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 Altadena
Lock installation and rekeying in Altadena covers two very different jobs, and the price depends on which one your house actually needs. A standard rekey runs $85-$120 for the service call plus $18-$25 per cylinder; a new deadbolt installation typically runs $150-$240 including hardware. Both are quoted in writing before we dispatch, and that price is the price on the invoice. If your Altadena home still has original mortise locks or post-Eaton rebuild hardware, the number may shift, but you’ll know by how much before anyone gets in a van. Call (331) 310-8471 and a live person answers, 24/7.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Altadena’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
We’ve worked enough blocks in Altadena to know the difference between a 1923 Craftsman on Mariposa Street and a brand-new build on a cleared lot off Lake Avenue. The questions are not the same. An original mortise lock takes a different hand than a fresh Schlage deadbolt, and a house with a warped 100-year-old front door is not getting a standard bore job without some custom fitting first. Our technicians carry the parts for both, on the truck, the first time.
Daniel Novak built this company in 2002 around one rule: the price quoted on the phone is the price on the invoice. Haven Standard Clause 1. The technician who arrives at your door is not permitted to change it. That matters in Altadena right now, because the post-fire environment has drawn out-of-area locksmiths who do not know the difference between unincorporated LA County and the City of Pasadena, and whose pricing shifts when they realize they’re further up the hill than they thought. Ours does not.
Altadena customers see the same thing every other Novak customer sees: a background-checked, uniformed technician, a written scope before the first screw is turned, and a documented photo record left with you at job completion. That’s not an upgrade. It’s procedure. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll tell you the price before you hang up.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Altadena
Lock Installation & Rekey work in Altadena splits into a few clear categories. Here’s what we actually do in this town, and what it costs.
Smart Lock Installation
Smart lock installation in Altadena typically runs $180-$320 including the hardware, depending on whether you’re replacing a standard cylindrical deadbolt or retrofitting an older door. On pre-war Craftsman doors with thin stiles, we often need a custom mounting plate so the smart lock sits flush and the bolt throws cleanly. We install Schlage Encode, Kwikset Halo, and Yale Assure lines regularly, and we’ll key them to match your existing Schlage or Kwikset key if you want one key for everything. Given how many Altadena residents are now managing a rebuild remotely, a lock you can check from your phone is not a gadget; it’s the difference between knowing and guessing whether the house next door got hit.
Keyless Entry
Keyless entry in Altadena usually means one of two things: a keypad deadbolt on the front door, or an electronic strike tied to a buzzer or intercom on a multi-unit property. For single-family homes, a keyless deadbolt install runs $170-$290 with hardware. For the duplexes and small apartment buildings scattered through the west side of town, an electronic strike retrofit typically runs $240-$400 per door, including wiring and transformer if needed. These jobs get scheduled and surveyed, not rushed, and we write a flat per-lock price before you approve anything.
Keypad Lock
A keypad lock is the simplest upgrade we install in Altadena, and it’s the one we’d put on a back door before anything else. You set a code, you change the code when a contractor or house cleaner is done, and you stop hiding keys under the pot near the back steps on every block off Lincoln Avenue. Keypad deadbolt installation runs $170-$260 including hardware. We stock keypad locks from Schlage and Kwikset locally, and if you’re deep in a rebuild and your general contractor is already coordinating with LA County DPW on permits, this is one fixture that doesn’t add any permit friction.
Biometric Lock
Biometric locks read a fingerprint or a phone credential instead of a key, and they run $280-$450 installed in Altadena. The higher end of that range covers units with encrypted smart modules and weather-sealed biometric scanners that hold up to the Santa Ana dust and the dry foothill heat. For most Altadena homes, we’re honest about this one: a good keypad lock solves the problem at half the price. A biometric lock makes sense on a detached garage, a workshop, or a door where you don’t want anyone else’s code working. We’ll tell you which one your door actually needs.
What happens when you call
- 1
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 Altadena
We are factory-authorized on Baldwin, Mul-T-Lock, and Abloy hardware, and we work on Schlage and Kwikset every day. What that means in Altadena specifically: if you have an original Baldwin mortise lock on a 1920s Craftsman near the Altadena Public Library, we can rekey it, source the right cylinder pinning, and fit replacement skeleton-style keys without sending you to an antique hardware dealer in Pasadena. If you’re upgrading a mid-century ranch off Altadena Drive, a Mul-T-Lock high-security cylinder runs more than a Schlage C keyway, but it cannot be picked or bumped by standard tools. We’ll show you both options in writing, with prices, and you decide.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Altadena Homes
- Santa Ana dust fouling exterior cylinders. The fine chaparral grit that blows down from the San Gabriel Mountains works its way into pin-tumbler mechanisms. Keys start sticking, then they break off in the cylinder. We clean and re-lubricate first; if the plug is too far gone, we replace the cylinder. A standard rekey cleans the chambers while we’re in there anyway.
- Splitting thin original doors during a standard deadbolt bore. A 2-1/4″ backset bore on a 1920s door with 1-3/8″ stiles is not a drop-in job. Without a custom boring jig or a wrap plate, the wood splits and the bolt won’t throw straight. We see this on unpermitted handyman installs all over the east side of town, and we fix it.
