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.
Fast, Reliable Lock Installation & Rekey Across Arlington
Lock installation and rekey in Arlington, MA typically runs $25-$45 per cylinder for a standard rekey, and $95-$185 per lock for new hardware installation. Most jobs on a single-family home are completed in one visit, usually within 90 minutes of arrival. If you’re off Massachusetts Avenue near Spy Pond or up in the Heights, a technician can reach most Arlington addresses in 30-45 minutes. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll give you a firm written price before anyone gets in the van.
Arlington homeowners live with a specific mix of housing stock: 1920s colonials and Capes east of Mass Ave, post-war ranches in East Arlington, and larger 1960s-1980s builds in the Jason Heights and Morningside neighborhoods. What that means for locks is predictable. Original mortise locksets on pre-war homes have worn spindles. Builder-grade Kwikset knobs on mid-century homes have cylinders that no longer hold a clean rekey. We know exactly what we’ll find when we pull up, and we price it in writing before we knock.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Arlington since 2002.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Arlington’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
The reason Arlington homeowners call us isn’t longevity or advertising. It’s that the dispatcher gives a firm price on the phone, and the technician is not permitted to change it at the door. That rule has been in place since 2002, and it’s Haven Standard Clause 1. Every job gets a documented photo record left with the homeowner when we finish, showing the old hardware, the new hardware, and the work performed. You see what we saw, and you see what was done.
Arlington is dense. Street parking on Broadway is tight, and the side streets near the Minuteman Bikeway often have no parking at all on weekends. Our techs know to park on the cross streets and walk in when needed. We stock cylinders, strike plates, and smart lock hardware for the common door prep sizes found in Arlington homes, so most installations don’t require a second visit. And when someone calls at 11 p.m. because a deadbolt seized on a rental off Mass Ave, a live person answers. Not a queue. Not a callback. A person who can dispatch.
We hold work to The Haven Standard, the same documented quality framework used across all ten Haven brands. It’s a set of written procedures, not a slogan. Clause 2: before any work starts, you get a written scope and a flat price. Clause 3: when we leave, you get a photo record. Clause 4: if it’s not done right within 365 days, we make it right.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Arlington
We handle the full range of Lock Installation & Rekey work across Arlington, from single-cylinder deadbolts on a 1920s two-family to a full smart lock retrofit on a new build off Park Avenue. Here’s what Arlington homeowners call us for most.
Smart Lock Installation
Installation of a keypad or Wi-Fi smart lock on an Arlington home usually runs $125-$220 including the lock hardware, depending on the brand and whether your door needs additional boring. Older Arlington doors with non-standard backset measurements sometimes need a new bore hole or a wrap plate, which adds $20-$40. We tell you the exact number before anyone touches a drill.
Keyless Entry
If your side door off the driveway is the door everyone actually uses, adding a keyless entry pad there makes more sense than the front door. Typical cost for a commercial-grade keypad deadbolt installed on an Arlington home is $130-$200. We recommend a model with weather sealing if the door faces north toward the Mystic Lakes, where freeze-thaw cycles seasonally wreck exposed keypads.
Keypad Lock
Multi-family entries around Arlington Center and the rental stock near Tufts University often require keypad locks that can hold multiple user codes and audit trail capability. A Schlage or Yale keypad lock with code management runs $110-$180 installed. For absentee landlords, we document every code change in the photo record we leave at the property.
Biometric Lock
Biometric fingerprint locks cost more, $180-$320 installed in Arlington, and honestly we tell homeowners when it’s not the right fit. Frost on the sensor from New England winters can interfere with recognition on north-facing entries. If you really want one, we’ll install it right and show you exactly how to maintain it. But we’ll also tell you if a high-security keypad lock does the job for less.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Arlington
We’re factory-authorized on Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Baldwin, and Yale, among others. That matters in Arlington because so much of the housing stock is older: a 1940s mortise lock on Jason Street doesn’t take modern hardware without modification, and Baldwin hardware from the 1990s often needs exact-match cylinders. We stock those parts here, not in a warehouse two hours away. If you have an existing high-security cylinder from Medeco or Mul-T-Lock, we can key it to match the rest of your house in one visit instead of mailing it out.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Arlington Homes
- Worn builder-grade cylinders on 1970s-1990s homes. Arlington has a lot of raised ranches and split-levels built during the post-war boom. The original Kwikset knob cylinders from that era have brass springs that have been through forty New England winters. When a homeowner asks us to rekey one and it’s too worn to hold new pins, we tell them before we start, not after the cylinder falls apart on our bench.
