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 Mission District
Lock installation and rekeying in Mission District means working on hardware that most of the country has never touched: original mortise locksets from the 1910s, skeleton-key cylinders, and door frames that have shifted with a century of Bay Area humidity. Novak Lock & Security handles these every week. We quote a firm price on the phone, send a background-checked technician in a marked van, and leave you a documented photo record of the work. If you’re dealing with a lock that won’t turn, a new set of keys for a flat you just bought, or a landlord who needs a turnover rekeyed same-day, call (331) 310-8471.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Mission District’s Lock Installation & Rekey Company
Since 2002, we’ve built the business on one rule, now written as Haven Standard Clause 1: the price on the phone is the price on the invoice. No technician is permitted to change it at the door. That matters in Mission District because so many of the calls we take involve older hardware that other companies will quote low and then “discover” problems with after arriving. We don’t do that. We tell you the real scope before we roll.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey team works throughout the neighborhood weekly, from the Valencia Street corridor to the flats east of Mission Street up toward 24th Street. We know the building stock. We know which vestibule entries have been half-updated and which still carry the original cast-iron mortise box. Daniel Novak, who leads the company, has spent years documenting what happens to 1910s locksets when buildings change hands every few years, and our technicians carry the parts those locks actually need, not just the generic hardware a big-box store stocks.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Mission District
Here’s what we actually do in Mission District and what it looks like on the ground. Every job starts with a written scope. Every job ends with a photo record left with the customer.
Mortise Lock Cylinder Replacement and Upgrade
This is the work that defines our Mission District call volume. Original Edwardian mortise locksets, built between 1907 and the 1920s, used skeleton keys or early pin-tumbler cylinders that don’t accept modern key blanks. In many cases we can remove the old cylinder and fit a new one without replacing the entire lock body. The lock stays, the keys change, and you get modern key control. When the mortise body itself is worn or the door has warped beyond adjustment, we’ll tell you honestly and show you what replacement means for the door prep involved.
Smart Lock Installation
Smart locks on Mission District Edwardian doors are not a simple bolt-on. The original doors are often 1-3/4 inches thick, sometimes thinner or thicker after a century of re-hanging and planing. The cross-bore for a modern cylindrical lock may not exist, which means we’re drilling a 2-1/8 inch hole through an antique door and correctly aligning the mortise pocket underneath. We do this cleanly and we tell you in advance what it requires. We install Yale and Baldwin smart locks regularly and set them up for resident codes, landlord access, and app control before we leave.
Keyless Entry and Keypad Lock
For landlords managing turnover on Mission Street and Valencia, keyless entry removes the rekey cycle from the equation. A keypad deadbolt over an existing mortise or cylindrical prep, or a full keypad handleset for the vestibule entry, means a tenant leaves and the code deletes. We install keypad locks on unit doors, street-level vestibule doors, and shared entries in the 2-4 unit Edwardian flats that dominate the neighborhood. If the building still has old intercom wiring, we work around it or tell you when it’s time to pull it out.
Biometric Lock and Electronic Lock
Biometric locks are a niche product and we’re honest about where they make sense. On a rental unit, a fingerprint reader is generally overkill and generates more support calls than it’s worth. On a private office, a studio, or a personal residence where you want no shared codes and no keys to lose, they work. We install biometric and electronic locks on Mission District properties where they fit the use case, and we’ll tell you plainly when a simpler keypad does the same job for less money.
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 Mission District
We’re factory-authorized on Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy, Baldwin, and Schlage, which means we can source restricted key blanks and high-security cylinders without sending you to a third party. For Mission District landlords we keep Mul-T-Lock and Medeco cylinders in local van stock because those are the two brands most often requested for tenant turnover upgrades. Baldwin hardware shows up constantly in the neighborhood’s better-kept Victorians and Edwardians, and we stock the trim pieces and spindles that keep those locks working instead of swapping them for cheap cylindrical replacements. We also service Sargent commercial hardware for the mixed-use buildings along 24th Street.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Mission District Homes
- Original mortise locks with no modern replacement path. The old cast-iron lock body sits in a mortise pocket cut specifically for it. A cylindrical deadbolt won’t seat without new drilling, and if the door is original, that’s a decision to make carefully. We show you the pocket, explain the options, and write the scope before any cutting happens.
- Rekeying the unit but not the vestibule. A tenant moves out, you rekey the flat door, and the new tenant can’t get into the building because the street-level vestibule mortise lock still uses the old keys. In Mission District’s 2-4 unit Edwardian flats, the vestibule lock and the mailbox lock are separate cylinders that need to be on the same key as the unit door for a clean turnover. We rekey all three in one visit.
