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 Burlingame
Lock installation and rekeying in Burlingame, CA, runs $25-$45 per cylinder for a standard rekey and $150-$450 for most new lock installations, quoted in writing before any work starts. Most jobs take under an hour on site once we arrive. We know Burlingame’s housing stock, from the 1920s Craftsman bungalows in the Easton Addition to the newer condos along El Camino Real, and that changes the way we approach every job.
Novak Lock & Security has been installing and rekeying locks since 2002. Daniel Novak runs our operation, and the rule on every Burlingame job is the same as it’s been for two decades: the price you get on the phone at (331) 310-8471 is the price on the invoice. No dispatch fee added at the door, no upsell after we see the lock.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Burlingame’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
Burlingame homeowners don’t have time for bait-and-switch locksmiths. The houses here are specific: original mortise locksets in the Easton Addition, mid-century cylindrical deadbolts in the tract homes east of El Camino, newer smart-lock ready doors in the multifamily buildings near Broadway. A technician who doesn’t know the difference will drill where he should rekey, and patch where he should rebuild.
We get calls from Burlingame every week, from homeowners on Chapin Avenue, Bayswater, and the streets around Washington Park. Many of those calls start with a lock they’ve already had one other company look at. Our dispatchers answer live, 24/7, no voicemail queue, and we can usually have a background-checked, uniformed technician to most Burlingame addresses within 60 to 90 minutes for urgent work.
What you’ll notice is the documentation. Every Novak job in Burlingame ends with a written scope, a photo record of the work, and a copy of your invoice. We don’t do verbal-only handshakes. The whole process runs under The Haven Standard, the same quality framework applied across all ten Haven brands. Haven Standard Clause 1 is the one our customers remember: the price on the phone is the price on the invoice.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Burlingame
Our Lock Installation & Rekey team handles every lock type found across Burlingame, from eighty-year-old mortise locksets to current-generation electronic locks. Here’s what Burlingame homeowners call us for most.
Smart Lock Installation
Smart lock installation in Burlingame usually runs $180-$400 including the lock, depending on brand and whether we’re retrofitting an existing deadbolt or installing fresh hardware on a pre-bored door. Many Easton Addition homes have original doors with mortise locks, and a smart lock retrofit there means working around the existing mortise cavity, not just drilling two cross-bores. We’ll tell you plainly if your door is a good candidate or if you’d be better served by a keypad deadbolt mounted above the mortise lock.
Keyless Entry
Keyless entry systems in Burlingame are common on both homes and small businesses along Burlingame Avenue and around the Broadway commercial district. A standalone keypad deadbolt installation typically runs $150-$320. For whole-home keyless systems with multiple doors and rekeyable user codes, expect $400-$800. We program every code on site, walk you through adding and deleting users, and leave a printed instruction card.
Keypad Lock
Keypad locks are the workhorse of Burlingame’s rental market and the go-to for families with kids walking home from Washington Elementary or Burlingame Intermediate. Installation runs $150-$300 for a quality keypad deadbolt like a Schlage Connect or Yale Assure. If the keypad will be mounted on a door facing the Bay or within a few blocks of the shoreline, we apply dielectric grease to the battery contacts as standard. The salt-laden marine air here corrodes exposed terminals faster than inland, and that one step prevents most early failures.
Biometric Lock
Biometric locks read a fingerprint and open without a key or code. In Burlingame, we install them mostly on home offices, interior gun safes or wine rooms, and small professional offices that want an audit trail of who opened the door. These systems run $250-$600 installed, with the higher end representing multi-user fingerprint systems with app integration. We stock biometric hardware from brands we trust, and we’ll tell you honestly if a fingerprint reader makes sense or if a keypad lock is the more practical choice for your door.
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 Burlingame
We’re factory-authorized on Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Baldwin, and Schlage hardware, and we service Yale and other common brands daily. For Burlingame’s historic homes, we keep a broader than typical inventory of mortise lock cylinders, skeleton key blanks, and period-appropriate faceplates, because the Easton Addition doesn’t run on modern Schlage B60 deadbolts. When a Baldwin mortise lock on an original Spanish Colonial front door needs a new cylinder, we’re not ordering parts in from a catalog and making you wait a week. We carry what those doors need.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Burlingame Homes
- Seized mortise lock cylinders from Bay salt air. Burlingame sits on the Bay shoreline, and the marine fog works its way into exterior lock cylinders. We regularly see mortise locks that are so corroded the key won’t fully insert. Forced turning breaks key pins and ruins the cylinder, so we clean and lubricate before any rekey attempt on older hardware.
