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 Hollywood
Lock installation and rekeying in Hollywood runs $95-$185 for a standard cylinder rekey and $220-$480 for a full deadbolt installation, depending on the door prep and hardware grade. Most jobs are completed the same day, often within a two-hour arrival window. We work the 1920s courtyard apartments off Franklin and the Spanish Colonial fourplexes near Beachwood Canyon every week, so we know what’s inside those doors before we open them. Call (331) 310-8471 and you’ll reach a live dispatcher, not a voicemail queue. The price you’re quoted on that call is the price on the invoice. Haven Standard Clause 1: the price on the phone is the price on the invoice.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Hollywood’s Lock Installation & Rekey Company
Hollywood’s housing stock doesn’t behave like the rest of Los Angeles. The flats are dense with 1920s-1950s courtyard apartments and bungalow courts, and up in Beachwood, Laurel, and Nichols Canyons the hillside homes lean on electric driveway gates more than front-door locks. We’ve spent over two decades working this specific inventory, and our Lock Installation & Rekey team carries the mortise cylinders, strike plates, and six-pin cylinders these buildings actually need. Not just what’s in the catalog this quarter.
Daniel Novak founded this company in 2002 on a single rule: write the price down before touching a lock. That rule hasn’t softened. Every Hollywood job, whether it’s a rekey between short-term rental guests on a Monday or an emergency lockout on a canyon road after midnight, starts with a written scope. Every visit ends with a documented photo record left with the customer. Background-checked, uniformed technicians. Calls answered by a live person, 24/7. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers every lock we install or rekey: if it’s not done right, we make it right.
We’ve built our reputation in Hollywood one door at a time. Property managers who run short-term rentals in the flats call us because we rekey between guests without a service lag. Homeowners in the hills call us because we don’t get lost on unmarked private drives off Mulholland. And both call back because the price didn’t change when the van pulled up.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Hollywood
Smart Lock Installation
Hollywood’s short-term rental market runs on smart locks. Owners of courtyard apartments and bungalow courts need to rotate door codes remotely, audit entry logs, and hand off access without handing over a physical key. We install Schlage Encode, Yale Assure, and August smart deadbolts on doors that were built before adhesive-backed templates existed. That often means mortising the door edge or rebuilding the strike plate. Smart lock installation on non-standard Hollywood doors runs $280-$520, including hardware, written in advance at (331) 310-8471.
Keyless Entry
Keyless entry is not the same as a smart lock. A keypad deadbolt is a mechanical or battery-powered unit that doesn’t need Wi-Fi, a hub, or an app. For a Hollywood courtyard apartment with a property manager who lives off-site, a keypad deadbolt is often the cheaper, sturdier answer. We install keypad entry systems starting around $240-$420 per door, including the reinforced strike plate those pre-war frames usually require.
Keypad Lock
Keypad locks on original Hollywood doors need two things many generic installers skip: a properly sized faceplate and a strike plate that can absorb the frame shift from seismic racking. We’ve pulled keypad locks off Spanish Colonial bungalows that were installed with contractor-grade screws into 90-year-old wood. The code worked; the door didn’t. Our keypad lock installations in Hollywood include a frame assessment before we mount anything, and the written quote reflects exactly what that assessment found.
Biometric Lock
Biometric deadbolts are the right tool for a narrow slice of Hollywood properties: high-traffic short-term rentals where codes get shared too freely, or homes where a household member needs access without fumbling keys. We install fingerprint and fob-compatible locks from brands like Eufy and Ultraloq, always with a mechanical key override because Hollywood’s dry heat and dust will eventually clog any biometric sensor. Expect $300-$550 installed, quoted in writing before we start.
Electronic Lock
We service and install the full range of electronic locks, from simple battery keypads to networked access-control systems for multi-unit Hollywood properties. The difference between an electronic lock that lasts five years and one that dies in a season is whether the installer accounted for the heat, the dust, and the door movement. We do. Every time. The dispatcher at (331) 310-8471 can quote an electronic lock installation over the phone in about ten minutes.
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 Hollywood
We stock and install factory-authorized hardware from Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Baldwin, and Schlage. If you have a Baldwin mortise lock on a 1930s Beachwood Canyon fourplex, we carry the cylinders and tailpieces to rebuild it rather than replace it. If you want a Mul-T-Lock high-security cylinder (a lock that cannot be bumped or picked with standard tools), we key it on site and register the key control card in your name. For Hollywood customers, we keep the common retrofits in the van: six-pin Schlage cylinders, ANSI Grade 1 deadbolts, and reinforced strike plates sized for pre-war doors. That means one visit, not two.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Hollywood Homes
- Original mortise locks with worn cylinders. A 1920s mortise lock has a cylinder pressing pins into a keyway that may have been in service since before the building got indoor plumbing. Rekeying without inspecting the cylinder is a waste. We check the cylinder, the cam, and the mounting screws. If the cylinder’s chewed, we say so. Rekeying a classic mortise unit in Hollywood runs $110-$190 per cylinder, assuming the lock body is sound. If it isn’t, we’ll show you the photos on the spot.
