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 rekeying in Arlington, VA typically runs $95 to $185 for a standard rekey (per cylinder, labor included) and $180 to $420 for full lock installation depending on hardware grade. We quote the full price on the phone before a technician is dispatched, and that price is what appears on your invoice. If you’re off Green Oaks Boulevard in a 1980s ranch or near the UTA campus in an older garden apartment, you already know the locks in this city are a specific kind of old. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll tell you exactly what it costs to fix them.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Arlington’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
Arlington has a particular housing stock problem that most locksmiths don’t address head-on. The city’s residential neighborhoods, especially the boom-era subdivisions built between 1970 and 1995, went up fast and were fitted with builder-grade Kwikset knob locks and single-cylinder deadbolts. Those locks are now decades past their service life. The pins wear down. The keyways get sloppy. Keys that used to turn smoothly start to catch half-way. Rekeying a lock like that without first inspecting the cylinder condition is a disservice, and we don’t do it.
We’re the team that Arlington property owners call when they want an honest assessment of what’s actually on the door. If a cylinder still has life, we rekey it and tell you so. If it’s too worn to be worth rekeying, we’ll show you the play in the keyway and recommend a replacement. No pressure. The decision is yours. Every technician who comes to your Arlington home is background-checked, uniformed, and carries a written scope of work. You get a documented photo record at the end of the visit. And because we answer calls with a live person around the clock, a tenant move-out rekey on Collins Street gets scheduled in one conversation, not three.
Daniel Novak built this company in 2002 on one rule: the price quoted on the phone is the price on the invoice. That’s Haven Standard Clause 1. It’s not a marketing line. It’s a contractual rule our technicians can’t override at the door.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Arlington
We approach every Arlington job as a full-door assessment first, not just a rekey order. The locks on a 1982 brick ranch off Little Road have different needs than the locks on a 2017 townhome near Ballston or a ground-floor garden apartment near UTA. Our Lock Installation & Rekey team starts by checking the strike plate alignment, the deadbolt throw, the hinge wear, and the condition of the cylinder pins. Then we do what’s needed, in one visit.
Smart Lock Installation
Smart locks are a growing request in Arlington, especially among homeowners who bought between 2015 and 2025 and expect keypad entry. But here’s the local wrinkle: many Arlington door frames are original to the house. A smart lock with a motorized deadbolt needs the strike plate to line up within about 1/8 inch. On a south-facing door that’s been swelling every summer for thirty years, that alignment is often off. We’ll shim or adjust the strike plate as part of the install, not bolt the lock onto a misaligned frame and call it done. Yale and Baldwin smart lock models are the ones we service most often in Arlington.
Keyless Entry and Keypad Locks
Keypads fail repeatedly on Arlington’s west-facing entry doors because the afternoon heat cooks the frame, the deadbolt drifts, and the motor finally can’t push the bolt home. Keypad lock installation here has to account for frame movement. We use a slightly deeper strike box and make sure the bolt throw clears completely before we leave. If you’re running a rental near the UTA campus, keypad locks also mean you can rotate codes on August 1 without physically rekeying every unit door. That’s a real time-saver for the student turn-over season.
Biometric Locks
Biometric and electronic lock installs in Arlington run on the higher end, $280 to $520 per door with hardware. Most of these jobs are on detached workshops, media rooms, or gun safes. The February 2021 hard freeze is a useful reminder: any battery-powered exterior lock should be rated for sub-freezing temperatures. We’ll recommend hardware that actually survives a North Texas freeze, not a model designed for a California coast winter.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Arlington
We’re factory-authorized for Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Baldwin, and Schlage, and we carry common replacement parts for those brands in our Arlington service vehicles. That matters when a high-security cylinder has a worn pin stack from a 1988 Mul-T-Lock owner who has been using the same two keys for thirty years. We don’t order parts and come back. We stock the pins, springs, and tailpieces for the locks we service most in Arlington, which means most rekeys happen same-day.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Arlington Homes
- Worn 1970s-1980s Kwikset cylinders off Green Oaks and Little Road: The original knobs on those brick ranch homes have retaining springs that are tired, and the pin chambers are sloppy. Rekeying them without replacing the core leaves a lock that turns but isn’t secure against bumping. We’ll tell you honestly when a replacement is the smarter spend.
