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 Pomona
Lock installation and rekey in Pomona typically runs $95-$185 for a standard deadbolt install or $18-$35 per cylinder to rekey, and most jobs in the city are completed same-day. Our crews work Pomona’s historic districts and student rental blocks every week, so when you call (331) 310-8471, the dispatcher knows whether your street is Lincoln Park, Phillips Ranch, or Westmont before you say the cross street. The price quoted on that call is the price on the invoice. No add-ons at the door, no “discovery fees,” no exception.
Pomona is dense. The housing stock spans 1920s bungalows with original mortise lock boxes, 1960s stucco tracts, and high-turnover apartment buildings around Cal Poly Pomona and Western University. Each of those requires a different approach to Lock Installation & Rekey, and the wrong approach either damages a door the owner didn’t want touched or leaves a cylinder unrekeyed that should have been done. We’re writing this page so Pomona homeowners and landlords can see exactly how the work is done here, what it costs in this specific market, and what documentation they’ll walk away with.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Pomona’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
Novak Lock & Security has been doing lock installation and rekey work under The Haven Standard since 2002. The name on the van belongs to Daniel Novak, and the rule that separates us from most call-out locksmith operations in the San Gabriel Valley is simple: Haven Standard Clause 1 - the price on the phone is the price on the invoice. The dispatcher quotes a firm figure. The technician is not permitted to change it on your doorstep. That has been the working rule for over twenty years and it applies to every rekey, every deadbolt retrofit, every master key system in Pomona.
Every Pomona visit includes a documented photo record. Before we touch hardware, we photograph the existing condition. After the work is done, we photograph the completed install. You receive that record in writing, along with the written scope of work and the written price. That is procedure, not a courtesy. Our technicians are background-checked and in uniform, and they report what they find in trade language you can verify: the grade of your existing lock, the condition of the strike plate, whether the door slab has drifted out of square.
Calls are answered by a live person 24/7. When a Pomona landlord calls at 9pm because a Cal Poly student locked themselves out on move-in weekend, a human being picks up. Not a queue. Not a callback window. That matters in Pomona, where student turnover and property crime create after-hours call volume that most suburban locksmiths never see.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Pomona
Smart Lock Installation
Pomona’s pre-war homes in Lincoln Park and downtown-adjacent streets frequently lack deadbolts entirely. Adding a smart lock to a 1927 Craftsman front door is not a bolt-on job: the door stile is often 3-1/4″ wide, the existing bore was cut by hand, and the frame has settled. We install smart locks from Schlage Encode, Kwikset Halo, and Baldwin Evolved with the same written-price rule as any deadbolt. Expect $185-$320 for a smart lock retrofit in Pomona, including the second bore, strike reinforcement, and programming walk-through. If the door can’t take a smart lock without splitting the stile, we’ll tell you that and show you why with a photo.
Keyless Entry
Landlords of Pomona fourplexes and six-unit buildings on streets like Monterey Avenue and San Antonio Avenue call us for keyless entry for one reason: tenant turnover. A keypad means no key to lose, no key to leave unreturned, and no rekey bill every time a Cal Poly student graduates. We install commercial-grade keypad systems starting at $245 for a single entry point, programmed with unique tenant codes that you can delete the day the lease ends. For buildings with multiple entries, we set up a master code structure so the property manager controls access from one device.
Keypad Lock
Keypad locks in Pomona see two failure modes more than anywhere else in our service area: summer heat expansion binding the deadbolt in a steel door slab, and Santa Ana wind events bending strike plates so the bolt won’t fully throw. When we install a keypad lock here, we check the strike alignment and the door slab clearance before we ever mount the unit. A keypad installed on a binding door will fail within months. We’d rather spend an extra ten minutes shimming the strike than have you call back in August because your door won’t lock after a 105° day in Phillips Ranch.
Biometric Lock
Biometric locks - fingerprint or app-based entry without any key or code - come up most often in Pomona’s higher-end Phillips Ranch and Ganesha Hills homes, and in medical offices near Western University where access logging matters. We install biometric locks from Baldwin and eufy, with prices starting at $310. The install itself is the same bore and prep work as any deadbolt, but the calibration matters: fingerprint readers mounted on doors that get direct afternoon sun in Pomona’s inland heat will read more reliably when the sensor is positioned away from the sun’s thermal load. We position accordingly, and we document it.
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 Pomona
We’re factory-authorized for Baldwin, Mul-T-Lock, and Abloy, and we stock common replacement parts for those lines on our service vehicles that cover Pomona daily. That turns into faster turnarounds for Pomona customers in two common scenarios: a Baldwin mortise cylinder on a Lincoln Park home that needs the tailpiece replaced rather than the whole lock, and a Mul-T-Lock restricted keyway on a Phillips Ranch rental where the landlord wants keys cut that tenants can’t duplicate at a pharmacy kiosk. For rekeys on this hardware, we carry the pins, drivers, and springs we need on the truck. You’re not waiting for a parts order from Anaheim.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Pomona Homes
- Summer deadbolt binding in steel doors. Pomona’s inland valley heat pushes interior temperatures to 100-110°F for weeks at a stretch. Steel door slabs and aluminum frames expand enough that a deadbolt that worked in March suddenly won’t throw in July. A rekey that doesn’t address strike plate alignment will produce a repeat call within a month. We fix the alignment as part of the rekey, because the cylinder is only half the job.
- Student rental turnovers with unreturned keys. Cal Poly Pomona and Western University create a twice-yearly rekey wave. The call usually comes from a landlord who just collected a key from one tenant and realized the previous tenant’s ex-roommate still has a copy. Skipping a bedroom lock, a back door, or a garage access door leaves the building exposed. We rekey every exterior cylinder and document each one.
