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 Sacramento
Lock rekey in Sacramento typically runs $65-$95 per cylinder, and a standard deadbolt installation on a modern door runs $110-$180 including hardware. Those are the ranges we quote over the phone, in writing, before anyone gets in a van. Novak Lock & Security has been doing lock installation and rekey work across Sacramento since 2002, and the price you hear from our dispatcher is the price on your invoice. That rule has been in place since day one, and it doesn’t bend. Call (331) 310-8471 and you’ll get a live person, a firm number, and a technician who arrives in a uniform with a documented record of everything they did.
What sets Sacramento apart from other metros we work in isn’t the volume of calls. It’s the age of the doors. The central city has one of the highest concentrations of 1910s-1940s Craftsman and Tudor homes in California, and those homes were built around mortise locksets that modern hardware doesn’t simply replace. We know which ones can be rekeyed cleanly and which ones have reached the end of their service life. That’s the difference between a $75 rekey and a $400 retrofit, and we’ll tell you which one you actually need before any work starts.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Sacramento’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
Our Lock Installation & Rekey team has worked on original Corbin and Sargent mortise locks in Curtis Park, Land Park, East Sacramento, and Midtown for over two decades. Those neighborhoods built our reputation, because those are the jobs that require actual locksmith knowledge, not a drill and a cylinder swap. When a homeowner asks whether their 1928 mortise lock can be rekeyed or needs replacement, the answer depends on the condition of the box, the keyway, and the frame. We check all three before we quote anything.
Sacramento homeowners who’ve called us consistently mention two things in reviews: the phone quote matched the final bill, and the technician explained what was wrong in plain language before touching the hardware. We don’t advertise a star rating. We do leave every customer with a documented photo record of the work, before and after, and a written scope that says exactly what was done and what it cost. That’s The Haven Standard, Clause 1: the price on the phone is the price on the invoice. No exceptions, no fine print, no door-step adjustment.
Response time to Sacramento neighborhoods is typically 90 minutes or less for non-emergency calls, and emergency calls are answered by a live person at any hour. We’re not routing you through a national call center. The dispatcher who answers knows the difference between a mortise cylinder and a rim cylinder, because scheduling for Sacramento runs through our local office, not a call center in another state.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Sacramento
Smart Lock Installation
Smart locks on a modern pre-hung door in Natomas or Pocket-Greenhaven are straightforward. Smart locks on a 90-year-old solid oak door in East Sacramento are a different job entirely. The motor in a smart lock has a finite amount of torque, and if the deadbolt binds against a warped strike plate, the motor burns out in months. We check the door alignment first, adjust the strike plate if needed, and only then install the lock. We’ve installed Yale, Baldwin, and Schlage smart hardware throughout Sacramento, and we’ll tell you honestly if your door makes a smart lock a bad investment before you spend the money.
Keyless Entry
Keyless entry for Sacramento homes usually means keypad deadbolts on front and side doors, sometimes paired with a smart hub for remote access. The biggest installation variable in this city is frame movement. Sacramento summers routinely exceed 100°F for weeks, and the older bungalows in Curtis Park and Land Park have wooden frames that expand significantly in that heat. A keypad deadbolt installed tight in March will bind in July. We set the keeper with thermal expansion in mind, which is a detail most installation guides don’t mention and most homeowners don’t discover until the lock jams.
Keypad Lock
Keypad lock installation on a standard cylindrical prep runs $120-$200 depending on the lock grade and door condition. On homes built before 1950 with original mortise boxes, the honest answer is usually a conversion plate or a full retrofit, not a direct swap. We carry conversion hardware that lets us mount a modern keypad deadbolt above the original mortise lock without drilling out the door or leaving the old mortise box to fail. That preserves the look of the original hardware, which matters in Sacramento’s preservation-conscious inner neighborhoods.
Biometric Lock
Biometric locks use a fingerprint or retinal scan to release the bolt. They’re the most temperature-sensitive hardware we install, and Sacramento’s summer heat cycle is hard on the fingerprint sensor housings. In a shaded Midtown entry, they’re fine. On a full-sun western door in Rancho Cordova, the sensor can degrade in two or three seasons. We stock fingerprint models from Yale and Baldwin for Sacramento customers, and we’ll walk you through whether your door orientation makes biometric a sensible choice or an expensive experiment.
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.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Sacramento
We’re factory-authorized on Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy, Baldwin, and Schlage, and we stock cylinders, pins, and strike plates at our Sacramento office for same-day service on most common models. That matters when a rekey needs a specific keyway pin kit or a smart lock needs a longer tailpiece. We also keep obsolete cylinder formats on hand for the Corbin and Sargent mortise locks that show up in older Sacramento homes. A locksmith who doesn’t stock those parts will quote you a replacement you don’t need. We’d rather rekey what you have.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Sacramento Homes
- Deadbolts that bind every summer. The 1910s-1940s homes in Land Park and Curtis Park have solid wood frames that expand in Sacramento’s 100°F-plus summers. The bolt outgrows the keeper by a few thousandths of an inch, and the lock feels seized. The fix is usually reaming the keeper slightly and re-aligning the strike, not replacing the lock.