- Deadbolt misalignment from summer heat on south- and west-facing doors: Wood frames swell, metal frames expand, and the deadbolt no longer throws fully into the strike plate. It feels like the lock is failing. Usually the lock is fine; the frame isn’t. We realign, and if needed, deepen the strike box.
- Seized gate padlocks and shed cylinders after hard freezes: The February 2021 freeze coated outdoor hardware in a layer of ice inside the keyway. We opened and rekeyed several acreage properties off I-20 that week. Non-destructive entry took about fifteen minutes per lock; full rekey followed the same visit.
- Mis-keyed locks in garden-style apartments near UTA: August tenant turnover means a unit gets a new tenant who has one key that works on three doors and not the fourth. We rekey every lock on the unit in one visit and cut a consistent key set. Property managers near Collins Street call us weeks in advance for this.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Arlington, VA
Here’s what you can expect to pay in Arlington. A standard rekey on a Kwikset or Schlage cylinder runs $95 to $140 per cylinder, including labor. A higher-security cylinder from Medeco or Mul-T-Lock rekey runs $150 to $185. Full deadbolt replacement with an ANSI Grade 1 lock, such as a Schlage B60, is $180 to $260 installed. Smart lock installation starts at $220 and goes to $420 depending on the model and whether we need to adjust the strike plate or frame. We don’t add a service call surcharge on arrival. We don’t advertise a low teaser number and then pad the invoice. The price you hear on the phone is the price you pay. We’ll also review any competitor’s written estimate for Arlington work at no charge, and tell you if it’s reasonable or missing something.
We Also Serve Cities Near Arlington
Our service area covers Arlington and the surrounding metro, including Arlington-adjacent communities like Alexandria, Annandale, Burke, and Oakton. If you’re on the edge of Arlington and not sure whether we come to your street, call (331) 310-8471 and ask. The dispatcher will confirm coverage on the spot.
Serving Arlington, VA - 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. We routinely do multi-structure rekeys in one dispatch across Arlington’s larger residential lots. The trick is a master key system, where one key operates every exterior door and a different key operates only the structures you specify. We’ll write the keying schedule before we start, cut the keys on site, and verify each cylinder against it. A full property with four to six cylinders typically takes two to three hours. Call (331) 310-8471 for a firm quote on your specific structures.
Yes. August is our busiest month for rental property rekeys in Arlington, particularly the garden-style apartment clusters around the UTA campus and along Collins Street. We schedule these jobs in advance so the rekey happens between tenants, not after the new tenant has already moved in. We provide a written rekey log showing which unit got which keying, which helps for lease documentation. Call us at least ten days before move-in weekend to lock in a time slot.
It depends on the cylinder condition. About two-thirds of original 1980s Kwikset cylinders we pull in Arlington are too worn to rekey securely. The pin chambers won’t hold new pins tightly, so the lock becomes bumpable within days. We’ll show you the play in the keyway and tell you if rekey is still justified. A new Kwikset replacement runs about $35 per lock; a Schlage B60 deadbolt is a step up and runs about $60 for hardware. Rekeying a cylinder that’s past saving is a waste of your money, and we’ll tell you that plainly.
No. Rekeying replaces the pins so old keys stop working, but it does not change the basic cylinder design. A worn standard Kwikset that can be bumped today will still be bumpable the day after a rekey. If you want bump-resistant hardware, you need a high-security cylinder from Medeco or Mul-T-Lock, which use different internal mechanisms that standard bump keys can’t defeat. Expect to pay $150 to $185 per cylinder for those in Arlington. We’ll show you both options and let you choose.
Same day in most cases. We keep rekey pins and Kwikset combinating kits on the service vehicles that cover Arlington, so the technician can rekey a unit’s exterior and interior doors on the spot. If you need it done before the next lease signing, tell the dispatcher it’s time-sensitive. Calls are answered by a live person 24/7, and we can usually have a technician at a Collins Street complex within two hours of your call. Call (331) 310-8471 with the unit count and we’ll give you a firm price on the phone.
If you live in a 1970s brick ranch off Green Oaks Boulevard, own an acreage property with a detached workshop, or manage rental units near the UTA campus, call (331) 310-8471 for a free estimate on lock installation and rekeying in Arlington, or reach out to our Emergency Locksmith in Arlington for urgent needs. We’ll quote you a firm price before anyone is dispatched, and that price won’t change when the technician arrives. Your invoice will match the phone quote, every time.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Arlington with written-price lock installation and rekey work since 2002.