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 Randallstown
Lock installation and rekey in Randallstown comes down to one honest question: can the hardware you already own be saved, or does it need to come out? We give you that answer in writing before any work starts. Novak Lock & Security has worked on hundreds of Randallstown homes, the brick ranchers and split-levels off Liberty Road built between 1955 and 1975, and we know exactly what those doors do in Maryland summers. Call (331) 310-8471 and a dispatcher, not a machine, will quote you a firm price. Haven Standard Clause 1: the price on the phone is the price on the invoice.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Randallstown’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
The job mix in Randallstown is different from what you see in newer construction. Homes here carry original or 1980s-retrofit cylindrical knob locks, often without a proper deadbolt. Door frames have settled out of square over five or six decades. Strike plates get shimmed with whatever a prior owner had on hand. We know this because we see it every week. Our Lock Installation & Rekey team has a documented photo record left with every customer, not as a courtesy but as a procedure. That record shows the condition of the hardware before we touch it and what it looks like after.
We’re the company Randallstown landlords call when Baltimore County rental licensing comes due and the existing locks won’t pass inspection. We’re also the company a homeowner calls when the deadbolt that worked in May jams hard by July. Daniel Novak built this business on straightforward reporting: say what was found, state what was done, show the evidence. Since 2002, every job we’ve done has started with a written price. Every technician is background-checked and uniformed. Every visit ends with a written warranty.
Serving Randallstown means understanding that the houses here don’t accept modern lock hardware as a simple swap. A new deadbolt on a 1962 door with a swollen frame needs mortising and strike-plate realignment. If a technician just bores and bolts, the lock binds in August and the callback is free, but the customer’s time is gone either way. We do the alignment work the first time because we know the houses.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Randallstown
Deadbolt Upgrade
This is the single most common job we do in Randallstown, and the one with the most direct impact on a rental licensing inspection. If your 1960s rancher still runs on a knob lock with no deadbolt, the door is one quick pry away from open. We install Grade 1 and Grade 2 deadbolts from Schlage, Baldwin, and Mul-T-Lock, mortised properly into doors that are rarely square anymore. A deadbolt upgrade in Randallstown typically runs $120-$240 per door including the strike-plate work the old frames actually need.
Key Duplication
We cut keys for nearly every lock format still turning in this ZIP code, from standard Schlage and Kwikset blanks to restricted keys from Mul-T-Lock and Medeco. If you own a rental with a tenant moving out on a Friday, call us before noon and we’ll have the new keys cut and the cylinders rekeyed same day. Key duplication in Randallstown is $4-$12 per key for standard residential blanks; restricted or high-security blanks run $15-$45 because they require authorization paperwork and controlled milling.
Keypad Entry
Keypad locks solve a real Randallstown problem: multiple people needing legitimate access to a house that has only one worn-out key left. Landlords use them to rotate tenant codes between leases instead of cutting new keys every turnover. Homeowners use them for cleaners, dog walkers, and kids coming home from Randallstown Elementary. We install keypad entry systems from Schlage and Yale, with installs in Randallstown running $210-$380 depending on whether the existing bore is reusable and whether we need to add a deadbolt at the same time.
Smart Lock Installation
Smart locks retrofit onto aging doors more often than people expect, but only if the underlying frame and strike plate are sound. We tell you the truth on that before we quote, because a smart lock on a door that doesn’t close square will eat batteries and fail in the locked position. In Randallstown, smart lock installation runs $220-$460 for the labor and mechanical adjustments, excluding the hardware itself. We work with Schlage Encode, Yale Assure, and Kwikset Halo, and we’ll show you a written price for the entire job before the first screw comes out.
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 Randallstown
We carry and service the full spread: entry-grade Kwikset and Schlage for budget work, Baldwin for homeowners who want solid brass that ages well, and high-security cylinders from Mul-T-Lock and Sargent for rental owners who need key control that can’t be duplicated at a kiosk. Factory-authorized work on Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy, Baldwin, and Schlage means we install these correctly to spec. If you bring us a Yale smart lock you bought yourself, we’ll install it, but we’ll also point out anything about the existing door that will shorten its life. Parts for common Randallstown hardware are stocked on our trucks, not ordered in.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Randallstown Homes
- Out-of-square door frames from 50-plus years of settling. New deadbolts bind or fail to throw fully when the strike plate isn’t mortised to match the shifted frame. The fix is realignment, not a longer screw driven in at an angle.
