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 Evanston
Lock installation and rekeying in Evanston runs $65-$185 per cylinder for standard residential hardware, with full smart lock installations quoted at $195-$450 including the lock, labor, and configuration. We answer the phone 24/7, we quote the full price before anyone is dispatched, and that price is the price on the invoice. No call-out surcharge added at the door. No exceptions. Call (331) 310-8471 for a written estimate, or read on if you want to know what this actually costs and how the process works.
We work the dense neighborhoods between Central Street and Howard Street, the courtyard buildings off Dempster, the converted Victorians near the lakefront, and the mid-rise condos along Ridge and Chicago Avenue. Evanston’s housing stock isn’t like Skokie’s or Lincolnwood’s. The doors are older, the frames move with the seasons, and a surprising number of units still carry original mortise locksets that a standard locksmith won’t touch. We do.
Want the short version? Here it is.
- Rekeying a standard entry lock in Evanston: $65-$110 per cylinder, written price before we start.
- Smart lock or keyless entry installation: $195-$450 depending on the lock and the condition of the door.
- Mortise lock repair or conversion on prewar Evanston homes: $185-$385, quoted after inspection but before any work begins.
- Emergency lockout response to most Evanston addresses: typically 30-45 minutes, 24/7.
- Warranty: every job covered by the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If it’s not done right, we make it right.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Evanston’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
Daniel Novak founded this company in 2002 on a rule that hasn’t changed: Haven Standard Clause 1, the price on the phone is the price on the invoice. Our dispatchers quote a firm number. Our technicians are not permitted to change it on your doorstep. That single rule separates us from most of the trade, and it’s why landlords and condo boards in Evanston keep our number in their maintenance binders.
Every technician who arrives at an Evanston property is background-checked and wears a Novak uniform. That’s not a selling point. It’s a procedure. And at the end of every job, we leave a documented photo record: the lock before, the lock after, and the condition of the surrounding door and frame. You get it for free because we need it for our own records. It protects you and it protects us.
Since 2002 we’ve installed or serviced over 60,000 locks, keys, and systems. We hold factory authorization for Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy, Baldwin, and Schlage. But the credential that matters most in Evanston is simpler: our crews know what a 1910s cast-iron mortise body looks like when it’s cracked from thirty winters of freeze-thaw cycling, and they know what to do about it.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Evanston
Evanston’s housing stock spans 1880s lakefront mansions, 1920s courtyard buildings, mid-century brick condos, and newer construction near the canal. Each asks something different of a lock. Most of the work we do in Evanston falls into four buckets.
Smart Lock Installation
Smart locks sell themselves, but the door has to cooperate. On a 1920s Evanston frame, the deadbolt bore may not be standard, the strike plate may be loose, and the seasonal swell between August and January can throw a Grade 1 bolt off alignment by a quarter inch. We don’t just swap the hardware. We inspect the frame, shim or mortise the strike as needed, and document the condition with photos before we leave. A smart lock installed on a warped frame will fail in winter. We prevent that.
Keyless Entry
For multi-tenant buildings in Evanston, keyless entry often means a code per unit, not a code per building. Property managers near Northwestern use this heavily for off-campus rentals: a new tenant gets a fresh code in minutes, no key cutting required, and a departing tenant’s code is deleted the same day. It eliminates the single biggest rekey trigger landlords face during move-in week. Keyless entry installation in Evanston typically runs $220-$420 per door, quoted in writing before we source the hardware.
Keypad Lock
Keypad deadbolts are the entry-level electronic lock for Evanston condo owners. You get a code, you grant a temporary code to a dog walker or contractor, and you never hand out an unrestricted key. On older Evanston doors, the challenge is fit: a 1900s mortise prep is narrower than a modern deadbolt prep, and the install may require a conversion plate. We quote that work plainly, including the cost of the plate and the labor, before we begin. Keypad lock installation in Evanston runs $195-$320 for most standard doors.
