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 Santa Monica
Lock installation and rekey in Santa Monica is not one-size-fits-all work. The city’s housing stock runs from 1920s courtyard bungalows to 1970s concrete mid-rises, and what the lock needs depends on what was originally installed, how the salt air has treated it, and whether rent control rules apply. We quote a firm price on the phone before anyone drives to your door, and that price does not change when the technician arrives. That rule has been in place since 2002. For a written estimate on any Lock Installation & Rekey job, call (331) 310-8471.
Why Novak Lock & Security Is Santa Monica’s Preferred Lock Installation & Rekey Company
Santa Monica customers tend to ask two questions before they book: what does the price include, and will the technician actually know how to work on an old mortise lock. We answer both in writing. Daniel Novak built the company on Haven Standard Clause 1: the price on the phone is the price on the invoice. Every technician is background-checked, uniformed, and leaves a documented photo record of the work at job completion.
We carry a strong local reputation across Santa Monica, from the apartment courts north of Wilshire to the single-family streets south of Pico. One reason is that we do not talk landlords into replacing locks that can be rekeyed. On a 1920s courtyard apartment building near Main Street, our tech arrived to rekey a worn mortise lock on an original solid-core door that had warped slightly in the salt air. The original Sargent mortise body was pitted but the door still closed square, so we rekeyed the existing cylinder to new Schlage keys and adjusted the strike plate rather than forcing a modern deadbolt into a frame that would have needed rebuilding. That is the difference between a locksmith who knows the building stock and one who sells parts.
Our Lock Installation & Rekey Services in Santa Monica
Smart Lock Installation
Smart lock installation in Santa Monica usually means retrofitting a 1920s or 1950s door, not just swapping a modern knob. Many original doors in the city’s courtyard apartments and single-family homes have mortise lock bodies, so a smart lock often requires an adapter plate or, in cases where the door has warped, a strike plate adjustment before the deadbolt will throw cleanly. We install Yale and Baldwin smart deadbolts as well as retrofits that keep the existing mortise body and add a keypad-driven bolt. A typical smart lock installation runs $180 to $340 depending on the door prep, quoted in writing before we start.
Keyless Entry
Keyless entry is a practical upgrade for Santa Monica households where multiple people come and go: caregivers, cleaners, dog walkers, kids coming home from Samohi. We install keypad deadbolts and lever sets that let you issue temporary codes, which is easier than duplicating keys for a short-term rental or a month-long guest in Sunset Park. Keyless entry installation runs $150 to $300 for most standard doors.
Keypad Lock
Keypad locks on Santa Monica’s older doors often require more than a simple knob swap. If the existing lock is a mortise, we either install a keypad with a mortise-compatible body or step the frame and door to accept a cylindrical deadbolt, depending on what the door will hold without compromising the latching. We tell you which route is viable before we touch the hardware. Keypad lock installation typically runs $160 to $320, including strike plate adjustment.
Biometric Lock
Biometric locks are the high end of keyless access. They are less common in Santa Monica’s rental stock and more common in newer single-family builds and commercial entries along Wilshire and Lincoln Boulevard. We install fingerprint and Bluetooth-enabled smart locks that pair with your phone, and we test the manual key override on every unit before we call the job done. Biometric lock installation runs $250 to $500 depending on the lock grade and the door condition, with a written price confirmed by the dispatcher before we schedule.
Electronic Lock
Electronic locks include anything with a motorized bolt that runs on battery power. In Santa Monica’s salt air, battery contacts and interior terminals on exposed doors can corrode faster than expected, so we use sealed battery compartments and marine-safe contact grease on ocean-facing installs near Ocean Avenue and Palisades Beach Road. Electronic lock installation runs $130 to $280, and we leave a photo record of the finished install plus a written warranty.
Key Duplication
Key duplication in Santa Monica often means copying keys from older Schlage or Kwikset cylinders, and sometimes from worn mortise keys that hardware store machines cannot cut accurately because the original is too pitted. We cut keys from code and from worn originals using the factory depth-and-space data, not a copy of a copy. Standard key duplication runs $3 to $8 per key; high-security keys for Medeco or Mul-T-Lock cylinders run $15 to $35 per key because they require a card and a factory authorization, which we hold.
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 Santa Monica
We work on the full range: entry-grade Schlage and Kwikset through Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Yale, and Baldwin in high-security and decorative finishes. For Santa Monica’s older mortise locks we stock replacement cylinders, tailpieces, and strike plates for Sargent, Corbin, and Russwin bodies, which means we do not have to order parts and return a second day on most apartment court jobs. That is a practical difference for landlords on a rent-controlled turnover schedule.
