key.
Restricted keys that can't be copied at a kiosk
If the worry is copies, not just the current key, a restricted keyway is the answer. The blanks aren't sold to hardware stores or to the key kiosk at the grocery store, and copies come only from us, with your signature on file. Worth it for anyone who hands keys to staff, and for people who simply want to know how many exist. High-security cylinders are on the hardware page.
Lost a key or someone moved out
You don't always need the whole house done. Lost one key: we rekey the doors that key opened. A roommate moved out or a contractor finished: the same, just the doors they had. If everything was already on one key, it's a full rekey, and it's still a single visit.
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Own a vacation rental? Guest changeovers work differently, and they're on their own page.
Tell us how many doors. We'll quote it.
Call, or text a photo of the front-door lock and a count of the others.
- Hours
- Mon–Sat 8am–8pm
After-hours lockouts by phone - Credentials
- Licensed and insured
- Area
- Encinitas & Cardiff-by-the-Sea
92024 · 92007