- Mortise locksets that have been “repaired” with a drill. We find this constantly: a previous locksmith drilled out the original cylinder on a Corbin or Sargent mortise box because they didn’t have the keyway pin kit. The homeowner is left with a functional deadbolt but a destroyed faceplate and a lock that can never be rekeyed again. A competent rekey on an original mortise cylinder takes 20 minutes. Drilling is a demolition method.
- Smart locks installed on doors that were already binding. A warped Craftsman door with a misaligned strike plate will chew through a smart lock motor. We see this in East Sacramento and Curtis Park regularly: a $250 smart lock installed on a door that needed a $40 strike adjustment first, now burning out its motor fighting the frame every cycle.
- Worn pins in original cylinders that make new keys work intermittently. A rekey is only as good as the pins going in. Original cylinders from the 1920s and 1930s often still function fine, but the pins have worn flat after 100 years of use. A proper rekey includes a pin inspection and replacement, not just a repin to the new key biting. Miss that step and the new key works six times out of ten.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Sacramento, CA
Here’s what you can expect to pay in Sacramento, in writing, before any work starts:
- Rekey a standard Schlage or Kwikset cylinder: $65-$95 per cylinder
- Rekey an original Corbin or Sargent mortise cylinder: $85-$130 per cylinder (includes pin replacement if needed)
- Installed standard deadbolt on a modern door: $110-$180 including hardware
- Smart lock or keypad deadbolt installation: $150-$250 including hardware, plus strike plate adjustment if needed
- Mortise lock retrofit (converting a 1910s-1940s mortise prep to accept modern hardware): $250-$450 depending on door condition and hardware selection
These are the ranges we quote on the phone. The exact figure depends on your specific door, your existing hardware, and what condition the cylinder and frame are in. What it does not depend on is the mood of the technician when he arrives. The quote is the price. If a competitor’s written estimate comes in lower, bring it to us and we’ll review it at no charge. Call (331) 310-8471 for a free estimate with no obligation.
We Also Serve Cities Near Sacramento
Novak Lock & Security provides lock installation and rekey service throughout the Sacramento metro, including West Sacramento, North Highlands, Carmichael, and Antelope. Our scheduling is coordinated from our Sacramento office, and crews dispatch locally from that same office, so response times to surrounding cities stay consistent with our Sacramento service.
Serving Sacramento, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Sacramento 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 Sacramento
In most cases, yes, we can rekey the original mortise cylinder without replacing the lock. We stock keyway pin kits for the obsolete Corbin and Sargent formats common in 1910s-1940s Sacramento homes. The exceptions are when the mortise box itself has cracked, the faceplate has been drilled out by a previous locksmith, or the internal springs have failed. We’ll inspect the lock and tell you honestly which category yours falls into before we quote anything. Call (331) 310-8471 and describe your lock. We can usually tell you over the phone whether it’s a rekey or a replacement situation.
The wooden door frame in your Land Park home expands when Sacramento temperatures exceed 100°F for extended stretches. The bolt, which travels in a straight line, no longer aligns with the keeper, which has moved slightly with the frame. This is a frame alignment issue, not a lock failure. The fix is reaming the keeper or adjusting the strike plate slightly to accommodate the seasonal movement. We do this routinely every June through September across Land Park, Curtis Park, and East Sacramento. It’s a $75-$120 fix, not a new lock.
Yes. We install modern keypad and smart deadbolts above original mortise locks using a conversion plate, which preserves the original hardware and avoids drilling out the mortise box. We’ve done this on dozens of East Sacramento homes from the 1920s and 1930s. The key variables are door thickness, frame condition, and whether the original mortise lock is still functional or has already failed. Call (331) 310-8471 with the thickness of your door and we’ll tell you what hardware we recommend.
Rekeying changes the internal pins so the old key no longer works; the lock body stays in place. Replacing removes the entire lock and installs new hardware. For a Midtown rental with a standard cylindrical Schlage or Kwikset deadbolt, rekeying costs $65-$95 per cylinder and takes about 20 minutes per lock. Replacement costs $110-$180 per lock and is only necessary if the existing lock is physically worn out, damaged, or if you want to change hardware grade. Most Sacramento landlords rekey between tenants and replace only when a lock fails inspection. Call (331) 310-8471 and we’ll walk you through what your property actually needs.
Yes, we duplicate keys for original Sargent and Corbin mortise keyways. The blanks for these obsolete formats aren’t stocked by hardware stores, but we keep them at our Sacramento office. Bring in the original key or schedule a service call and we’ll cut and verify duplicates on site. Turnaround is same-day for most obsolete Sargent and Corbin blanks. Call (331) 310-8471 to confirm we have your specific blank in stock before you drive over.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Sacramento since 2002.