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 Chelsea
Lock installation and rekey in Chelsea, MA runs $95-$185 per cylinder for standard rekeying and $180-$420 per lock for new installation, with most jobs completed the same day. Our techs know the city’s three-deckers off Broadway, Shurtleff Street, and Beacon Street, where original mortise locks from the 1920s still hold the doors of stacked three-family homes. If you need a lock changed, a keypad added, or a whole building rekeyed between tenants, call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll give you a written price before anyone gets in a van.
We carry mortise cylinders, warded key blanks, and strike reinforcement plates on every truck serving Chelsea, because the hardware here is different from what you’ll find across the Mystic River. You won’t wait for parts for a century-old lock.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Chelsea’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
Since 2002, Novak Lock & Security has worked under a rule that changes how locksmith work gets quoted: the price on the phone is the price on the invoice. Haven Standard Clause 1. No dispatcher lowballs you with a teaser rate and no technician revises the number at your door. Daniel Novak built the business on that single written rule, and it governs every rekey, every deadbolt replacement, every keypad installation in Chelsea.
Chelsea’s housing stock rewards a locksmith who has seen the same building a hundred times. Our techs rekey mortise locks on a Tuesday in a three-decker on Walnut Street and install a keypad deadbolt on a condominium unit near Chelsea Square on Wednesday. The hardware is older, the doorframes are tighter, and the salt air from Chelsea Creek is always working against the finish on exterior cylinders. We plan for that. We don’t learn it on your door.
Every visit ends with a documented photo record: the lock before, the cylinder after, the keyway, the strike plate, the invoice. You get that record before we leave the property. If something isn’t right on any lock installation or rekey within a year, the 365-Day Done Right Promise means we come back and make it right. That’s the promise, in writing.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Chelsea
Smart Lock Installation
A smart lock on a thin, original triple-decker door in Chelsea needs more than the four screws in the box. The original doors are often barely 1-3/8 inch thick, with a mortise pocket cut for a skeleton key mechanism. We reinforce the strike plate, match the backset to the existing cross-bore, and install a smart deadbolt that actually throws fully into the jamb. A Schlage Encode or Yale Assure on a reinforced strike holds through winter freeze-thaw cycles that warp the old door frames along Chelsea’s side streets.
Keyless Entry and Keypad Lock Installation
Keypad locks are the fastest-growing request we get from Chelsea landlords managing turnover-heavy units near Bellingham Square. A landlord gives each tenant their own code, deletes it when the tenant leaves, and never cuts another key. We install keypad deadbolts on unit doors and keypad levers on shared vestibule doors, keyed alike where a master key system is overkill. For an owner with three units off Washington Avenue, a keypad entry system usually costs $220-$380 per door, installed and programmed, quoted in writing before we touch the hardware.
Biometric Lock Installation
Biometric locks are a niche request in Chelsea, and we handle them honestly. A fingerprint deadbolt makes sense on an interior office door or a unit door where you want audit-trail access, not on a shared exterior vestibule exposed to the harbor air. For the occasional Chelsea homeowner who wants one on a private entry, we stock models that run on batteries and drop into a standard 2-1/8 inch cross-bore, installed for $280-$460. We’ll tell you when it’s the right tool and when it isn’t.
Key Duplication
Most key duplication in Chelsea involves warded keys for old mortise locks, not the flat brass keys at a hardware store kiosk. We cut and duplicate skeleton keys, warded blanks, and mortise cylinder keys out of our vans, same day. A standard warded key duplication runs $4-$9 per key. A high-security key for a Medeco or Mul-T-Lock cylinder requires a card from the locksmith who originally installed it; we can duplicate those too with the proper authorization.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
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 Chelsea
We’re factory-authorized on Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Baldwin, and the full Schlage and Yale lines, and we keep the parts that matter for Chelsea on the truck: mortise cylinders, warded blanks, keyed-alike cylinders, and high-security tailpieces. If you have a Baldwin mortise lockset on a triple-decker front door and want it rekeyed to a new tenant’s key, we pull the cylinder, strip it, pin it, and reinstall it same day. You don’t wait a week for a part that’s already in our van.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Chelsea Homes
- Warped original doors binding new cylinders. The old wood-frame doors on triple-deckers shift with every freeze-thaw cycle, and a fresh rekey often exposes a binding cylinder that won’t turn come January. We check the door alignment before rekeying, not after the tenant calls back in a snowstorm.
- Salt-air corrosion on exterior deadbolts and strikes. Chelsea sits on Chelsea Creek and Boston Harbor, and the salt air eats zinc-alloy deadbolt bodies and strike plates faster than any Boston neighborhood inland. We replace corroded strikes with stainless or solid-brass hardware that holds up against the harbor breeze.
