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 Change Door Locks Across Colma
Changing door locks in Colma usually costs between $95 and $240 for a standard knob or deadbolt swap, and most jobs are done the same day we get the call. That price includes the new hardware, the labor, and a written quote before anything is opened up. Colma is a small town with a very unusual footprint: most of the land is cemetery ground, so a lot of our lock work involves mausoleum doors, chapel entries, and wrought-iron gates rather than front porches. We know those buildings, and we know what the fog does to their hardware. Call (910) 714-4287 for an exact quote.
Why Dunmore Locksmith Is Colma’s Preferred Change Door Locks Company
Dunmore Locksmith is the Threshold Group member business serving Colma, and we have handled lock changes on every type of door this town can throw at us. The name Dunmore comes from old words for a great fort, a stronghold built to keep what is inside safe. That is exactly what we do here. Our work is backed by the 365-Day Done Right Promise: a written guarantee on every job, and if the repair fails, we return at no charge.
Walk-in customers are not our model. We work by appointment and by dispatch, coordinated from the Threshold Group’s Los Angeles office, with crews serving Colma locally. Before any technician arrives, you get their name, their photo, and a description of the marked vehicle. When they knock, they show a photo ID badge. This is the Threshold Standard: background-checked, identity-verified, photo-badged, every time.
Phones are answered by a live person 24 hours a day, all year. Not a voicemail. Not a chatbot. A person.
Door Lock Change in Colma
A door lock change in Colma means removing the existing knob, lever, or deadbolt and installing new hardware entirely. Homeowners in the small residential pocket of mid-20th-century tract homes east of El Camino Real typically request this after a tenant moves out, after keys go missing, or after a break-in. A standard door lock change for a Colma home runs $95 to $180 for basic residential hardware. If the door is prepped for a standard bore, the work is quick. If the old lock is an unusual setback or an odd mortise-style assembly, the labor goes up.
When We Replace the Whole Lock
Some doors in Colma are better served by a full replacement than a rekey. If the lock body is pitted, the thumb turn is loose, or the bolt no longer seats cleanly in the strike, new hardware is the honest fix. We stock Schlage and Kwikset residential hardware in the truck, so most Colma homeowners do not wait days for parts.
Same-Day Service in Colma
Most residential door lock changes in Colma can be completed the same day. Once you call and describe the door type and the hardware, we give a written price before dispatch. There is no call-out surcharge added when we arrive.
Lock Change in Colma
A lock change in Colma goes beyond the residential door: it covers cemetery gates, chapel entries, mausoleum doors, storefronts on El Camino Real, and the auto-dealership corridor. Because about 73% of Colma’s land is cemetery ground, the majority of our lock change calls are to mausoleum doors, chapel entries, and wrought-iron cemetery gates rather than houses. Several mausoleums along the Junipero Serra Boulevard corridor still carry original 1910s through 1940s mortise lock sets, so we have to cut or source long-discontinued keyway blanks that no regular Bay Area supplier stocks. A typical commercial or institutional lock change in Colma runs $180 to $340 depending on the hardware and the door condition.
Antique Mortise Lock Replacement
When an old mortise lock body fails on a mausoleum door, you cannot just screw in a modern deadbolt. The door is thick, the pocket is cast into the frame, and the original keyway may be obsolete. We strip the lock body, free the internal springs and tumblers, and fit new internals into the original case wherever possible. If the case is beyond saving, we have sources for period-correct mortise bodies that match the existing keyway geometry.
Storefront and Commercial Lock Change
On El Camino Real, the deadbolts and strike plates on storefront and dealership doors corrode at the strike, which throws off the alignment and makes the bolt drag or refuse to seat. That is a hardware and alignment problem, not a key problem. We see it misdiagnosed constantly. A commercial lock change on this corridor usually includes resetting the strike, shimming the frame where the fog has worn it, and installing a new lock body rated for exterior exposure.
