Smart locks
House lockouts
Re-keying
Deadbolt upgrades
Schlage
Kwikset
Car keys & fobsNon-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.
Get your free estimateLocksmith in Citrus, CA
Rekey Locks is the call we make most often in Citrus, and the reason comes down to what this ZIP code is built on. Citrus, 91702, sits at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, where a large share of housing is older mid-century stock whose original lock hardware – deadbolts, mortise locks, and aluminum-frame patio and sliding-door latches – is now decades past its service life and often fails or seizes as a single unit. That means the work here skews toward retrofitting vintage doors rather than just cutting new keys. If you need a locksmith in Citrus, call Glendale Lock & Key at (855) 791-2710 and we’ll tell you exactly what the job involves before anyone rolls out.
Why Citrus Homes Are Different
Most of Citrus is post-war to 1960s and 70s single-family tract housing. The original wood entry doors are still on a lot of these homes, and they were built around mortise locks and early tubular deadbolts that weren’t designed for 50 or 60 years of use. The aluminum slider windows and patio doors from that era are an even bigger source of trouble: the original latches were cheap to begin with, and they’ve been baking in the San Gabriel Valley sun since they were installed.
The climate here does a specific thing to doors. The dry, hot summers with intense sun and low humidity bake and dry the wood frames. Doors shrink in the heat, then swell during the rare rain spells. That seasonal movement misaligns deadbolts and jams strikes. On the older foothill-adjacent streets, wood entry doors that have dried and warped in the inland heat often need strike and hinge adjustments before any new lock will throw cleanly. We anticipate that on nearly every rekey in Citrus. A lock that binds today may have been fine in March. It’s a routine, but it has to be handled before you can even think about the lock itself.
- Homes built from the 1950s through the 1970s still carry original mortise and early tubular deadbolts
- Aluminum slider latches from that era are the most common failure point we see
- Hot, dry summers shrink wood frames; rare rain swells them back
- Strike and hinge adjustments are usually required before a new lock throws cleanly
- Vintage door retrofitting is the dominant type of work in 91702
Styles & brands we work with
Our Main Citrus Services
The two calls we get most from Citrus homeowners are car key problems and after-hours lockouts, both of which have dedicated pages covering the full detail.
Car Key Replacement in Citrus
Citrus residents drive everything from older pickups to newer cars with transponder and chip-key systems. When a key breaks off in the ignition on Citrus Avenue or a fob dies in a driveway off Baseline Road, you need someone who can handle both the traditional metal cut and the modern programming. We work on the full range, from traditional keys to programmable transponder systems, and we do it without sending you to a dealership. The full breakdown, including what your specific vehicle needs, lives on our Car Key Replacement in Citrus page.
Emergency Locksmith in Citrus
A lockout at night on a street with older locks and warped doors isn’t a simple pop-and-go. The frame movement we described above means a door that latched at noon can bind at 2 a.m. when the temperature has dropped. Our emergency response covers residential lockouts, deadbolt failures, and the kind of late-night problems where you can’t wait until morning. We treat emergency work as a constant, not an afterthought. The full details on response, what we handle, and what to expect are on our Emergency Locksmith in Citrus page.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees — you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Rekey Locks in Citrus
Rekey Locks is the core of what we do in Citrus, because the housing stock here makes rekeying the smart move far more often than replacement. When a home changes hands in 91702 – new buyer, new tenant, contractor finished, housekeeper no longer needed – the existing hardware is usually solid vintage Schlage or Kwikset that’s worth keeping. The problem is that the old keys are out there, and you can’t know how many copies exist. Rekeying eliminates every prior key in one visit, and on Citrus’s older doors the real work is often the frame adjustment that lets the rekeyed cylinder throw cleanly.
A rekey changes the internal pins of the lock so the old keys no longer turn. The hardware stays. You keep the door, the finish, the deadbolt, and the strike you already have. That’s the difference.
Lock Rekey
Signs you need it
You’ve moved into a home in Citrus, changed tenants, lost track of who has a copy of your key, or ended a relationship or a contractor arrangement and can’t account for every spare.
What it costs in Citrus
The service call to Citrus runs $19 – $39, and rekeying costs $15 – $28 per lock cylinder, so a typical three-lock home lands in the $64 – $123 range before any frame work.
How we do it
We disassemble the cylinder, swap the pins to a new key, reassemble, and test the throw – on Citrus doors we also check the strike alignment and adjust it if the bolt hangs up.
Rekey Door Lock
Signs you need it
A single door – front entry, side door, or garage access door – uses a different key than the rest of the house and you want one key for everything.
What it costs in Citrus
For a single door lock in Citrus, expect the $19 – $39 service call plus $15 – $28 for the cylinder, so realistically $34 – $67 depending on the hardware.
How we do it
We repin that lock’s cylinder to match your chosen key, then confirm the deadbolt and latch both throw without binding against the strike.
Keyed Alike
Signs you need it
You carry three or four keys for one house and want every door – front, back, side, garage – to turn from a single key.
