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 Hollywood
Lock installation and rekeying in Hollywood, CA typically runs $45-$120 per cylinder for a rekey, and $140-$420 for a new deadbolt or entry lock installed, depending on whether you’re working with a modern bored door or a pre-war mortise lock. Most jobs in the Hollywood flats and canyons are completed same-day, and the price we quote on the phone is the price on the invoice - that rule has been in place since 2002, and it’s written into Haven Standard Clause 1.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey team works Hollywood neighborhoods from Beachwood Canyon to the Melrose border daily. Daniel Novak founded this company on a simple rule: a customer should know exactly what a lock costs before a van rolls. Call (331) 310-8471 for a written quote before anyone is dispatched.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Hollywood’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
We have installed, rekeyed, or serviced more than 60,000 locks and systems since 2002, and every single one had a written price before we began and a documented photo record when we left. Hollywood customers don’t ask us to prove we’re local - they ask us to prove the price won’t move. We do both.
The locksmith call-out business has a well-documented bait-pricing problem: a “$19 service call” becomes $300 at the door. We don’t operate that way. The dispatcher quotes a firm price, and our technician is contractually prohibited from changing it on the doorstep. That’s not a slogan. It’s Haven Standard Clause 1, and it has been the foundation of this company for 23 years.
Hollywood’s housing stock is unlike almost anywhere else in Los Angeles. You don’t need a locksmith who has only seen modern bored doors. You need someone who recognizes a 1930s mortise lock by the brand stamp on the faceplate and knows whether it can be rekeyed without replacing the door. That’s the work we do daily in the Hollywood flats, the canyon roads above Franklin, and every bungalow court in between.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Hollywood
Every service below starts the same way: you get a written price on the phone, and the technician who arrives is not allowed to change it. Here’s what Hollywood homeowners and rental hosts call us for most often.
Smart Lock Installation
We retrofit smart locks onto Hollywood doors that were never designed for them. This is the single most common request from short-term rental hosts in the courtyard apartment buildings between Fountain and Santa Monica Boulevard, where each guest turnover requires a new access code and a record of who entered when. A smart deadbolt install on a standard bored door runs $180-$320. On a pre-war mortise door, expect $260-$480 depending on whether a retrofit adapter plate is required and whether the door’s thickness can accept the modern tailpiece without modification. We’ll tell you honestly if your door is a candidate or if you’re better served by a keypad deadbolt in a newly bored prep.
Keyless Entry
Keyless entry means no physical key at all - typically a motorized deadbolt or lever controlled by a keypad, fob, or phone. In Hollywood’s short-term rental market, this is the difference between meeting a guest at the curb and managing check-in remotely. A keyless deadbolt installation in a standard door runs $150-$290. Adding a networked hub or Wi-Fi bridge runs another $80-$150. On courtyard apartment entry doors with a mortise lock body, keyless retrofit is possible but often requires a surface-mounted motor or a full mortise cassette replacement, which runs $380-$700. We measure the existing prep and tell you which option fits before we order anything.
Keypad Lock
Keypad locks are the workhorse of Hollywood’s Airbnb stock. Hosts around Franklin Village and the Thai Town corridor want a four-to-six-digit code they can change between guests and delete at checkout. A keypad deadbolt on a standard door runs $140-$260 installed. If your door is one of the many 1920s originals off Beachwood Drive with no existing deadbolt bore, we drill and prep the door for an additional $60-$100, but we’ll inspect the stile thickness first - some of those 90-year-old doors are too narrow to bore safely, and we’ll say so rather than split the wood. The 365-Day Done Right Promise applies to every install: if it’s not done right, we make it right.
Biometric Lock
Fingerprint and biometric deadbolts are increasingly popular in Hollywood Hills homes where the homeowner wants controlled access without sharing a code. A biometric deadbolt installation runs $250-$450 on a standard door. On the hillside properties in Laurel and Nichols Canyons, where driveway gates are often the primary entry point, biometric readers integrated with the gate controller start around $600 and go up based on the existing intercom hardware. We work with Baldwin and Schlage biometric models regularly, and all pricing is written before any hardware is ordered.
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 Hollywood
We are factory-authorized for work on Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy, Baldwin, and Schlage hardware - the full spectrum from entry-grade to high-security. For Hollywood’s older stock, we stock Schlage B60N deadbolts, reinforced strike plates, and mortise cylinder retrofits from Sargent and Baldwin because those are the parts that fix the doors we actually see. We can’t promise we’ll have a particular Mul-T-Lock finish in the van, but we can tell you on the phone whether we’ll need to order it, and the price will be written before we do.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Hollywood Homes
- Warped and racked door frames in canyon homes. The combination of dry heat and seismic activity causes original wood frames in Beachwood, Laurel, and Nichols Canyon to shift over time. A deadbolt that threw cleanly before a tremor often binds or fails to extend afterward. The fix is usually a shimmed and re-angled strike plate, not a new lock - and that’s what we check first.
