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Get your free estimateMedeco Locksmith in Sherman Oaks, CA | Glendale Lock & Key
We provide independent Medeco locksmith service across Sherman Oaks, from rekeys and key duplication on restricted keyways to full deadbolt rebuilds and master key system work. What makes our Medeco service different here is that we understand how Sherman Oaks hillside settling and Valley heat specifically wear down these high-security locks – most shops don’t. If you need a Medeco lock serviced, repaired, or rekeyed, call (855) 791-2710.
Sherman Oaks sits in a strange spot for lock work. South of Ventura Blvd, you’ve got hillside homes with three exterior doors, detached garages, and forty-year-old Medeco Maxum deadbolts that have been through every earthquake since the 80s. North of the 101, it’s post-war apartments and mid-century condos where every tenant turnover means another rekey. We work both sides. Medeco sales & service is a core part of what we do, and we’ve been doing it long enough to know exactly what fails and why.
Why Sherman Oaks Residents Choose Us for Medeco Service
Most locksmiths in the Valley know Schlage and Kwikset. Medeco is a different animal entirely – restricted keyways, sidebar pins, tighter tolerances. We’ve had Medeco cylinders on the bench long enough that Noel Tarkanian, our owner and lead technician, can usually diagnose a sticking Biaxial by feel before the lock is even off the door — the same expertise we bring to Medeco service in Studio City. He grew up watching his uncle rekey apartment units in Glendale, got formal training through the locksmithing program at Glendale Community College, and has spent years working everything from basic entry knobs to commercial-grade Medeco mortise cylinders. That breadth matters when a hillside home off Beverly Glen needs a Maxum rebuilt and rekeyed to match two other doors.
We carry OEM Medeco cylinders, keys, and sidebar components for common Sherman Oaks applications, which means we’re not waiting on a distributor when your deadbolt is frozen half-thrown. We also rekey rather than replace whenever the hardware is sound – it keeps your existing Medeco investment intact and eliminates key-control risk from previous owners or tenants.
Styles & brands we work with







Common Medeco Locksmith Problems We Solve in Sherman Oaks
- Sidebar pins binding after door frame shift. Hillside homes south of Ventura Blvd settle over decades, and when a door frame moves even a few millimeters, a Medeco Biaxial or M3 sidebar mechanism loses alignment. The key won’t rotate, or it rotates halfway and stops. We see this constantly on streets off Coldwater Canyon and Beverly Glen, where earthquake-era settling throws strikes out of position season after season.
- Worn tailpieces and stripped thumbturn spindles on original Maxum deadbolts. 1970s and 80s hillside contemporaries in Sherman Oaks often still have their original Medeco Maxum hardware. After thirty or forty years, the tailpiece wears and the thumbturn spindle strips, leaving the bolt frozen mid-throw. This isn’t a lockout you can fix with graphite – it needs cylinder extraction and OEM part replacement.
- Restricted keyways clogged with Valley dust. Sherman Oaks sits in a dry, dusty basin, and Santa Ana winds push grit into every exterior lock cylinder. Medeco’s tight keyway tolerances mean even fine dust creates resistance. Owners force the key, and it bends or snaps inside. We extract broken keys and clean restricted cylinders without damaging the sidebar.
- Repeated rekeying on apartment turnover units along Ventura Blvd. The mid-century apartments and condos in the 91423 corridor see constant tenant churn, and many still run builder-grade Medeco cylinders. Every rekey wears pin chambers slightly, and after enough cycles the cylinder no longer holds tolerance. We know when a cylinder is worth rekeying again and when it’s time for a fresh OEM core.
- Multi-door Medeco systems that have drifted out of sync. A single Sherman Oaks hillside property might have a Medeco deadbolt on the front entry, a matching one on the side door, and a third on the detached garage gate. When one lock fails and gets replaced without matching the restricted keyway, suddenly the owner is carrying two or three different Medeco keys. We correct this by rekeying all doors back to one restricted keyway.
Medeco Service in Sherman Oaks: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Here’s something you won’t read on a generic Medeco service page: Sherman Oaks hillside homes south of Ventura Blvd routinely have two or three exterior Medeco-locked doors plus a detached garage gate, which means a single rekey or lockout call here is usually a multi-door system job, not a one-cylinder fix. The homes off Beverly Glen and Coldwater Canyon were built on slopes that have settled unevenly for forty or fifty years. Door frames shift. Strikes move. A Medeco deadbolt that operated perfectly for a decade suddenly won’t throw because the bolt no longer lines up with the strike plate by a millimeter or two. We were called to a 1980s hillside contemporary off Coldwater Canyon where exactly this had happened – the Maxum deadbolt was jammed with the bolt frozen half-thrown and the thumbturn spindle stripped, similar to a Medeco repair in Encino we handled last spring. We extracted the cylinder, replaced the worn tailpiece and spindle with OEM Medeco parts, realigned the strike, and rekeyed the matching side-entry and pool-house doors to the same restricted keyway so one key worked all three. That’s the kind of Medeco job that only makes sense when you know Sherman Oaks geography and how these hillside houses actually age.