- Summer humidity frame swelling. Maryland’s muggy weather makes the wooden door frames common in Randallstown’s older homes expand noticeably. A deadbolt that worked in May jams by July. We re-mortise and reset the strike for the swollen dimension.
- Seized cylinders from freeze-thaw cycles. A lock cylinder that hasn’t been serviced since the Johnson administration has decades of dust, grime, and oxidation inside. Winter temperatures finish the job. A deep clean and lubrication sometimes saves it; if the pins are worn, rekeying replaces them at the same time.
- Rental inspection failures on original knob locks. Baltimore County’s rental licensing program, which covers unincorporated Randallstown, requires working exterior locks for occupancy compliance. Landlords along and just off Liberty Road get flagged for knob-only doors and late rekeys between tenants. We fix the hardware, rekey to a new key, and leave you a documented record that inspectors accept.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Randallstown, MD
Here are real numbers for this market, in writing. Rekeying a standard residential lock in Randallstown runs $18-$30 per cylinder. Deadbolt installation runs $120-$240 per door, including the strike-plate and frame alignment that older doors need. Keypad entry installs run $210-$380. Smart lock installation runs $220-$460 in labor, hardware separate. Key duplication is $4-$12 for standard blanks. No dispatch fee. The price quoted on the phone is the price on the invoice, full stop. Every estimate is free, and we will review a competitor’s written quote at no charge as a second opinion. Call (331) 310-8471 for your exact number before anyone is dispatched.
We Also Serve Cities Near Randallstown
Our service area covers all of Randallstown and stretches into the surrounding Baltimore suburbs. We handle lock installation and rekey work in Owings Mills, Towson, Baltimore, and Columbia with the same written-price rule and the same documented record on every job. Wherever the address, the dispatcher quotes the full price on the phone before a truck moves.
Serving Randallstown, MD - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Randallstown 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 Randallstown
Yes, an original pin-and-tumbler knob set from a 1960s Randallstown rancher can almost always be rekeyed as long as the cylinder itself isn’t seized or physically damaged. What usually can’t be saved is the door’s security posture, not the lock. A knob lock without a deadbolt is still a knob lock. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll tell you over the phone whether a rekey alone makes sense for your door.
Because your wooden door frame swells in Maryland humidity and pulls the deadbolt out of alignment with the strike plate. This is the most common seasonal call we run in Randallstown. The fix is re-mortising and resetting the strike plate to the swollen frame dimension. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll square it up before August.
If your existing locks function and have a working deadbolt, a rekey is enough. If you have a knob lock with no deadbolt, Baltimore County rental licensing standards will flag it. We install the deadbolt and rekey everything to one key, then leave you a photo record and written warranty for the inspection. Call (331) 310-8471 and tell us what’s on the door; we’ll give you the path and the price in writing.
Rekeying changes the internal pins so old keys stop working, but the lock body stays in the door. Replacing a mortise lock means pulling the entire lock body out of the mortise pocket and installing a new one. Mortise locks are common in Randallstown’s 1950s and 60s stock, and most can be rekeyed rather than replaced if they still throw the bolt cleanly. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll tell you which one your door needs before you spend a dollar.
Sometimes. The deciding factor is whether the door closes square enough for the deadbolt to throw without fighting the frame. If the frame is badly out of square, we fix the strike plate and alignment first, then mount the smart lock. If the door itself is too far gone, we’ll tell you that plainly rather than sell you hardware that will fail. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll give you a straight answer and a written price for the whole job.
Contact Novak Lock & Security for Lock Installation & Rekey in Randallstown
Last week we rekeyed a 1963 rancher just off Liberty Road where the original Schlage pin-and-tumbler knob set was still installed but the strike plate had been shimmed with cardboard over decades of settling. The frame had swollen enough in the muggy summer that the deadbolt we retrofitted required mortising and realignment of the strike. After a rekey to a new master key system, the landlord passed county rental inspection. That’s the work we do in Randallstown. Call (331) 310-8471 for a free, written estimate before you schedule anything.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Randallstown with documented, written-price locksmith work since 2002.
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