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 Residential Locksmith Across Kensington
When a Kensington homeowner calls us, they usually need one of two things: a door opened without damage, or a lock repaired without a stranger’s key still working somewhere out there. Our Residential Locksmith team handles both, and we get to Kensington addresses on the winding roads above Arlington Avenue and the Berkeley Hills without treating your house like it’s a generic suburban door. It rarely is. Kensington’s pre-war homes and detached outbuildings need a locksmith who understands vintage hardware, fog-corroded mechanisms, and the fact that your property probably has three or four locking points, not one. Call (910) 714-4287 and a live person answers, any hour, every day.
Why Dunmore Locksmith Is Kensington’s Preferred Residential Locksmith Company
Kensington homeowners call us back because we don’t just rekey the front door and drive off. We walk the property with you. On a single visit to a home near Kensington Park, we rekeyed the main house, a detached garage, and a rear gate so one key worked everything. That’s the standard we bring to every job here, because we know this community’s homes don’t end at the back door.
Our local reputation in Kensington is built on showing up with written prices and a named technician. You get a photo and name before we arrive, and the tech at your door carries a photo ID badge. If someone shows up who you weren’t told to expect, that visit is covered at no charge. That’s the Threshold Standard, and it matters more in Kensington than most places. This is an unincorporated community where residents know they rely on the Contra Costa County Sheriff, not a local police department. People here are careful about who they let through the door. We respect that more than most.
Response time to Kensington is usually within 30 to 45 minutes for lockouts, depending on traffic over the Arlington and Colusa corridors. We coordinate dispatch from the Bay Area office, and our crews carry the hardware this area’s homes actually need: period-appropriate mortise lock parts, heavy-duty deadbolts, and matched keying kits.
Key Takeaways
- Written price before any work starts, no exceptions.
- Technician sent to you by name and photo, with a badge shown at the door.
- 365-Day Done Right Promise on every repair, in writing.
- Live person answers (910) 714-4287 day or night.
House Key Locksmith in Kensington
A House Key Locksmith job in Kensington almost always means one of two things: making a new key for a lock you can’t open, or rekeying the internal pins so an old key no longer works. In this neighborhood, rekeying a standard pin-tumbler knob lock typically runs $95 to $160, while rekeying a mortise lock body, the kind found in most pre-1940 Kensington homes, runs $130 to $220 because the cylinder has to come out, be disassembled, pinned, and reinstalled into the door’s deep mortise pocket.
Rekeying Older Hardware
Most Kensington homeowners don’t want their original mortise locks removed. We agree. Original brass and iron hardware on a 1920s Craftsman door is worth preserving, and we rekey it in place rather than convincing you to buy something new. The cylinder comes out, pins get changed, and your old keys become useless. Done.
Keyed-Alike Systems for Whole Properties
If you have a main house, a workshop down the drive, and a gate at the road, we can key every lock to the same key in one trip. Kensington properties are rarely just one door, and carrying three different keys for your own home is a daily annoyance you shouldn’t have to live with.
House Lockout in Kensington
A House Lockout in Kensington usually finds us making our way up a steep driveway off Arlington Avenue or the Colusa circle, often after a resident has stepped onto a porch with the deadbolt latched behind them. Our techs open most Kensington house lockouts without drilling, using non-destructive picking and bypass tools that preserve your original hardware. A residential lockout in Kensington typically runs $95 to $175, and you get that price on the phone before anyone is dispatched, not when the truck pulls up.
Non-Destructive Entry First
On older Kensington doors with thick wood frames and mortise locks, drilling causes real damage. The mortise body sits deep inside the door, and drilling into it often means replacing the entire lock with modern hardware that doesn’t fit the original face plate. So we pick, jiggle, and bypass before we ever consider it. In most cases, we don’t need to.
What Happens After You’re Inside
Once you’re back in, we offer a free security check of the door. If the lock opened too easily for your comfort, we can rekey it on the spot or recommend a deadbolt upgrade. You get the same written price before any additional work starts.
Trusted Brands We Service in Kensington
We’re factory-authorized to service and install the hardware Kensington homes actually wear: Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, Yale, Baldwin, and Mul-T-Lock. That means we stock the pins, tailpieces, cylinders, and strike plates for the brands already on your doors, and we don’t have to order parts from a distributor and make you wait for a second visit. If your 1920s door has a Baldwin mortise lock and your workshop has a modern Schlage deadbolt, we handle both from the same truck. Ask about high-security cylinders from Medeco or Yale if you want key control that can’t be duplicated at a hardware store; several Kensington residents have switched after a contractor or house cleaner lost a key. For most homes, we recommend the hardware you already own, serviced to work like it did when it was installed. The price is always in writing first, and your repair carries the full 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Common Residential Locksmith Problems We See in Kensington Homes
- Fog-seized mortise lock bodies. The marine fog that pools in these hills gets into the lock case and corrodes the iron tailpiece. What starts as a stiff key turns into a lock that won’t throw. We free and lubricate the mechanism before rekeying, because pinning a seized body is a waste of your money.