Medeco Models & Products We Service in Sherman Oaks
Our bench handles the full Medeco lineup you’re likely to find on Sherman Oaks doors. That includes the Medeco Maxum deadbolt, M3 and M4 keyway cylinders, Biaxial and BiLevel deadbolts, and Commercial Grade 1 mortise and rim cylinders. For restricted keyway work or anything warranty-sensitive, we use OEM Medeco cylinders, keys, and sidebar parts exclusively. We’ll use quality aftermarket hardware only for non-security-critical trim – never inside the locking mechanism itself. If a cylinder is cracked or a sidebar is worn beyond spec, we tell you straight and recommend replacement rather than a rebuild that won’t hold tolerance. Most common Medeco parts for Sherman Oaks applications are stocked locally, so turnaround is same-visit in most cases.
Medeco Service Pricing in Sherman Oaks
Medeco work costs more than standard deadbolt service because the hardware is more complex and the parts are restricted. A straightforward Medeco rekey for a single cylinder typically lands in the $35-$75 range depending on keyway and cylinder condition. Full deadbolt rebuilds with OEM tailpiece and spindle replacement run higher, and multi-door restricted keyway matching across a hillside property is quoted per door. What drives the cost is usually cylinder condition – a worn pin chamber takes longer to rekey correctly than a clean one, and we won’t rush it. We quote the full price on the phone before anyone is dispatched, and the price we quote is the price on the invoice. No arrival surcharge. Call (855) 791-2710 for a free estimate on any Medeco service in Sherman Oaks.
Serving Sherman Oaks, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Sherman Oaks 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 – Medeco Locksmith in Sherman Oaks
Yes. We rekey Medeco cylinders to match existing restricted keyways as long as you can demonstrate ownership or authorization for that keyway. Restricted Medeco keyways require proof of key control before we’ll cut or rekey to them – that’s the whole point of the system. Call (855) 791-2710 and have your Medeco key card or original keys ready, and we’ll confirm what’s possible on your specific cylinder.
It’s usually the door frame, not the lock. Hot, dry Valley summers dry out wood doors and frames, and by August the door has shifted enough that your Medeco bolt no longer aligns with the strike plate. The sidebar mechanism, which works on very tight tolerances, then binds. We realign strikes, adjust hinges, and lubricate the cylinder with a dry lubricant that won’t gum up restricted keyways. Call (855) 791-2710 and we’ll diagnose it on site.
We do. Many of the mid-century apartment buildings in the 91423 corridor run Medeco master key systems, and we handle rekeys, cylinder swaps, and master key expansion for properties of all sizes. We’ll provide a written scope and a flat per-lock price before any work begins. Call (855) 791-2710 to schedule a walkthrough.
In most cases, yes. We extract broken Medeco keys using cylinder extraction tools that pull the broken blade without damaging the sidebar or pin stack. If the key snapped off cleanly and the cylinder was in good shape before the break, the lock usually survives. If the cylinder was already worn, we’ll tell you and recommend replacement with an OEM core. Call (855) 791-2710 for same-day extraction in Sherman Oaks.
Keep them. A properly maintained Medeco deadbolt is significantly more difficult to pick or bump than anything Schlage or Kwikset makes, and the restricted keyway means nobody can walk into a hardware store and copy your key. The catch is that Medeco hardware needs service from someone who knows the mechanism – which is exactly what we do, including Medeco service in Valley Glen. We’ll tell you honestly if a particular Medeco lock is too far gone to rebuild, but in most cases the right call is repair and rekey, not replacement.
Service Areas Near Sherman Oaks
We serve Sherman Oaks service area and the surrounding neighborhoods across the San Fernando Valley and nearby LA corridors. Our technicians regularly work in Glendale, Burbank, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Hollywood, and La Cañada Flintridge. We also provide Medeco service in South San Gabriel and Medeco service in Commerce for clients east of downtown.
Book Your Medeco Service in Sherman Oaks Today
Need a Medeco rekey in the 91423 corridor, a Maxum rebuild off Coldwater Canyon, or a broken key extracted same day? Call (855) 791-2710 for a free estimate. We quote the full price on the phone before dispatch, and we show up ready to work on the lock you actually have.
Written by Noel Tarkanian, Owner at Glendale Lock & Key, serving Sherman Oaks and the San Fernando Valley.