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 Los Angeles
Changing door locks in Los Angeles typically costs $95 – $210 per lock for a standard tubular deadbolt or knob replacement, and $45 – $120 per cylinder when the hardware itself is still sound. Most jobs in Los Angeles are completed same-day, often within 90 minutes of arrival. We know this city block by block, from dingbat apartments in the Valley to Spanish Colonial bungalows in Silver Lake. If you need locks changed after a move, a break-in, or a tenant turnover, call (910) 714-4287 and a real person answers.
Los Angeles is not a simple grid. The housing stock shifts every few miles, and so do the locks. A mortise lock in a 1920s Los Feliz courtyard building behaves nothing like a 1980s Kwikset knob in a Canoga Park apartment. Our Change Door Locks team has seen both, plus everything between. That local knowledge keeps the job from turning into a three-trip ordeal.
Why Dunmore Locksmith Is Los Angeles’s Preferred Change Door Locks Company
The Threshold Standard is the reason our Los Angeles customers let us through the door in the first place. Every technician is background-checked, identity-verified, photo-badged, and sent to you by name and photo before the visit. When the uniformed technician arrives and shows a photo ID at the door, you already know exactly who is standing there. No guessing. No “who’s this guy?” moment.
We have been part of the Threshold Group family since 2007, and the structure shows. Dunmore comes from old words for a great fort: a stronghold built to keep what is inside safe. That is the standard we work to, whether we are rekeying one deadbolt in Mar Vista or replacing master-key cylinders across a 40-unit building in Koreatown. Perry Osgood, who leads our Los Angeles operation, holds every job to the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the repair fails within a full year, we return at no charge. Written on the invoice, every time.
Our phones are answered by a live person 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not a voicemail. Not a chatbot. You call, a human picks up, and you get a written price before anyone is dispatched.
Lock Change in Los Angeles
Lock Change in Los Angeles means removing the existing lock body from the door and installing a new one, and it is the right call when the lock is physically worn, damaged, or you have lost track of who holds keys. Given the city’s tenant turnover volume under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance and the sheer age of much of Los Angeles’s housing, we do a lot of these. A standard single-cylinder deadbolt replacement in Los Angeles typically runs $95 – $180 including the hardware, and the full price is written down before work starts.
What Gets Replaced
We replace the lock body, cylinder, and strike plate as needed. On old Los Angeles doors, especially original ones in 1930s – 1950s bungalows, the prep holes rarely align perfectly with modern hardware. We carry strike-plate extenders and files on every truck in this city because canyon and hillside frames shift. A new deadbolt that does not throw cleanly is not done; it is a liability. We make it throw.
Landlord Turnover Work
Landlords across Los Angeles call us between tenancies because the RSO legally requires rekeying rent-controlled units. We document every lock change with a written work order so property managers have a paper trail. For entire buildings, we schedule a single visit with a flat per-lock price, and the invoice reflects exactly what was quoted before we started.
Change Lock Cylinder in Los Angeles
Change Lock Cylinder in Los Angeles means replacing only the internal cylinder, the part your key slides into, while keeping the existing lock body and trim. It is the smarter and cheaper fix when the lock mechanism is still mechanically sound but a key is lost, stolen, or you simply want different keys. A cylinder change in Los Angeles typically runs $45 – $120 per cylinder, depending on whether it is a standard Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, or a high-security Abloy cylinder.
Rekeying vs. Cylinder Change
Rekeying changes the internal pins so old keys stop working. A cylinder change replaces the cylinder itself entirely. If your old cylinder is worn, corroded, or no longer accepts keys smoothly, replacement is the honest fix. If the cylinder is fine and you just need key control, rekeying saves money. We will tell you which one you need, not whichever pays us more. That distinction matters when a landlord in a dingbat building is trying to balance budget against tenant safety.
High-Security Cylinders
For customers in Los Angeles who want bump-resistant or restricted-key cylinders, we install Medeco and Abloy hardware with factory-authorized status. These cylinders require a registered key card to duplicate keys, which kills the “somebody copied a key at the hardware store” problem. In a city where tenant turnover is constant, key control is not a luxury.
Trusted Brands We Service in Los Angeles
We are factory-authorized on Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, and Abloy hardware, and we stock common parts in our Los Angeles office so we are not waiting on a distributor when you need a lock changed today. Schlage and Kwikset cover most residential doors here. Medeco and Abloy are the workhorses for high-security commercial and multi-family applications. When a 1960s dingbat building in the Valley still runs original Schlage interchangeable-core cylinders, we can rekey or replace them without retrofitting the entire door prep. That familiarity keeps the job moving and your building secure on the first visit.