Common Lock Installation & Rekey Problems We See in Santa Monica Homes
- Salt-pitted cylinders on ocean-facing doors. The marine layer off the Pacific accelerates corrosion on lock cylinders, throw bolts, and strike plates near the bluff. Hardware installed only two or three years ago can seize or pit on Ocean Avenue and the numbered streets between Main and the beach. We recommend marine-grade or stainless-core cylinders there, not as an upsell but because it prevents a callback within 18 months.
- Warped original doors that no longer latch. Pre-war doors in Santa Monica’s courtyard buildings and 1940s bungalows have usually moved a fraction of an inch out of square. A new deadbolt installed without adjusting the strike plate will bind or fail to throw. We file and set the strike before we call the job done.
- Mortise locks with no modern replacement drop-in. Many 1920s and 1930s doors were made for mortise locks, not cylindrical deadbolts. Forcing a modern deadbolt in leaves a gaping old pocket and a weakened door. The right move is often rekeying the existing mortise cylinder, not replacing the lock body.
- Rent-controlled unit rekeys without tenant notice. Santa Monica’s Rent Control Charter Amendment covers most pre-1979 multi-unit buildings. Rekeying a unit without proper notice or vacancy documentation can expose a landlord, and a contractor who performed the work, to a complaint before the Santa Monica Rent Control Board. We ask for documentation before we rekey a controlled unit.
Pricing for Lock Installation & Rekey in Santa Monica, CA
We Also Serve Cities Near Santa Monica
Our dispatchers send technicians to Venice, Culver City, Beverly Hills, and West Hollywood on the same written-pricing rule. If you are on the border near the Santa Monica-Venice line or inland near Culver City, call (331) 310-8471 and we will confirm coverage and quote the job in full before anyone leaves the shop.
Serving Santa Monica, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Santa Monica 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 Santa Monica
If my Santa Monica apartment building is rent-controlled, can the landlord send a locksmith to rekey my unit without telling me?
No, in most cases. Santa Monica’s Rent Control Charter Amendment covers most multi-unit residential buildings built before 1979, and the Santa Monica Rent Control Board has enforced tenant protections around rekeying and lockout work. A landlord generally needs proper vacancy documentation or tenant notice before rekeying a controlled unit. We ask for that documentation before we touch a rent-controlled unit. If you are a tenant with a question, call the Rent Control Board directly. If you are a landlord who needs a lawful rekey, call (331) 310-8471 and we will walk through what documentation is needed.
My 1930s courtyard apartment still has the original mortise lock. Can Novak rekey it, or does it need full replacement?
Rekey it first. Most original mortise locks in Santa Monica’s courtyard apartments take new cylinders and keys without replacing the body, and that is the lower-cost, sturdier fix. We rekey worn mortise locks to new Schlage keys and adjust the strike plate if the door has settled. Replacement is only the right call when the mortise body itself is cracked, the latch is broken past repair, or the door and frame need rebuilding to accept modern hardware. We will tell you which is which and quote the rekey before any replacement conversation. Call (331) 310-8471 for a firm price.
Why do my exterior deadbolts seize so quickly near Ocean Avenue?
Salt-laden marine air. The Pacific marine layer deposits salt on lock cylinders, bolts, and strike plates, and brass hardware on ocean-facing doors near the bluff usually pits or seizes within two to three years. That is a local failure mode a locksmith working five miles inland rarely sees. The fix is installing marine-grade or stainless-core cylinders and sealed battery compartments, which we recommend on every ocean-side job from the palisades to the numbered streets west of Main. It is not an upsell; it is the difference between a lock that lasts two years and one that lasts seven.
Can you install a keypad smart lock on a door that originally had a mortise lock?
Yes, in many cases. If the door is square and the existing mortise body is sound, we can fit a keypad smart lock with a mortise-compatible adapter without cutting a new round hole. If the door has warped and the frame has shifted, we adjust the strike plate so the bolt throws cleanly. The job costs more when we have to step a mortise pocket to a cylindrical prep, and we will tell you if that is the route before any work starts. A typical mortise-to-keypad retrofit in Santa Monica runs $200 to $360, quoted in writing.
How do I know if a lock can be rekeyed instead of replaced?
If the lock body is intact, the latch operates, and the door still closes square, it can almost always be rekeyed. Rekeying changes the internal pins so old keys no longer work; it does not require removing or replacing the hardware. We only recommend replacement when the cylinder is so corroded it will not accept new pins, the bolt is bent, or the door has moved enough that the hardware no longer aligns. Rekeying runs $18 to $35 per cylinder in Santa Monica. Replacement starts around $90 and goes up with the lock grade. Call (331) 310-8471 and we will give you a firm price on the phone.
Call (331) 310-8471 now for a free written estimate on any lock installation or rekey in Santa Monica. We answer live, 24/7, and the price you are quoted is the price you pay.
Written by Daniel Novak, Owner at Novak Lock & Security, serving Santa Monica with written-pricing lock installation and rekey since 2002.