- Deadbolts that bind after earthquakes. Hollywood’s seismic swarms rack door frames just enough to make a deadbolt throw short or stick. Especially in the hills where wood frames sit on shifting foundations. The fix is usually a reamed strike plate, not a new lock. Our techs carry a reamer and reinforced strikes in the van. This is a 20-minute correction in most cases, and we’ll include it in the written quote before we touch the door.
- Warped courtyard apartment doors. The original doors on Hollywood courtyard apartments are often 1-3/8-inch thick, and the frames have settled. A standard smart lock deadbolt with a standard strike will bind every time the sun hits the west-facing door. We adjust the strike, or install an extended-lip strike plate, and the bolt throws clean. That’s the difference between a lock that operates and a lock that works.
- Short-term rental key control. Between guests, the previous tenant’s key is a liability. A rekey restores key control in about 15 minutes per cylinder. We do it same-day, often back-to-back for property managers running multiple Hollywood listings. Key duplication for the new set is included in the written quote. No surprise charges at the door. Ever.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Hollywood, FL
Here’s what Hollywood residents and property managers typically pay. Rekeying a standard cylinder lock: $95-$145 per lock. Rekeying an original mortise lock: $110-$190 per cylinder. New deadbolt installation (entry-grade Schlage or Kwikset, including door prep): $220-$380. High-security cylinder upgrade (Mul-T-Lock or Medeco): $180-$320 per cylinder. Smart lock installation on a pre-war door requiring mortising or strike rework: $280-$520. These are the real numbers from the Hollywood job log, and they’re the same numbers the dispatcher at (331) 310-8471 will quote you over the phone. Written before any work starts. No service-call surcharge added when the van arrives. No “minimum trip fee” that wasn’t in the quote.
We Also Serve Cities Near Hollywood
While this page focuses on Lock Installation & Rekey in Hollywood, our crews regularly work the surrounding South Florida communities. We handle lock installation and rekeying in North Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami Gardens, and Plantation with the same written-price rule. If you’re just outside the Hollywood city line, call (331) 310-8471 and the dispatcher will confirm coverage for your address before anyone is sent out.
Serving Hollywood, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Hollywood 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 Hollywood
Most original mortise locks from the 1920s-1930s can be rekeyed, provided the lock body is intact and the cylinder isn’t worn past the point of reliable pinning. We rekey original mortise cylinders in Hollywood for $110-$190 each, which is typically far less than replacing the entire mortise unit. Some buildings need replacement when the internal springs have fatigued or the trim is missing, but we will always show you the condition of the lock before recommending replacement. Call (331) 310-8471 and describe the lock; our dispatcher can tell you over the phone whether we can likely rekey it or whether you should budget for a retrofit.
It’s almost always the door frame, not the lock. Hollywood’s seismic racking shifts wood frames enough that the strike plate falls out of alignment, so the deadbolt can’t throw fully. Our techs address this by reaming the strike opening wider, installing a reinforced strike plate with longer screws, or both. This service runs $85-$140 in the Hollywood Hills and is done same-day in most cases. We don’t sell a new lock when a strike plate repair fixes the problem.
Same day, usually within two to four hours of your call. Hollywood’s short-term rental turnover happens on tight schedules, so our dispatcher at (331) 310-8471 will confirm a window when you call. We rekey each cylinder in about 15 minutes, and we can cut keys for the new set on the van. The written quote covers the entire property, including key duplication, before anyone is dispatched. No extra charge when the technician arrives.
Yes. Most Spanish Colonial doors in Hollywood lack the standard 2-1/8-inch cross-bore, so a smart lock doesn’t drop in. We mortise the door edge, bore the lock body opening, and install a reinforced strike plate. The install runs $280-$520, including the smart lock hardware. The total price is written before we start, and the work includes adjusting the strike so the bolt doesn’t bind when the frame shifts during the next seismic event.
We handle the gate first, then the door. Our techs know that many canyon properties off Beachwood and Mulholland have locked motor gates with no cell signal at the call box, and the real job is getting through the perimeter. We service gate locks, gate intercoms, and access-control keypads for hillside homes, then rekey or unlock the front door once we’re on the property. Call (331) 310-8471 and the dispatcher will confirm our tech can handle your gate system before we send anyone up the hill.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Hollywood since 2002.