Common Change Door Locks Problems We See in Los Angeles Homes
- Mortise locks in Spanish Colonial homes. Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and Eastside homes often still have original mortise lock bodies. A modern tubular deadbolt will not seat into the same prep without leaving gaps. We rekey the existing cylinder and fit bump-resistant cylinders when the body is sound, which preserves the original door.
- Warped frames in hillside canyons. Laurel Canyon, Beachwood Canyon, and Nichols Canyon bungalows have decades of minor seismic movement in their frames. New deadbolts will not throw cleanly until the strike plate is extended or the frame is filed. We carry the hardware to fix that on the spot, because a deadbolt that does not fully extend is not locking anything.
- Salt-air corrosion near the coast. Venice, Mar Vista, and Pacific Palisades deadbolts and padlocks fail faster than the dry inland climate would suggest. The marine layer pushes salt into exterior hardware. Cylinders seize, keys snap, and the fix is usually a cylinder change plus a lubricant that holds up to coastal air.
- Kwikset master systems with broken key control. Aging Kwikset master-key systems in 1960s – 1980s apartment buildings across the Valley and Hollywood get rekeyed without re-establishing key control. Former tenants and old maintenance staff can still cut working keys. We rebuild the master-key chart and pin fresh cylinders so only authorized keyholders can duplicate.
Pricing for Change Door Locks in Los Angeles, CA
Here is the honest range. A standard knob or lever lock change in Los Angeles runs $95 – $180. A deadbolt replacement runs $110 – $210. A cylinder change runs $45 – $120 per cylinder. Rekeying a standard Schlage or Kwikset cylinder runs $25 – $60. High-security Medeco or Abloy cylinders cost more, usually $95 – $160 per cylinder. We deliver the written price before any work begins, and that is the price on the invoice. No call-out surcharge added on arrival. No inflated final total. Call (910) 714-4287 for a free estimate with exact numbers for your door.
We Also Serve Cities Near Los Angeles
Our Change Door Locks in Los Angeles coverage extends to the neighboring communities of Huntington Park, South Gate, Bell, and Maywood. If you own rental property in any of these cities, the same written pricing, background-checked technicians, and 365-day guarantee apply. One call covers the whole area.
Serving Los Angeles, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles
Yes. Under Los Angeles’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, landlords are legally required to rekey rent-controlled units between every tenancy. The requirement applies across the city, with heavy concentration in the San Fernando Valley, Mid-Wilshire, and Koreatown. If you are a tenant and your landlord has not documented a rekey, you have grounds to request one. Call (910) 714-4287 and we will provide the landlord a written work order that satisfies the RSO documentation requirement.
No. Most original mortise locks in Silver Lake and Los Feliz are mechanically sound and can be rekeyed in place. We replace the pin and tumbler set and, if you want stronger key control, fit a bump-resistant cylinder without disturbing the original lock body or the wrought-iron security door hardware. Replacement is only necessary when the lock body itself is damaged or the bolt no longer throws.
Almost always, the door frame has racked over decades of minor seismic movement, so the bolt does not align with the strike plate. The fix is usually a strike-plate extender and some careful filing, not a new lock. Our technicians carry these parts on every Los Angeles call because canyon homes are especially prone to this. We will get the deadbolt throwing cleanly the same visit.
They do. The marine layer along Los Angeles’s coastal strips pushes salt air into exterior deadbolts and padlocks, which corrodes cylinders and snaps keys far faster than the inland climate suggests. Exterior hardware in Venice, Mar Vista, and Pacific Palisades often needs a cylinder change every few years, even when the lock body is fine. We use lubricants and hardware rated for coastal conditions.
Los Angeles issues more ADU permits than any other California city, and converted garages and backyard units almost always need new lockset installations on exterior and interior doors. These are not simple drop-in jobs. ADU conversions often have slab doors, non-standard preps, and owners who want keyed-alike sets across the main house and the unit. We handle that regularly in Los Angeles.
Call (910) 714-4287 for a free, written estimate on any lock change in Los Angeles. A real person answers, day or night.
Written by Perry Osgood, Owner at Dunmore Locksmith, serving Los Angeles since 2007 as part of the Threshold Group family.