Trusted Brands We Service in Colma
We service and install Schlage, Kwikset, and Medeco hardware as our go-to lines for Colma work, along with Abloy for high-security commercial cylinders. For the old cemetery mortise locks, we keep a rolling inventory of salvaged and aftermarket internals, keyway blanks, and stainless-bodied cylinders that will not rust out from the marine layer. If you have a Baldwin or Yale lock on an older Colma home, we can usually match the finish and the tailpiece without ordering from a catalog for a week.
Common Change Door Locks Problems We See in Colma Homes
- Seized cylinders and snapped keys on exterior gate padlocks. The persistent Pacific marine layer and coastal fog that blanket Colma accelerate oxidation fast. A padlock that looks fine from the outside can be rust-welded internally, and the first hard turn of the key snaps it.
- Antique mortise lock failures on mausoleum and chapel doors. The original 1910s-1940s lock sets fail at worn internal springs and tumblers, not at the key. Replacement parts and keyways are not stocked by standard Bay Area suppliers, so a regular locksmith will tell you the door needs to be drilled. It usually does not.
- Corroded strike plates on El Camino Real storefronts. The fog eats the strike and the frame pocket, which shifts the deadbolt alignment. The bolt drags, the door will not lock, and the owner assumes the lock is broken. Often it just needs the strike reset and a new bolt with marine-grade plating.
- Weathered residential knobs and deadbolts in the small home pocket east of the cemeteries. Colma’s roughly 1,500 residents live in a tight grouping of modest tract homes built mostly in the 1950s and 1960s. Those original locks are often original to the house and now sloppy, pitted, or frozen from decades of fog exposure.
Pricing for Change Door Locks in Colma, CA
A standard residential door lock change in Colma runs $95 to $180. A full lock change on a commercial storefront along El Camino Real typically runs $180 to $340. Antique mortise lock rehabilitation on a mausoleum or chapel door runs $220 to $400 or more depending on whether we can rebuild the original internals or need to source period hardware. Every price is quoted in writing before any work starts, and that is the price on the invoice. We do not bait a low number and add fees at the door. Call (910) 714-4287 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Colma
Our crews cover the Bay Area and beyond. Beyond Colma, our Change Door Locks team handles work in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. If you have a property in one of those cities or need work at multiple sites, one phone call coordinates it all.
Serving Colma, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Colma 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 About Change Door Locks in Colma
Yes, in most cases we can rebuild the original mortise lock body in place or pull it and service it on the bench, preserving the original door, escutcheon, and keyway. If the lock body is too far gone, we source period-correct replacement internals or a matching mortise body. The door itself does not need to be drilled or modified. Call (910) 714-4287 and describe the door, and we will tell you what is possible before anyone is dispatched.
The coastal fog and marine layer deposit salt-laden moisture on iron and steel hardware year-round. Exterior lock cylinders and padlock shackles pit and seize, and the internal springs and tumblers rust shut. Hardware that would last 20 years inland often fails in 5 here. We fit marine-grade stainless shackles and stainless-bodied cylinders wherever fog sits on iron. The fix is the hardware, not a different key.
Yes. We keep a working stock of long-discontinued keyway blanks for the 1910s-1940s mortise lock sets common along Junipero Serra Boulevard, plus a network of specialty suppliers for the truly odd ones. If your original keys are worn or snapped, we can often cut new ones from the original key code or from the lock itself after disassembly. Call (910) 714-4287 for an exact answer on your building’s lock.
Rekeying a storefront lock in Colma typically runs $65 to $120 per lock, while changing the entire lock body and strike runs $180 to $340. If the existing lock body is sound and only the keys need to change, rekeying is cheaper. But on El Camino Real, the fog often corrodes the strike and bolt too, so a full change is sometimes the more honest fix. We will tell you which is right, with the price in writing before work starts.
Yes. For cemetery offices, chapels, maintenance buildings, and mausoleum groups, we design master key systems so one key opens the main office while individual keys open only their assigned doors. We do this with Schlage and Medeco hardware, plus custom-pinned cylinders for the older mortise locks. A written quote covering every door and every key is delivered before any work begins. Call (910) 714-4287 for a survey.
Written by Perry Osgood, Owner at Dunmore Locksmith, serving Colma and the surrounding Bay Area.