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.
Medeco Lock Rekeying: The New York City Owner’s Guide
Medeco lock rekeying in New York City typically costs $25-$45 per cylinder for labor, plus $8-$15 per Medeco key, and most jobs with up to four cylinders are completed same day. Rekeying means we remove the cylinder, replace the internal pins to match a new Medeco key, and leave your existing hardware in place. Most New York City owners discover they need this service after buying a co-op or condo, losing track of who holds spare keys, or firing a contractor who never returned a set. You’ll know it’s time when your old key still turns but you can’t account for every copy in circulation.
We keep Medeco factory pin kits and key blanks on the truck for the models below. If you call us at (331) 310-8471, we’ll quote a firm price on the phone before anyone leaves the shop. That’s Haven Standard Clause 1: the price on the phone is the price on the invoice. No call-out surcharge, no door-step adjustment.
Which Medeco Models This Applies To
We rekey Medeco cylinders across the lines most common in New York City residential and small-commercial settings. The three you’re most likely to encounter are the Medeco Original (the classic high-security cylinder, often labeled “M3” on the face of the keyway), the Medeco Biaxial (recognizable by the angled cuts on the key, standard in many co-op and condo buildings), and the Medeco M3 logic line (identified by the blue or black plastic key bow). We also service Medeco X4 and KeyMark cylinders for light commercial storefronts in the boroughs.
Here’s a compatibility gotcha most owners run into: a Medeco key blank for the Original series will not enter a Biaxial keyway cleanly. The keyway geometry differs, and forcing it will damage the cylinder face. If you’re unsure which series you have, read the face of the cylinder. Medeco stamps the series name on the plug face or on the rim. If the stamp is worn, send us a photo from your phone before we dispatch, and we’ll confirm what we need to bring. We carry OEM Medeco pins and keys. We are an independent provider, not affiliated with Medeco or its distributors, but we install and rekey their product line daily.
On the OEM-vs-aftermarket question: for Medeco rekeying, we recommend genuine Medeco key blanks and factory pin specs every time. Aftermarket blanks exist, but Medeco’s key control system means authorized blanks are harder to source and the factory cut tolerances are tighter. With Medeco, the key is the security. An aftermarket blank that’s slightly out of spec will feel rough in the cylinder and will wear the factory pins faster. It’s one place where saving eight dollars is the wrong trade.
Signs Your Medeco Lock Rekeying Is Failing
- Key works in one door but not another that used to match. This usually means a cylinder was rekeyed independently at some point without your knowledge, or a spring has collapsed inside the cylinder and the plug no longer resets correctly. We see this in New York City buildings where different contractors serviced different doors over the years.
- Key inserts but won’t turn without jiggling. The top pins or side pins in the Medeco sidebar are hanging up. Medeco cylinders use a sidebar mechanism that older worn keys will not satisfy once a key is cut below factory tolerance. Your existing key may be the problem, not the cylinder.
- One key now operates every lock, but you didn’t have us rekey it. This means someone repinned your cylinders to a single key without your knowledge and likely retained a duplicate. In New York City, where keys change hands between supers, contractors, and brokers, this is the most common security exposure we document. The fix is a full rekey and a written key-control record, which we leave with you on every job.
- You bought a co-op or condo and the previous owner’s keys still float around. The bank, the seller’s broker, the seller’s family member, the dog walker. There’s no way to verify how many key copies exist for the old cylinder. A rekey to a new Medeco key with restricted duplication returns control to you.
- The deadbolt turns but feels unusually stiff, then frees up. This is often a worn sidebar or a mushroom pin drifting out of tolerance. It will fail at the worst time. If the cylinder binds, don’t force the key with pliers. Call us before it snaps inside the plug.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
In New York City, expect to pay $25-$45 per cylinder for Medeco rekey labor, plus $8-$15 per Medeco key blank cut and code-punched. A typical three-lock house rekey (front deadbolt, handle cylinder, and rear door) runs $99-$180 total, quoted in writing before we start. If we’re doing a full building floor with a dozen cylinders, the per-cylinder labor drops toward the bottom of that range because the pinning setup happens once.
| Service | Typical Range (New York City) |
|---|---|
| Medeco rekey labor, per cylinder | $25-$45 |
| Medeco key blank (cut and code-punched) | $8-$15 each |
| Typical 3-cylinder residential rekey | $99-$180 total |
| Master-key rekey (per system, surveyed) | $150-$400, written scope first |
Everything is parts-plus-labor in one written number. What drives the range: cylinder count, keyway series, whether you need a master key system, and whether we need to replace worn springs or a damaged plug rather than repin only. Any cylinder we find that needs replacement gets a firm quote before we touch it, not a surprise line item after. Every rekey carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the key sticks, the pattern is wrong, or the cylinder binds within a year, we return and make it right at no charge.
DIY or Call Us?
You can identify the series yourself, and you can count the cylinders. That’s the extent of safe DIY for a Medeco rekey. Rekeying a Medeco cylinder means removing the plug and accessing the sidebar pins, which sit in a configuration that differs by series. If you rotate the plug without a follower, the driver pins and springs eject. If you reassemble it with the sidebar one pin out of order, the key will never work and you’ll be holding a cylinder that’s now bricked. We have repaired enough “I watched a video” Medeco cylinders to know that the pinning chart usually gets lost somewhere around minute six.
Daniel Novak has rebuilt Medeco sidebar assemblies that arrived to us inside ziplock bags after a hopeful Saturday afternoon. He’ll tell you plainly what he found and what it costs, and he’ll never pretend the cylinder has to be replaced if a rekey is all it needs. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll talk through what you’re looking at. We answer live, 24/7.
FAQs
A properly pinned Medeco cylinder will operate smoothly for 8-15 years in New York City conditions before internal wear or key wear begins to cause binding or stiffness. Coastal salt air near the Rockaways and heavy grit in Brooklyn brownstones shorten that window. We’ll tell you at the time of service whether your cylinder is in the early, middle, or late stage of its life, so you can plan rather than react.
Yes, in most cases. If the issue is a collapsed spring, a chipped sidebar pin, or a worn plug face, we can often rebuild the cylinder faster and cheaper than replacing the whole assembly. If the cylinder body is cracked or the keyway is deformed, replacement is the honest call. We’ll show you what we found before we recommend what’s next, and that recommendation includes a written price.
A standard three-cylinder rekey takes 30-45 minutes on-site, including key cutting, repinning, reassembly, and a function test on every door. Add 10-15 minutes per additional cylinder for larger co-op or condo units. We leave a written record of the key configuration and cylinder count, along with your new keys, before we go.
We stock the pin kits, springs, sidebar pins, and OEM key blanks for Medeco Original, Biaxial, M3, X4, and KeyMark on our service vehicles, so we don’t make a second trip for standard hardware. If your cylinder is an uncommon Medeco variation, we’ll bring what’s needed from our shop inventory the same day. Tell us the series when you call (331) 310-8471, and we’ll confirm the price for the whole job over the phone.
Contact Us
We also stock and service parts for Schlage and Kwikset, but Medeco is where most New York City owners come to us when they want key control and hardened cylinders without the bait-and-switch price games of the call-out chains. You’ll get a firm written quote before anyone is dispatched, a uniformed background-checked technician at the door, a documented photo record of the work when it’s done, and a written warranty in hand. The name on the van is the same name on the invoice. Call (331) 310-8471 for a free estimate, any hour, any borough.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner, Novak Lock & Security at Novak Lock & Security, serving New York City and nearby areas.