What it costs in Citrus
Keyed-alike work in Citrus is $15 – $28 per cylinder after the $19 – $39 service call, so a full four-door setup typically runs $79 – $151.
How we do it
We repin every cylinder in the set to the same key, which usually means standardizing the keyway first if the doors carry different brands.
What Rekey Locks Costs in Citrus
| Item | Typical range in Citrus |
|---|---|
| Service call (trip charge) | $19 – $39 |
| Per lock cylinder rekey | $15 – $28 |
| Typical 3-lock home | $64 – $123 |
What pushes the price up in Citrus is frame work. On a warped wood door, we may need to adjust the strike plate or the hinges before the bolt throws cleanly, and that’s additional labor and possibly a new strike plate. We quote that before we touch anything.
Can you rekey my original mid-century deadbolt, or do I have to replace it?
Most of the time we can rekey it. The original mortise locks and early tubular deadbolts on Citrus homes are built from brass or steel internals, and if the cylinder hasn’t seized, it takes new pins fine. We’ll tell you on the phone if the hardware is too far gone to save, and that’s rare. Call (855) 791-2710 for a straight answer.
How fast can you get to my house in Citrus for a rekey?
For scheduled rekeying, we usually arrive same day or next day in 91702. It isn’t an emergency call, so we schedule a window rather than dispatch immediately. Rekeying a three-lock home takes about 45 to 90 minutes once we’re on site. Call (855) 791-2710 and we’ll confirm a time that works.
Brands We Service in Citrus
We work on Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, and Abloy hardware in Citrus, and we keep common pins, tailpieces, and strike plates stocked for the locks those older tract homes actually have. That means most rekeys happen in a single visit without waiting for parts. See the full list on our brands page.
Pricing for Locksmith in Citrus, CA
| Service | Typical range in Citrus |
|---|---|
| Service call (trip charge) | $19 – $39 |
| Rekey per lock cylinder | $15 – $28 |
| Typical 3-lock home rekey | $64 – $123 |
| Keyed-alike setup (4 doors) | $79 – $151 |
The two things that move a Citrus quote are the age of the hardware and the condition of the door frame. A warped wood door that needs strike and hinge adjustment adds labor beyond the rekey itself, and we’ll tell you that before we start. The price we quote on the phone is the price on your invoice – no call-out surcharge added on arrival, no bait figure that changes once we’re standing at the door. Call (855) 791-2710 and you’ll get the full number before anyone is dispatched.
Neighborhoods We Serve in Citrus
Citrus is a compact unincorporated area within 91702, and we cover all of it. The housing here is mostly consistent – mid-century tract homes with older entry hardware – so response times don’t vary much by street. Most Citrus addresses are within a short drive of our techs, and we typically reach any point in the ZIP within 30 to 45 minutes for emergency calls.
- Foothill-adjacent streets north of Baseline Road
- The older tract blocks around Citrus Avenue
- Residential streets south toward the 10 freeway corridor
- The 1960s-era subdivisions off Route 66
Service Area – Cities Near Citrus
Glendale Lock & Key serves Citrus and the surrounding San Gabriel Valley cities, including Azusa, CA to the north, Irwindale, CA to the west, Covina, CA to the east, and Glendora, CA further east. If you’re just outside Citrus, call (855) 791-2710 and we’ll confirm coverage for your street.
Serving Citrus, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Citrus 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 Locksmith in Citrus
For emergency calls, we typically reach Citrus addresses within 30 to 45 minutes. For scheduled work like rekeying, we set a same-day or next-day window that works for you. Citrus is a compact ZIP code, so travel time is short once we dispatch. Call (855) 791-2710 and we’ll give you a real arrival estimate, not a vague promise.
Rekeying and lock replacement don’t require city permits anywhere in Citrus, since they’re not structural changes. HOAs in the area can sometimes have rules about exterior hardware finish or brand, so if your community has a design review clause, check that before swapping visible hardware. Rekeying the existing lock changes nothing visible, which is part of why it’s the cleaner option.
Yes. We carry automotive key equipment and standard residential lock tools on the same trucks. If you need your house rekeyed and a new transponder key programmed, that can often be one visit to your Citrus home. Tell us what you need when you call (855) 791-2710 and we’ll tell you if it’s a single appointment.
What happens when you call
- 1A real person answersNo phone trees — talk to a local locksmith pro.
- 2You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched. No surprises.
- 3We come out and measureLicensed & insured, at a time that suits you — the visit and the quote are both free.
- 4You get the price in writingLine-itemed, yours to keep, and nothing starts until you say go.
What Citrus Customers Say
"Does good work. Card payment was a bit of a production, so have another option handy."
— Laura Miller"Commercial job, panic bar and a master key system for a small office. Clean install and clear documentation of which key opens what."
— Karen Park"Locked out at eleven at night with a kid asleep in the car. He was there in 25 minutes, had the door open in under two, and did not do the thing where the price goes up once he's standing in front of you."
— Marco Reyes