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 Dearborn
Lock installation and rekey work in Dearborn typically runs $65-$145 per cylinder for rekeying and $85-$240 per lock for new deadbolt installation, and we quote the full price on the phone before a tech is dispatched. Dearborn isn’t a simple copy-paste market: homes here range from 1920s East Dearborn bungalows with original mortise lock bodies to West Dearborn mid-century ranches with aging wood frames, and many properties along the city’s outer edges include detached garages, workshops, and barn doors that need keyed-alike treatment in a single visit. We serve all of Dearborn from our Detroit dispatch office, with techs who know the difference between a Ford campus master-key job and a Cherry Hill Road ranch with three outbuildings. Call (331) 310-8471 and you’ll get a live person who can quote the job in writing before anyone rolls a van.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Dearborn’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
Novak Lock & Security has been doing Lock Installation & Rekey work since 2002, and the Dearborn homes we walk into today look a lot like the ones we walked into twenty years ago: solid brick, real wood frames, and hardware that’s seen sixty Michigan winters. What’s changed is the documentation we leave behind. Every Dearborn job includes a written scope of work with the price stated up front, plus a photo record of the hardware before and after, left with the customer at completion. That’s Haven Standard Clause 1: the price on the phone is the price on the invoice. No tech is permitted to change it at the door. Daniel Novak built the company on that rule because the trade has a bait-pricing problem, and Dearborn homeowners researching before they call can spot it a mile away.
Our techs are background-checked and uniformed. They arrive with a written price already quoted. And when they leave, you have a documented record of exactly what was done. That matters in Dearborn because so much of the work here isn’t a simple cylinder swap. It’s a 1920s mortise lock with a non-standard backset that needs a wraparound plate. It’s a frozen exterior cylinder on a detached barn door in February. It’s a Ford supplier who needs a master-key hierarchy that can survive an audit. We do all of it, and we do it the same way: written price first, documented record at the end.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Dearborn
Smart Lock Installation
Smart lock installation in Dearborn runs $145-$240 per lock including the hardware, and we stock models that work with the deadbolt prep already on most West Dearborn doors. For East Dearborn bungalows with original mortise entry sets, a smart lock conversion usually requires a wraparound plate or a surface-mounted deadbolt above the existing lock, which we quote as part of the written scope before we start. We’ve installed keypad and app-controlled units on bungalows near Michigan Avenue, mid-century ranches out toward Cherry Hill Road, and commercial storefronts along Warren Avenue.
Keyless Entry & Keypad Lock Installation
Keyless entry locks are the most common upgrade we install across Dearborn, and the typical installed price is $135-$210 per door. For homeowners with detached garages, workshops, or barns, a keypad deadbolt on the outbuilding means nobody has to carry a separate key for that padlock that freezes solid every winter. We quote the lock, the labor, and any door prep in writing before dispatch. If you want the outbuilding keyed the same as the house, a keyless entry unit with a mechanical key override can usually be pinned into the same keyway as your existing Schlage or Kwikset hardware.
Biometric Lock Installation
Biometric locks in Dearborn run $220-$380 installed, depending on whether the door needs standard bore prep or a mortise conversion. Most Dearborn homeowners choose biometric hardware for a side door, a home office, or a workshop where they don’t want to carry a key at all. These units read a fingerprint and never have a cylinder to freeze or corrode, which is a real consideration on outbuildings exposed to Dearborn’s road-salt spray from November through March.
Key Duplication
Key duplication is the quiet half of the trade, and Dearborn customers ask for it more than most Metro Detroit suburbs because so many properties have multiple outbuildings, gates, and shared access points. Standard Schlage and Kwikset keys run $3-$8 per copy cut on-site. High-security keys from Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, or Abloy run $18-$45 per copy and require a registered key card because those blanks are controlled. We can duplicate restricted keys issued for Ford campus facilities only with the proper authorization letter. If you need a dozen copies keyed alike across the house, the barn, and the gate, we stage the full set on the first visit so you’re not paying for a second trip.
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 Dearborn
We’re factory-authorized to service and install Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Baldwin, and Schlage hardware, and we stock a range of Yale and Kwikset parts for standard residential work across Dearborn. That matters on a job where a 1920s mortise body needs a replacement spindle matched to a specific manufacturer’s spec, or where a Ford supplier’s master-key system has to stay on a controlled keyway. We don’t guess at hardware compatibility. For high-security cylinders in Dearborn, we use Medeco and Mul-T-Lock Almost exclusively because the key control is auditable, which is what commercial clients and a growing number of Dearborn homeowners with outbuildings want.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Dearborn Homes
- Frozen or seized exterior cylinders on outbuildings. Dearborn’s hard freeze-thaw cycles and road-salt spray corrode cylinders and strike plates faster than in more temperate markets. We see a predictable spike in seized-cylinder calls every November through March, most of them on detached garages, barn doors, and gate locks.