- Santa Ana wind damage to strike plates. When fall Santa Ana winds hit Pomona, doors slam hard enough to bend strike plates and rack frames a quarter inch out of square. A deadbolt that was installed two weeks earlier fails to throw, and the homeowner assumes the lock is broken. The lock is fine. The frame moved. We reinforce the strike with longer screws and shim the plate back into position.
- Vintage mortise lock boxes with no deadbolt. Throughout Lincoln Park and the older streets near downtown, 1920s-1940s front doors still swing on original cast-iron mortise lock bodies - often Corbin or Sargent period hardware. There is no deadbolt, and the knob lock can be bypassed in under a minute. Adding a deadbolt without splitting a narrow door stile or ruining the original escutcheon is specialized work. We do it regularly in Pomona, and we explain the trim options before we cut.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Pomona, CA
Here’s what Pomona homeowners and landlords should expect to pay, quoted in writing before any work begins:
- Rekey per cylinder: $18-$35 depending on the cylinder type. Standard Kwikset or Schlage pin-and-tumbler cylinders sit at the low end. High-security Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, or Abloy cylinders run higher because the keyway and pins are restricted and the cores cost more to stock.
- Deadbolt installation (new bore): $95-$185 including the hardware, boring, striker installation, and alignment. On a 1920s hardwood stile, the high end accounts for the care and slower feed rate needed to avoid blowout.
- Smart lock installation: $185-$320 depending on the lock model and whether the existing door needs a second bore or frame work.
- Key duplication: $3-$8 for standard keys at our shop. Restricted keys for Mul-T-Lock, Medeco, or Abloy are $8-$18 per key because they must be cut on the proprietary machine and logged to the owner’s key registry.
What affects your final price in Pomona: the age of the door, whether it currently has a deadbolt, whether the frame needs reinforcement, and how many cylinders need rekeying. The quote you get on the phone includes all of that because the dispatcher walks through it with you before anyone gets in a van. That is the whole point of Clause 1. Call (331) 310-8471 for an exact quote - the estimate is free and the price is firm.
We Also Serve Cities Near Pomona
Our service area for Lock Installation & Rekey in Pomona covers Pomona and the surrounding communities where our techs work daily. We handle lock installation and rekey service in Diamond Bar, Montclair, Chino Hills, and Claremont. Same written-price rule, same documented photo record, same live-answer phones. Living in Chino Hills but own a rental on Holt Avenue in Pomona? We cover that too.
Serving Pomona, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Pomona 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 Pomona
Yes - on most 1920s Pomona Craftsman doors this is a standard job for us. The door stile is typically 3-1/4″ to 3-1/2″ wide, which is enough for a 2-1/8″ deadbolt bore when drilled slowly with a carbide hole saw, and the original escutcheon can be preserved. We source period-style trim plates in oil-rubbed bronze or unlacquered brass to match the existing hardware, and we photograph the door before and after so you have a record. The only doors that can’t take a second bore are the rare 2-3/4″ stiles, in which case we install a surface-mounted deadbolt and show you both options before cutting. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll walk through your specific door.
Same day in nearly all cases. Rekeying a typical Pomona rental unit - front door, back door, garage access, maybe a bedroom lock - takes 45 to 90 minutes on site once our technician arrives, and our response time to the campus-adjacent neighborhoods is usually under 60 minutes. For landlords juggling December 31 and August 1 move-outs, we book rekeys in advance for a specific date with a written price locked in at the time of booking. The price does not change between the call and the scheduled visit.
Yes, non-destructive entry is our standard approach for Pomona apartment and multi-tenant lockouts. Our technicians pick or bypass the cylinder, which means no broken door jamb, no replaced hardware, and no repair bill passed to the tenant. On higher-security cylinders we use specialized bypass tools that preserve the lock for continued use. Non-destructive entry in Pomona runs $95-$160 depending on the lock type and time of day, quoted before dispatch. If a door is deadlocked in a way that prevents non-destructive entry, we’ll tell you on the phone before we come out.
Yes, restricted master key systems are a core part of our work for Pomona landlords and property managers. We key the building to a master key that works all units and exterior doors, then cut individual tenant keys that work only their unit. The keyway is restricted - Mul-T-Lock and Medeco are the two lines we install most often in Pomona - which means the blank cannot be duplicated at a home center kiosk or a street-corner key shop. Every key cut is logged to your building’s key registry, and we issue a written key schedule showing exactly which keys exist and who holds them. Setup for a fourplex typically runs $280-$420 including the cylinders, master key, and tenant keys.
Rekeying alone leaves you with a functioning lock that can still be bypassed with a plastic card or a quick twist of a screwdriver, because original mortise knob locks have no deadbolt throw. In Pomona, where the older housing stock around Lincoln Park and downtown is precisely where property crime concentrates, the answer is usually both: rekey the mortise cylinder so old keys stop working, and add a deadbolt above it. The mortise body itself is often still in good mechanical shape - we service them regularly - but a knob lock is not a security device. We’ll quote the rekey and the deadbolt addition as separate line items so you can see exactly what each part costs, in writing, before any work starts.
Need lock installation or a rekey in Pomona? Call Novak Lock & Security at (331) 310-8471. A live person answers. You’ll get a firm price on the phone, a background-checked technician in a marked van, a documented photo record when the job is done, and a written warranty on every lock we touch. If it isn’t done right, the 365-Day Done Right Promise means we make it right.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Pomona since 2002.