Biometric Lock
Fingerprint-reader locks are rare in rental housing and more common in Evanston condos and private offices. They’re useful when a unit has high turnover of caregivers, cleaners, or staff, and you don’t want to track keys at all. We install and configure biometric locks from Baldwin and Yale, and we’ll tell you honestly if a biometric lock will work reliably on your door. If the frame shifts seasonally, we may recommend a model with a backup keyway so you’re never locked out of your own home. Biometric installation in Evanston runs $350-$550 depending on hardware and prep work.
Trusted Brands We Service in Evanston
We work with the full security spectrum, from entry-grade Kwikset and Schlage to high-security Mul-T-Lock, Medeco, and Abloy cylinders that cannot be picked or bumped with standard tools. We also stock and service Sargent mortise bodies, which still protect a surprising share of Evanston’s prewar apartment buildings and institutional properties. And for decorative hardware on Evanston’s older homes, we source genuine Baldwin parts rather than hollow reproductions. If your building uses a restricted keyway, we can match it and extend key control properly, with documentation of every key issued.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Evanston Homes
These are not hypothetical. We see them weekly.
- Worn cylinders that half-took a rekey. A landlord rekeys forty units in a week with one pin-and-tumbler set. The worn cylinders don’t seat new pins evenly. Old keys still turn in a third of the doors. We rekey to factory spec and test every cylinder with the old key to confirm it’s dead.
- Smart deadbolts on shifting frames. A condo owner replaces a mortise lock with a standard smart deadbolt in summer. By January, the 1900s frame has swelled and the bolt binds. We do non-destructive entry and shim the strike plate to restore smooth throw.
- Original mortise locksets that no one will service. A Victorian near Dempster still has its original cast-iron mortise case. The tailpiece is corroded. The cylinder is worn past reliable pinning. Most locksmiths will drill it and sell you a cheap deadbolt. We’ll rebuild it if we can.
- Unauthorized key copies in a master-keyed building. A resident copies a key at a local hardware store without the property manager knowing. The key works, which means key control is already broken. We restore control with a restricted keyway, and the building-wide rekey is documented cylinder by cylinder.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Evanston, IL
Here are the ranges you should expect for Evanston, not a national average.
- Standard residential rekey: $65-$110 per cylinder, labor included.
- Smart lock or keyless entry installation: $220-$420 installed, hardware included.
- Mortise lock rebuild or conversion: $185-$385, quoted after inspection but before work.
- High-security cylinder installation (Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy): $150-$280 per cylinder, including keying to your existing system.
- Biometric lock installation: $350-$550, hardware and configuration included.
- Key duplication with key control documentation: $8-$25 per key for standard; $35-$80 per key for restricted high-security blanks.
Every price is quoted in full before anyone is dispatched. There is no call-out surcharge added on arrival. If you bring us a written estimate from another Evanston locksmith, we’ll review it at no charge. And we will not use a bait price to get our technician in the door. Haven Standard Clause 1 has held since 2002.
We Also Serve Cities Near Evanston
Our Evanston crews also cover Lock Installation & Rekey in Evanston and the surrounding North Shore. For residential work in Chicago, Arlington Heights, Cicero, and Schaumburg, we schedule through the same dispatch desk and the same written-price rule. If you’re managing multiple properties across the county, one call sets the whole list in motion. Call (331) 310-8471 and tell the dispatcher where the doors are.
Evanston’s Northwestern Rekey Surge: What Landlords Need to Know
Northwestern University’s academic calendar creates a demand pattern no neighboring suburb experiences. Every late August and early September, thousands of students occupy off-campus rentals in the dense corridors west and south of campus, along Emerson, Simpson, Noyes, and Foster. Landlords must rekey dozens of units in a compressed two-to-three week window before the fall quarter starts. If you wait until the week before move-in, you’ll pay a premium for emergency scheduling, and some crews will cut corners to clear their board.
We pre-contract with property managers in this zone every summer. It’s simple: you send us the unit list, we rekey on a schedule, you get a documented record for every cylinder, and the price is locked before August. Landlords who wait until after move-in week routinely discover that keys from prior tenants still work in half the doors. The fix is a rekey done properly, with every cylinder tested against the old key before we leave the property. If you manage twenty units or two hundred, start the conversation in June. Call (331) 310-8471 and ask for the pre-contract rekey schedule.