- Seasonal deadbolt stiffness that gets blamed on the rekey. Unheated flats in Mission District absorb moisture in winter, the wooden door frames expand, and the deadbolt throw shifts off-center. The lock itself is fine. We realign the strike plate, sometimes shave a fraction off the frame, and the bolt slides clean. The rekey was never the problem, but we’ll make it right either way under the 365-Day Done Right Promise.
- Modern deadbolt installs on doors whose prep doesn’t match. We see this constantly along the Valencia and Mission Street corridors: a landlord buys a cylindrical deadbolt from a hardware store, then finds the original Edwardian door has a narrow mortise prep or an off-center cross-bore, and the new lock won’t seat flush. We fix the prep properly or, when the door can’t take a cylindrical lock, we fit a mortise cylinder upgrade instead and explain the difference.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Mission District, CA
Rekeying a standard door lock in Mission District typically runs $25-$45 per cylinder, plus a service call that starts around $75 for neighborhood dispatch. When you call, the dispatcher quotes the firm price before we send anyone. That’s Haven Standard Clause 1 and it has been in place since 2002. A typical Edwardian vestibule rekey, covering the street door, the unit door, and a mailbox lock on a shared key, generally runs $140-$220 total, quoted in writing on the phone. Mortise cylinder replacement runs $90-$150 per cylinder depending on brand; a Mul-T-Lock or Medeco high-security cylinder upgrade starts around $110 per cylinder. Smart lock installation ranges $180-$350 for labor, depending on door prep. Every estimate is free and the number you’re given on the phone is the number on the invoice. Call (331) 310-8471 for an exact quote before you schedule anything.
We Also Serve Cities Near Mission District
While much of our work is in Mission District itself, we also cover Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco for larger projects, multi-unit rekeys, and commercial work where the scope spans multiple properties. If you manage buildings in several cities, we can coordinate the entire key system from one written proposal.
Serving Mission District, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Mission District 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 Mission District
In most cases we can rekey it without replacing the lock body. We remove the existing skeleton-key or early pin-tumbler cylinder and fit a modern replacement cylinder that works with the original mortise lock body. You keep the antique hardware, you get new keys, and we issue key control documentation. Replacement is only necessary when the mortise body itself is broken, the bolt is worn beyond function, or the door frame has shifted enough that the lock no longer aligns. We’ll show you the condition before you pay anything. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll schedule a time to look.
About 45 to 60 minutes for a standard Edwardian flat building. The street-level vestibule lock, the unit door, and the mailbox cluster are usually three separate cylinders, and we key them all to the same working key in one visit. If the vestibule lock is an original cast-iron mortise that has never been rekeyed, the cylinder replacement can add 15 to 20 minutes. We quote the full time and price before we arrive, and the technician leaves a documented photo record of every cylinder rekeyed.
Yes. We build master key systems for Mission District landlords on Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, and Schlage platforms. Each tenant gets a key that opens their unit, the vestibule, and the mailbox, while you hold a master key that opens every door in the building. We issue key control cards so no one can duplicate a key without your written authorization. The system is designed so new cylinders can be added later when you buy another unit or add a storage room. Call (331) 310-8471 for a written proposal; the price is quoted before any work is scheduled.
It’s the door frame, not the lock. Mission District’s unheated flats sit in one of San Francisco’s more humid microclimates for interior wood because the buildings predate modern insulation and vapor barriers. Winter moisture causes the original fir door frames to expand, shifting the strike plate out of alignment with the deadbolt throw. We realign or replace the strike plate, sometimes shave a small amount of frame material, and the bolt throws smoothly. If the problem recurs seasonally, we’ll tell you and recommend a frame repair rather than re-rekeying. The rekey itself is not the cause.
Yes, in most cases we can install a smart lock or keypad without destroying the original mortise trim. If the door has a working mortise lock, we can often fit a keypad deadbolt above it and leave the antique lock as a secondary deadbolt that can be kept locked or removed from service. If you want the smart lock to replace the old lock entirely, we’ll explain what door prep the smart lock requires and whether that prep will touch the original wood. We never drill into an antique door without a written scope that shows exactly what will be cut and why. When the door is too valuable to modify, we’ll tell you that and present the alternatives.
Contact Novak Lock & Security for Lock Installation & Rekey in Mission District
Every job in Mission District starts the same way. You call (331) 310-8471, a live person answers, and you get a firm price in writing before anyone is dispatched. That price is the final price. The technician who arrives is background-checked, uniformed, and working to The Haven Standard, with Clause 1 in place since 2002: the price on the phone is the price on the invoice. We leave a documented photo record of the work, and everything we touch is backed by the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If you need a rekey, a lock upgrade, or an honest answer about whether your original Edwardian lock can be saved, call us. We’ll tell you straight.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security.
Lock Installation & Rekey in Nearby Areas