- Mortise locks that don’t accept modern smart-lock retrofits. Pre-war courtyard apartments and bungalow courts across the Hollywood flats still run original mortise bodies. Putting a smart lock on these doors without disabling the deadlocking function requires a retrofit adapter or a full cassette replacement. We measure and explain before drilling.
- Split stiles from hasty drill-outs. Short-term rental hosts often need a keypad deadbolt added to a courtyard door with no existing bore. A rushed job on a 1930s door splits the stile and ruins the door. We inspect the thickness, use the correct hole saw, and decline the work if the door can’t take it.
- Lost keys on rental turnovers. Between guests, a Hollywood rental host needs a lock rekeyed fast. A standard pin-and-tumbler rekey runs $45-$85 per cylinder, and we can usually do it the same day it’s requested. For hosts with frequent turnovers, we recommend a master key system or a keypad deadbolt that eliminates the key problem entirely.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Hollywood, CA
Lock rekey in Hollywood typically runs $45-$120 per cylinder, depending on the lock type. A standard Kwikset or Schlage pin-and-tumbler cylinder is on the low end; a high-security Medeco or Mul-T-Lock cylinder runs higher because the key control and pinning are proprietary. New deadbolt installation on a standard bored door runs $140-$320. Smart lock retrofits run $180-$480 depending on the door. Mortise lock rekeying runs $65-$140 per lock, and full mortise cassette replacement runs $380-$700.
There is no call-out surcharge added on arrival. The dispatcher gives you a firm price on the phone, and the technician on your doorstep is not permitted to change it. That’s Haven Standard Clause 1. Call (331) 310-8471 and get the number in writing before anyone leaves the shop.
We Also Serve Cities Near Hollywood
We work throughout Hollywood and into the surrounding metro, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from the brand’s Los Angeles office, and crews serve Hollywood locally. If you’re just outside the neighborhood, ask - we’ll tell you straight whether we can reach you same-day.
Serving Hollywood, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Hollywood 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 Hollywood
Most pre-war mortise locks in Hollywood can be rekeyed without replacement, and the cost runs $65-$140 per lock in our market. The determining factor is whether the cylinder is a standard mortise cylinder that still turns cleanly or an obsolete format like a Corbin or Russwin with a discontinued tailpiece. We’ll identify the cylinder by the stamp on the faceplate, and if it’s rekeyable, we do it on the spot - you don’t pay for a new lock when a five-dollar pin kit solves it. Call (331) 310-8471 for a written quote on your specific door.
Usually the lock is fine - the door frame has racked. Hollywood’s canyon homes sit on wood frames that shift during seismic swarms, and a deadbolt that bound after a tremor is typically a strike plate misalignment, not a failed lock. Our tech will check the throw, shim and re-angle the strike, and the lock throws clean again. If the cylinder itself was damaged by the misalignment, a rekey or cylinder swap is the next step, quoted in writing before we start. Call (331) 310-8471 for an exact assessment.
The fastest option is a keypad deadbolt with a changeable code, which runs $140-$260 installed on a standard door in Hollywood, and you eliminate the key problem permanently. If you want to keep the existing hardware, a rekey between occupants runs $45-$85 per cylinder and we can usually complete it the same day. For hosts with back-to-back turnovers, we recommend a master key system or a smart lock with remote code management, quoted in writing before any hardware is ordered. Call (331) 310-8471 and ask about rental turnover rekeying.
Old Spanish-style doors in Hollywood are typically thicker or thinner than the 1-3/4-inch standard that smart locks are designed for, and they often have mortise lock bodies that don’t accept a modern tailpiece without a retrofit adapter. That means extra measuring, a custom plate, and sometimes a full mortise cassette replacement. You’re not paying more for the same work - you’re paying for the extra hardware and labor a 90-year-old door demands. We’ll explain the exact difference for your door and give you the written price before anything is ordered. Call (331) 310-8471.
Yes. We handle motor gate entry and the door lock behind it - many Hollywood Hills homes off Mulholland and Beachwood Canyon have both, and the gate is often the harder part. For an emergency lockout where the perimeter gate is secure, we carry the equipment to open the gate without cutting the chain or damaging the motor, then we address the house lock. A gate opening and door rekey together runs $250-$500 depending on the hardware, and the full price is quoted on the phone before we dispatch. Call (331) 310-8471 for a written number.
Call Novak Lock & Security at (331) 310-8471 for a free estimate on any lock installation or rekey in Hollywood, CA. The price we quote on the phone is the price on the invoice - that’s the rule, and it has been since 2002.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Hollywood since 2002. Every job starts with a written price and ends with a documented record, under The Haven Standard.