Freeze-Thaw, Antique Mortise Locks, and Dempster Street Doors
Lake Michigan’s proximity drives severe freeze-thaw cycling through Evanston winters. Wooden door frames on the city’s century-old homes swell and shift seasonally. A deadbolt that throws cleanly in summer can bind or fail to seat fully by January because the strike plate has moved a millimeter out of alignment. This generates a predictable cold-weather service call surge, and it’s the reason we always shim and document the strike plate when we install a new lock in an older Evanston home.
In the historic district near Dempster Street, our crew was called to a 1920s brick courtyard building where the entry mortise lock had failed. The cast-iron lock body had cracked from decades of freeze-thaw stress. A standard replacement wasn’t possible: parts like that can’t be ordered from a standard supplier. We sourced a compatible antique mortise case from a Chicago architectural salvage vendor, milled the cylinder tailpiece to fit, and restored reliable key control for all six units. We did it without drilling the original door. That’s the kind of work that matters on Evanston’s older housing stock, and it’s not a skill set you’ll find at a standard lock shop.
Serving Evanston, IL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Evanston 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 Evanston
Schedule by early-to-mid July. The late August and early September surge is real, and every locksmith who works near campus is booked solid during move-in week. Pre-contract by early July, and we’ll lock the per-cylinder price and guarantee your units get done on a fixed schedule before students arrive. The alternative is paying emergency rates during the busiest three weeks of the year. Call (331) 310-8471 to set your rekey list now and get a written quote for the whole building.
Yes, in most cases. We can rekey original mortise cylinders on Evanston’s Victorians and Edwardians. The work requires specialty tools and, occasionally, a replacement tailpiece or cylinder threaded to match the original mortise case. If we have to source an antique or salvaged part, we’ll tell you before we order it and give you the exact cost. Rekeying a functional mortise lock runs $85-$160 per cylinder. If the lock body is cracked or the case is damaged, we’ll document it and quote a repair or conversion.
Not if the keyway is restricted. On standard master-key systems, if the keyway is not restricted, a resident can copy a key at any hardware store, and if that copy includes the master wafers, it can open every unit in the building. We routinely see this in Evanston courtyard buildings. The fix is key control: a restricted keyway, documented key issuance, and rekeying any compromised cylinder. We quote the full cost before any work begins. Call (331) 310-8471 for a key control audit and a written scope.
Freeze-thaw cycling. The wooden frames on Evanston’s older homes absorb moisture in the humid lakefront fall and swell when temperatures drop. The strike plate position shifts by a millimeter or two, and the bolt no longer seats fully. You can force it and eventually damage the frame or the deadbolt internals. The proper fix is a strike plate adjustment or a shim behind the plate, plus sanding or mortising the frame if needed. We do this as part of every lock installation on prewar Evanston homes so the hardware works year-round.
Yes and yes. From late July through mid-September, we install smart locks and keyless entry systems across Evanston’s off-campus rental stock, from two-flats near campus to larger courtyard buildings on the west side. We handle multi-unit projects as a contracted schedule, not a series of emergency calls, which means you get one crew, one written price, and one documented record for every door. If you own or manage rental property near Northwestern, call (331) 310-8471 and ask for the multi-unit smart lock schedule. We’ll give you a firm per-door price before August.
Call Novak Lock & Security for Lock Installation & Rekey in Evanston
Call (331) 310-8471. A live person answers. You’ll get a firm price for the work in writing before anyone is dispatched, and that price is the price on the invoice. No call-out surcharge. No bait pricing. No exceptions. Whether you need a single smart lock on a Chicago Avenue condo, a full rekey of a Northwestern rental building, or a repair on a Dempster Street mortise lock that’s been in the door since the Coolidge administration, the process is the same: written scope, documented photo record, 365-Day Done Right Promise. Ask for Daniel Novak by name if you want to talk through a complex job.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Evanston since the company’s founding.