- Swollen door frames on south-facing entries. Summer humidity and winter ice both hit Arlington door frames. South and west-facing doors on properties near the Mystic River or Spy Pond take the worst of it. When a deadbolt misaligns because the door frame has moved, the fix isn’t always a new lock. Sometimes the strike plate needs to be repositioned or the frame shimmed. We’ll show you in the photo record which one we did.
- Hard freezes seizing exterior padlocks and gate hardware. Arlington gets hard overnight freezes, and a padlock on a backyard gate or a shed off the Minuteman Bikeway can freeze solid if it’s never been lubricated with a weather-grade product. We rekey exterior padlocks with pins and lubricant rated for New England temperature swings, and we note in the record when a lock isn’t worth rekeying because corrosion has already compromised the cylinder.
- Multiple keys for one house. The previous owner had a front door key, a back door key, a basement key, and a garage key. You just moved in and all you want is one key that works everything. That’s a single-visit job for us in Arlington if you’ve got standard hardware. We bring the cylinders, the pins, and the padlocks we’ll need, key everything to one key, and leave you a written ledger of what opens what. If you want a few spare keys cut on the spot, we do that too.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Arlington, MA
Here’s what we charge in Arlington, and these are the numbers the dispatcher will quote you on the phone. The price you hear is the price on the invoice. There is no call-out surcharge added when the tech parks. There is no “minimum service fee” that mysteriously appears after we arrive.
| Service | Typical Arlington Price |
|---|---|
| Standard rekey per cylinder | $25-$45 |
| New deadbolt installation (entry-grade) | $95-$140 per lock |
| New deadbolt installation (high-security, e.g. Medeco, Mul-T-Lock) | $160-$260 per lock |
| Keypad or smart lock installation (hardware included) | $125-$220 per lock |
| Biometric lock installation (hardware included) | $180-$320 per lock |
| Key duplication (standard) | $3-$8 per key |
| Key duplication (high-security or transponder) | $15-$45 per key |
Your final price depends on the condition of the existing hardware, the door prep already in place, and the security grade of the new hardware. We don’t charge extra for coming to Arlington, we don’t charge for the estimate, and we don’t change the price at the door. Call (331) 310-8471 and get a number in writing before we roll.
We Also Serve Cities Near Arlington
Our techs take calls across the immediate area. In a given week we’re doing lock installation and rekey in Medford, Cambridge, Watertown, and Somerville, often same-day. If you’re just outside the Arlington line, we’re likely already scheduled on your side of the map.
Serving Arlington, MA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Arlington 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 - Lock Installation & Rekey in Arlington
Yes. For properties with outbuildings and detached structures, we treat the whole parcel as one job. We bring cylinders and padlock hardware sized for the gates, sheds, and workshop doors we’ll encounter, and we rekey everything to a single key. That includes padlocks that need new weather-resistant pins and lubricant. One visit, one key, one written price before we start. Call (331) 310-8471 for a firm quote.
Most of the time, yes. Kwikset cylinders from the 1980s have brass springs and pins that are often too worn to hold a clean rekey. Rekeying a worn cylinder means you’ll get a key that works intermittently, and that’s not a job we’ll put our name on. We’ll show you the cylinder condition in the photo record and give you a firm replacement price before we touch anything. For most ranch homes, that’s a one-visit job.
Humidity swells the wood door frames, especially on south and west-facing entries, and the deadbolt no longer lines up with the strike plate. The fix is either repositioning the strike plate, shimming the frame, or in some cases re-boring the plate pocket. We see it every summer in Arlington, and we can tell you on the phone what your situation likely is before we even arrive.
In most cases, yes. We pick or shim standard padlocks and knob locks as a first move, before anything destructive. Drilling is a last resort and only after you’ve approved it at the price we quoted. If you want the shed rekeyed to match the house key while we’re there, we’ll price that in and do it same visit. Call (331) 310-8471 and the dispatcher will walk you through what to expect.
No. A properly keyed master system can include the detached workshop, gate, shed, and any other outbuilding. The master key opens everything; the sub-keys open only what you assign. We cut and rekey the cylinders to match the existing master system on the property, and we leave you a written ledger of what key does what. If you don’t have a master system yet but want one, we can set that up in one visit.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Arlington since 2002.