- Original 1920s mortise lock bodies in East Dearborn. Many bungalows and two-flats east of Schaefer still have their original mortise entry sets, with non-standard backset and spindle dimensions. A standard modern deadbolt won’t fit without a wraparound plate or a surface-mounted mortise conversion, which changes the scope and the price.
- Warped door frames in West Dearborn. Mid-century ranch and colonial homes from the 1950s and 1960s have real wood frames that have shifted over sixty years of wet springs and dry winters. Deadbolts that throw fine in July bind against the strike plate in April, and the fix is usually a strike plate adjustment or a frame repair, not a new lock.
- Mixed key systems across multiple outbuildings. Properties on Dearborn’s outer edges often have a house, a detached garage, a barn, and a gate, each with a different key from a different era. Rekeying everything to one operating key is a one-visit job if the cylinders are all Schlage or Kwikset keyways. If one outbuilding still has an old mortise cylinder with a rusted shackle, we carry matching replacement cylinders so the keyed-alike system stays intact.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Dearborn, MI
We Also Serve Cities Near Dearborn
Our techs cover Dearborn and the surrounding communities, including Dearborn Heights, Lincoln Park, Detroit, and Redford. Response times to Dearborn neighborhoods are typically under an hour for emergency lockouts and rekey work, and we stage keyed-alike sets for acreage properties so a single visit handles the house, the barn, and the gate.
Serving Dearborn, MI - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Dearborn 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 Dearborn
Yes, in most cases we can key every exterior lock on a Dearborn property to a single operating key in one visit, provided the cylinders are all on Schlage or Kwikset keyways or can be swapped to matching cylinders the same day. We stage the full cylinder set before we arrive, including high-security replacements if any outbuilding has a corroded mortise body or a rusted padlock that needs to be cut. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll tell you over the phone which locks can stay and which need to be swapped, with a written price before dispatch.
The honest answer is that most original 1920s mortise lock bodies in East Dearborn have a non-standard backset and spindle, which means a standard smart lock bore won’t line up without modification. In most cases we install a surface-mounted smart deadbolt above the existing mortise lock, or we use a wraparound plate that adapts the mortise prep to a standard bore, leaving the original door intact. We’ll quote the exact approach after a phone description of the existing hardware, and the price is in writing before we start. Call (331) 310-8471 for a direct answer on your specific door.
The deadbolt on your West Dearborn home is binding because the wood door frame swells and contracts with Dearborn’s seasonal moisture cycles, and winter’s dry air plus a slight frame shift throws off the strike plate alignment. It’s almost never the lock cylinder itself. The fix is a strike plate adjustment or a frame repair, and we can do it in one visit for a flat quoted price. If the deadbolt itself is worn, we’ll show you the evidence in the photo record we leave at completion. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll quote the adjustment before we send a tech.
Yes, you can rekey a single lock on a keyed-alike system without disturbing the other cylinders, as long as we keep the new cylinder on the same keyway and pin it to a new key that isn’t the tenant’s old one. Two notes: the tenant’s old key will still operate every other lock on the property until you rekey those too, and if the tenant’s old key was a controlled high-security blank, the whole system needs a documented key control update. We’ll explain the exact options in plain English and give you a written price for a single-cylinder rekey or a full system reset. Call (331) 310-8471 for a direct quote.
We can respond to a Ford campus lockout in Dearborn typically within 45 minutes to an hour, and we routinely work with Ford security teams and facilities managers who need a documented chain of custody for every key and cylinder on a restricted system. Our techs are background-checked, uniformed, and familiar with institutional-scale master-key hierarchies and card-access integration. We don’t do undocumented emergency entry on secure facilities. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll coordinate directly with your security contact, with a written scope and flat per-lock pricing before anyone is dispatched.
Call Novak Lock & Security for Lock Installation & Rekey in Dearborn
If you own a home in Dearborn with outbuildings that need keying, a bungalow with a stubborn 1920s mortise lock, or a shop that needs a master-key system that can survive an audit, we’ll give you a written price on the phone before anyone gets in a van. Call (331) 310-8471 now for a free estimate. The price we quote is the price on your invoice, every time, no exceptions.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Dearborn and the surrounding communities.
Lock Installation & Rekey in Nearby Areas