- Original skeleton-key deadbolts still in active use. Some Kensington homes still have their 1920s rim locks or skeleton-key deadbolts on secondary doors. These can be rekeyed, repaired, or replaced with period-appropriate hardware that doesn’t butcher the door’s original mortise pocket.
- Multi-point property keying that was never done. We routinely find homes where the front door, side gate, and detached workshop each take a different key. The owner has lived there for years, managing three keys. We fix that in one visit with a keyed-alike set.
- Modern deadbolts forced onto thick period doors. A standard cylindrical deadbolt doesn’t always fit a pre-war Kensington door without gouging the original face plate or leaving the strike offset. We carry full mortise deadbolts and period-appropriate face plates so the door stays intact and the lock actually engages correctly.
Pricing for Residential Locksmith in Kensington, CA
Here are the numbers, in plain English. A standard house lockout in Kensington runs $95 to $175. Rekeying a knob or deadbolt cylinder runs $95 to $160 per cylinder. Rekeying an original mortise lock runs $130 to $220 because of the extra disassembly. A new deadbolt installation, including the hardware, runs $180 to $340 depending on whether you want a standard Schlage or a high-security Medeco. Keying a whole property, main house, workshop, and gate, to one key runs $250 to $450, which includes the rekey of all cylinders and one new key cut for each lock. These are honest ranges for Kensington’s housing stock, and the exact price goes in writing before any work begins. That written price is what you pay. No arrival fee added at the door, no surprise line items on the invoice. Call (910) 714-4287 for a free estimate; it takes five minutes and you’ll know exactly what the job costs.
We Also Serve Cities Near Kensington
While this page is about Kensington specifically, our Bay Area crews also respond daily to residential calls in nearby Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. If you’re reading this from a neighboring area, we can help, and if you’d like more detail on our local work, see Residential Locksmith in Kensington for the full scope of what we do in this community.
Serving Kensington, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Kensington 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 Residential Locksmith in Kensington
Yes. That is exactly the kind of job we do most often in Kensington. We rekey the main house, the workshop, and the gate to one key in a single trip, usually in two to three hours. The price is quoted on the phone before we leave, and it includes rekeying all cylinders plus one new key cut for each lock. Call (910) 714-4287 and tell us what you have; we’ll give you an exact number.
Almost always. The marine fog that sits over this part of the Berkeley Hills drives moisture into the cast-iron and early-brass lock bodies, and the tailpiece corrodes until the key won’t turn smoothly. We free the mechanism, lubricate it with the right product, and rekey the cylinder if needed. The fix usually runs $130 to $220, and we’ll tell you up front if the lock body is beyond saving before we touch it.
Rarely. Most Kensington lockouts open with non-destructive picking and bypass tools, especially on vintage mortise locks where drilling would ruin the door’s original hardware. We only drill as a last resort, and we’ll tell you before we do it and what replacement hardware will cost. Most lockouts run $95 to $175, with no extra fee announced at the door.
In Kensington, where Sheriff response times are longer than a city police force, a quality deadbolt matters more than most. We recommend a Grade 1 deadbolt, usually Schlage or Medeco, with a reinforced strike plate screwed into the door frame with 3-inch screws. Medeco’s high-security cylinders have restricted keyways, which means a lost key can’t be copied at the local hardware store. A high-security deadbolt install runs $250 to $340 installed.
Rekeying changes the internal pins so your old keys no longer work, but the hardware stays. Replacing means new hardware goes in. On older Kensington homes, we almost always recommend rekeying the original mortise locks and preserving the period hardware. Replacing a mortise lock with a modern cylindrical lock often leaves a deep pocket that has to be filled and a face plate that never quite looks right. Rekeying runs $95 to $220 per lock; replacing with period-appropriate hardware runs $180 to $450 depending on the lock. We’ll quote both before starting.
Call (910) 714-4287 for a free, honest estimate. A live person answers, day or night, and the price you hear on the phone is the price you’ll see on the invoice. Written, guaranteed, and covered by our 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Written by Perry Osgood, Owner at Dunmore Locksmith, serving Kensington since 2007.