- Modern deadbolts drilled into original doors without shimming the mortise cavity. We see this all over the Easton Addition. A previous handyman drilled a Schlage deadbolt into a 1920s door without filling or shimming the old mortise cavity. The lock sits loose. When the fog rolls in and the wood swells, the deadbolt no longer lines up with the strike plate and the door won’t latch.
- Warped doors that won’t latch regardless of the lock. Older Burlingame homes settle unevenly. On a warm spell after heavy fog, original doors move. Sometimes the fix is a lock adjustment, sometimes the strike plate needs to move a quarter inch, and sometimes the door needs to be re-hung. We’ll tell you which is actually needed.
- Keypad locks installed without corrosion protection. Any home within a few blocks of the Bay has salt in the air year-round. We see keypad locks that fail inside two years because the installer skipped dielectric grease on the battery terminals. That failure is completely avoidable and we correct it on every exterior electronic lock we touch in Burlingame.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Burlingame, CA
Here are the numbers for Burlingame’s market. A standard residential rekey runs $25-$45 per cylinder, with a typical service call running $65-$95. Most Burlingame homes have three exterior doors, so a full-home rekey usually lands between $140 and $230. New deadbolt installation runs $120-$220 per lock for a quality Schlage or Baldwin, and $200-$450 for high-security Medeco or Mul-T-Lock cylinders. Smart lock installation runs $180-$400. Every price is quoted in writing before a technician is dispatched, and no one adds a call-out surcharge at the door. You’ll know the final number before you hang up. The price on the phone is the price on the invoice.
If you have a written estimate from another Burlingame-area locksmith, we’ll review it free of charge. Bring us the scope and we’ll tell you if the price is reasonable, what it should cost, and whether the work is even necessary.
We Also Serve Cities Near Burlingame
Novak Lock & Security dispatches from our San Francisco Bay Area office and serves Burlingame locally every day. We also handle lock installation and rekey calls in San Mateo, San Bruno, South San Francisco, and Pacifica. If you’re just over the Burlingame border, the same written pricing policy and the same 365-Day Done Right Promise apply.
Serving Burlingame, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Burlingame 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 Burlingame
Yes, we rekey original Burlingame mortise locks regularly, and in most cases the original lock can be preserved. We source period-appropriate mortise cylinders and new keys while keeping the original faceplates and trim intact. If the cylinder is so corroded from decades of Bay salt air that rekeying isn’t viable, we’ll tell you that before we start, and we’ll show you the condition so you can see it yourself. The goal on any Easton Addition mortise lock is to preserve the original hardware, and replacement is a last resort. Call (331) 310-8471 and describe your lock, or send a photo, and we’ll give you our read.
In Burlingame’s older homes, most warped doors can be made to latch with strike plate adjustment, hinge shimming, or lock realignment, and a new door is rarely the first answer. We’ll assess the warp, check where the deadbolt meets the strike plate, and tell you what an adjustment will cost versus what a door replacement would run. On a 1930s Craftsman door, preserving the original wood is almost always the right call, and we’ll show you the adjustment we’re making.
For Burlingame homes within a mile and a half of the Bay, we recommend servicing exterior locks every 12 to 18 months. That means cleaning, lubricating, and checking cylinder movement. Salt and fog accelerate corrosion on locks here faster than in Redwood City or Palo Alto, and regular service prevents seized cylinders and extends the life of electronic locks. A basic service visit for two or three exterior locks runs $85-$130.
Yes. We keep a selection of period-correct skeleton key blanks in stock specifically because Burlingame’s Easton Addition still has so many original mortise locks from the 1920s through the 1940s. Many of these keys are no longer in common circulation among general locksmiths, but we’ve stocked them for years. If you’ve lost the skeleton key to an original door lock, we can usually cut a replacement same day.
In most cases, yes. We can install a smart keypad deadbolt above the existing mortise lock while leaving the original hardware in place and functional. This gives you keyless entry and remote access without destroying the period hardware, which is important for resale value and for the architectural integrity of Easton Addition homes. We’ll check the door thickness, the spacing above the mortise lock, and the condition of the wood before we recommend a specific smart lock.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Burlingame since 2002.
Get a Written, Honest Quote in Burlingame, CA
If you need a lock installed, a rekey done, or a consultation on preserving original hardware in your Burlingame home, call Daniel Novak and the team at Novak Lock & Security at (331) 310-8471. We answer live, 24/7, and we’ll give you a firm price before anyone is dispatched. Every job is backed by our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if it’s not done right, we make it right. That’s the standard we’ve worked to since 2002, and it’s the standard your Burlingame neighbors have been calling us for ever since.
Lock Installation & Rekey in Nearby Areas