- Rekeying the front door but leaving the back door on a skeleton key. A 1940s ranch on a rebuilt lot might have a new Schlage on the front and an original skeleton-key mortise on the back. If the back door is the one facing a vacant lot, that’s the door that gets the rekey first, not last.
- Strike plates screwed into drywall, not the frame. This is the most common failure we find on Altadena doors, new and old. A deadbolt is only as strong as the plate behind it. We install reinforced strike plates with 3-inch screws into the framing on every new deadbolt install, no matter the house.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Altadena, CA
Here are our honest ranges for Altadena, quoted in writing before we dispatch:
- Rekey a standard cylinder (Schlage, Kwikset, most residential): $18-$25 per cylinder, plus an $85-$120 service call.
- Rekey an original mortise lock on a Craftsman or older home: $145-$210 per lock, including skeleton-key cutting if needed.
- New deadbolt installation (standard hardware, standard prep): $150-$240.
- New deadbolt with custom fitting on a thin or warped original door: $190-$320.
- Smart lock installation (keypad or app-controlled): $180-$320 with hardware.
- Key duplication (standard keys, cut on site): $4-$8 per key.
- Key duplication (restricted or high-security keys, by authorization): $15-$40 per key.
What changes the price in Altadena is not mystery. It’s the age and condition of the door, whether the existing prep is standard or original, and whether the hardware you want is entry-grade or high-security. You’ll get the full number on the phone, before anyone is dispatched, and there is no call-out surcharge added on arrival. That’s Clause 1. Call (331) 310-8471 for an exact quote; estimates are free.
We Also Serve Cities Near Altadena
We schedule Altadena calls daily and run the same written-price policy in the surrounding communities. If you’re across the line in Pasadena, over in San Gabriel, down in Alhambra, or out in Arcadia, our Lock Installation & Rekey in Altadena crews serve the whole foothill corridor under the same Haven Standard. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from the brand’s Los Angeles office; the techs show up local, in uniform, with the parts on the truck.
Serving Altadena, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Altadena 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 Altadena
Yes, in most cases we can rekey an original mortise lock and keep the existing hardware on your door. We remove the cylinder body, re-pin it to a new key, and if needed, cut new skeleton-style or bit keys to match. On our work near the Altadena Public Library, we rekeyed a 1920s mortise lock and cut fresh skeleton-style keys for a family returning after the Eaton Fire. The lock body was solid; it just needed new pinning and a new key. If the lock body itself is cracked or the bolt is worn past safe engagement, we’ll tell you that in writing and give you a replacement price before doing anything. Call (331) 310-8471 and describe your lock; we’ll tell you if it’s a rekey or a replace.
Yes, and this is now one of the most common requests we get in Altadena. We install keypad or smart deadbolts on all exterior doors so you can check lock status from a phone, reinforce strike plates, and add keyed-alike rekeying across every door on your property. The unsecured house next door is a real exposure for the whole block, and the most practical response is making your own house the hardest target on the street. We’ll walk the property with you, write up a scope, and give you a flat price before any work starts. Call (331) 310-8471 for a free assessment.
Yes, and it does. The chaparral dust that blows down from the San Gabriels is finer than beach sand, and it works into the pin chambers of your lock cylinder. Keys stick, then they break, and then you’re locked out. We clean and re-lubricate the cylinder as part of a rekey, and if the plug is too far gone, we replace the cylinder rather than trying to force it. On exposed doors facing the mountain side of your house, we recommend a weather-shielded keypad or a cylinder with a dust cover. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll tell you if your lock needs a cleaning or a replacement.
No, and this is where Altadena’s status matters: Altadena is unincorporated Los Angeles County, so there is no City of Altadena building department to issue a permit for a lock change. Break-in responses and any permit coordination route through the LA County Sheriff’s Altadena station and County DPW, not a municipal police or city building department. For a standard deadbolt or lock replacement, no permit is needed. If you’re mid-rebuild and working under County permits already, a lock goes in as part of the finish work and doesn’t add inspection friction. Call (331) 310-8471 and we can confirm what’s needed for your specific situation.
Yes, in nearly every case. A mid-century ranch door with a standard 2-1/8″ cylindrical bore takes a modern keypad deadbolt with no custom prep. If the door has settled and the bolt no longer lines up with the strike plate, we re-align the strike, and if the door slab is warped, we can fit a wrap plate so the bolt throws cleanly. The pre-fire Altadena housing stock has plenty of these doors, and they’re some of the simplest smart-lock installs we do. You’ll get the exact price before we start, in writing. Call (331) 310-8471 for a quote.
Call Novak Lock & Security for Lock Installation & Rekey in Altadena
If you’re in Altadena and you need a lock rekeyed, a deadbolt installed, or a smart lock fitted on an old door that doesn’t take standard hardware, call (331) 310-8471. A live person answers. You’ll get a firm price on the phone, and that’s the price on the invoice. No bait, no door-step change, no call-out fee added on arrival. Daniel Novak built the company on that rule in 2002, and it’s the same rule on every Altadena block we work. Call today and we’ll get you on the schedule.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Altadena with written-price lock work since 2002.
Lock Installation & Rekey in Nearby Areas