- Warded mortise locks with skeleton-key hardware still in service. A surprising number of Chelsea units still run on original iron rim locks and warded mortise cylinders. Those can be rekeyed, but the keyway is incompatible with standard Schlage or Kwikset blanks. Using the wrong blank means a callback and a second trip; we stock warded blanks and pin the cylinder correctly the first time.
- Smart locks dropped onto unreinforced original strikes. We regularly see smart deadbolts that jam within a month because the plate behind them is a thin original brass stamping. The brand is fine; the installation wasn’t. We install smart locks with a reinforced strike plate, long screws into the stud, and a tested full throw of the bolt.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Chelsea, MA
Here’s what you can expect in Chelsea’s market, in dollars, not vague phrasing:
- Standard lock rekey (pin-and-tumbler cylinder), per cylinder: $95-$145
- Mortise cylinder rekey (common on pre-WWII triple-deckers): $115-$185
- New deadbolt installation (entry-grade Schlage or equivalent): $180-$280
- Keypad deadbolt installation: $220-$380
- Smart lock installation (Schlage, Yale, with strike reinforcement): $260-$420
- Whole-triple-decker rekey (three units plus shared vestibule), keyed alike or master-keyed: $340-$620
The price you’re quoted on the phone is the price on the invoice. There is no service-call fee added at your door, no fuel surcharge, no “labor adjustment” after we see the lock. If you want a written line-item quote before we come out, we’ll email it to you. Daniel Novak’s standing rule since 2002: a price in writing before any work starts. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll name your price on the first call.
If another locksmith gave you a written estimate and you want a second set of eyes on it, bring us the quote. We’ll review it at no charge, and we’ll tell you honestly if the scope is right for a Chelsea triple-decker or if they’ve undersized the job.
We Also Serve Cities Near Chelsea
From our metro office, we send crews to Chelsea daily and also cover Lock Installation & Rekey in Chelsea‘s neighbors: Everett, Revere, Malden, and Boston. If you manage properties across several of these cities, one call sets up rekeying for all of them under the same written pricing standard. Our Lock Installation & Rekey team covers the whole inner metro as a single route, not as a separate trip charge per city.
Serving Chelsea, MA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Chelsea 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 Chelsea
Yes, in most cases we can rekey original mortise locks in Chelsea triple-deckers without replacing them. We pull the mortise cylinder, strip it, clean out decades of graphite and salt-air corrosion, re-pin it to the new key, and reinstall it. Replacement only becomes necessary when the cylinder body is cracked, the keyway is worn to the point of jamming, or the internal springs have failed. Call (331) 310-8471 and describe the lock; we’ll tell you over the phone whether it’s a rekey or a replacement based on what you’re seeing.
Every time a tenant moves out, no exceptions. In Chelsea’s three-decker market, turnover is constant, and a departing tenant may have made copies of unit keys you never saw leave. Rekey each unit cylinder and the shared vestibule if a key touched it. A whole-building rekey off Broadway or Shurtleff Street typically runs $340-$620, done in one visit, with the owner getting a master key while each tenant only opens their own unit. We’ll schedule it around your turnover date, not ours.
Yes, we install modern deadbolts on doors with legacy rim locks in Chelsea, but the rim lock usually stays in place or gets disabled. We bore a standard 2-1/8 inch cross-bore above the rim lock, install a deadbolt with a reinforced strike, and leave the original rim lock as a secondary lock if you want the look of the old hardware. The job requires care because the original doors are thin, and the strike needs to anchor into the doorframe, not just the casing. Expect $180-$320 per door depending on the deadbolt grade you want.
Your exterior lock is freezing or jamming every winter in Chelsea because the harbor-facing entryways of older buildings trap moisture, and winter freeze-thaw cycles move the doorframe just enough to bind the cylinder or latch. Salt air from Chelsea Creek also corrodes the zinc internals of cheap deadbolts, making them stiffer when it’s cold. We replace the cylinder with a corrosion-resistant mortise or deadbolt cylinder, align the strike so the bolt isn’t dragging, and often get the problem solved in one visit for $95-$185. Call (331) 310-8471 for a firm quote before we come out.
Yes, we install keypad and smart locks on doors with 1920s mortise locks in Chelsea, but the old mortise needs to come out or be bypassed, and the door needs a fresh cross-bore. On a thin original triple-decker door, we reinforce the strike plate and usually install a separate deadbolt above the old mortise, leaving the old lock as a non-functional or secondary latch. The keypad or smart deadbolt itself runs $220-$420 installed in Chelsea, and the door is tested to latch and unlock cleanly before we leave. You’ll get a photo record of the installation, and the price is written before we start.
If you’re deciding between rekeying what you have and replacing it outright, call (331) 310-8471. We’ll ask what the lock looks like, what the door is made of, and what you’re trying to secure. Then we’ll give you a price range, in writing, before anyone shows up.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Chelsea since 2002.