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 San Anselmo, CA
Rekeying locks is the most common call we handle in San Anselmo, and the town’s older housing stock is the reason why. Homes here date from the early 1900s through the 1950s, many still running original mortise locks and non-standard door hardware that a big-box deadbolt can’t simply replace. Add Marin’s wet winters and the San Anselmo Creek flood corridor, and you get wood doors that swell, stick, and leave locks misaligned season after season. Citadel Locksmith has served San Anselmo since 2011, and we know exactly how this town’s doors behave. Call (833) 589-8078 for a free estimate.
Why San Anselmo Homes Are Different
San Anselmo sits in the Ross Valley along Sir Francis Drake Blvd, a small town packed with early-1900s cottages, bungalows, and two-story homes. Many still carry their original mortise locksets, which is a very different job from drilling out a modern cylindrical deadbolt. The glass-panel doors common in the older bungalows add another layer: the hardware sits in thinner wood frames that have had a century to settle out of square. When a door shifts, the latch no longer lines up with the strike plate, and the lock either won’t throw or won’t release. Swapping in a modern Kwikset or Schlage deadbolt often means reworking the mortise pocket itself, not just screwing in a new plate.
The other factor here is water. San Anselmo Creek runs through the center of town, and the downtown floods when the creek tops its banks. After a wet storm, we get calls from shops on San Anselmo Avenue whose door hardware has seized from rust or shifted from swollen frames. Homeowners up the surrounding hills have the same swelling problem without the flooding: Marin’s winter rains soak wood doors, they expand, and locks that worked fine in September won’t latch in January. This seasonal cycle means rekeying and lock replacement here isn’t a one-time project for many homes. It’s repeated maintenance as doors move and hardware wears.
Styles & brands we work with
Our Main San Anselmo Services
Rekeying is the service we base most of our San Anselmo work around, but two other calls come in almost as often from this town specifically: car key trouble and after-hours lockouts.
Car Key Replacement in San Anselmo
San Anselmo drivers tend to live up narrow hillside streets where losing a car key means a long walk and a longer tow bill if you can’t get a working key made on the spot. We handle transponder keys, fobs, and traditional metal keys for most makes, cutting and programming at your location so the car never has to leave your driveway. That saves the dealership markup and the flatbed. For local drivers, this is the difference between a 30-minute fix and a full day without the car. See Car Key Replacement in San Anselmo for the full scope of what we cut and program.
Emergency Locksmith in San Anselmo
Lockouts here happen at odd hours, and the town’s layout makes them worse: houses tucked up winding roads off Butterfield and Oakland Avenues, nobody nearby to hold a spare key. We respond to emergency calls across San Anselmo and the surrounding Ross Valley, day or night. When a lock has failed or a key has snapped in the cylinder, the fix usually involves rekeying or replacing the hardware on the spot, which is exactly the work we do every day. See Emergency Locksmith in San Anselmo for how we handle urgent lockouts and broken lock calls.
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 San Anselmo
Rekeying a lock means changing the internal pinning so the old key no longer turns the cylinder, while keeping the existing hardware in place. In San Anselmo, where so many homes still run period mortise locks and non-standard strike plates, rekeying is often the smartest move: you keep hardware that matches the house and spend far less than replacing it. After a move, a tenant turnover, a divorce, or a lost key, Rekey Locks service restores security without tearing out the character of an older home. We can key all your entry doors alike, so one key works the front, back, and side doors.
Lock Rekey
Signs you need it
You have a new address, a former roommate or tenant, or a key you can no longer account for.
What it costs in San Anselmo
Standard rekeying in San Anselmo runs $60 to $140 per cylinder, with most homes falling between $150 and $450 when multiple doors are done at once.
How we do it
We remove the cylinder, replace the internal pins to match a new key, and reinstall it, testing the lock through several full cycles.
Rekey Door Lock
Signs you need it
The key turns but feels stiff or gritty, or the door no longer latches squarely after a wet season.
What it costs in San Anselmo
Rekeying a single door lock in San Anselmo costs $60 to $140, plus a service call fee of $50 to $90 depending on where in town you are.
How we do it
We disassemble the lock, clean and lubricate the cylinder, repin it to the new key, and if needed realign the strike plate so the bolt throws clean.
Keyed Alike
Signs you need it
You carry three or four keys for different doors and want one key for every exterior entry.
What it costs in San Anselmo
Keying locks alike in San Anselmo runs $60 to $140 per cylinder when done as part of a rekey visit; rekeying all locks on one key ring usually totals $150 to $450 for a standard single-family home.
How we do it
We match all cylinders to a single key cut, pinning each lock so the same key operates front, back, side, and garage entry doors.
What Rekey Locks Costs in San Anselmo
| Item | Typical range in San Anselmo |
|---|---|
| Service call fee | $50 – $90 |
| Rekey per cylinder | $60 – $140 |
| Full home rekey (3 – 4 locks) | $150 – $450 |
How long does a rekey take in San Anselmo?
Most San Anselmo homes with two or three entry doors are done in 60 to 90 minutes. Older mortise locks take a little longer because the cylinder needs to be carefully removed and the internals cleaned before repinning.
Is rekeying enough, or should I replace the lock?
If the existing hardware is sound and matches the house, rekeying is enough and costs less than replacement. If the lock is rusted from creek-side moisture or the mortise body is cracked, replacement is the better call. Call (833) 589-8078 and we’ll tell you straight.
Brands We Service in San Anselmo
We carry parts and pinning kits for Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, and Yale on the truck, so most San Anselmo jobs are completed in one visit. See our brands for the full roster we stock and service.
Pricing for Locksmith in San Anselmo, CA
| Service | Typical range in San Anselmo |
|---|---|
| Service call (residential) | $50 – $90 |
| Service call (emergency / after hours) | $150 – $250 |
| Lock rekey per cylinder | $60 – $140 |
| Full home rekey (3 – 4 locks) | $150 – $450 |
| Car key replacement (basic metal key) | $150 – $400 |
| Transponder key replacement | $200 – $550 |
| Key fob programming | $250 – $650 |
| Emergency lockout (non-destructive) | $100 – $275 |
Two things push prices up in San Anselmo more than anything else: the age of the hardware and the condition of the door. An original mortise lock that has absorbed decades of creek-valley moisture takes longer to work on than a clean 2015 deadbolt, and a door that has swelled out of square needs strike plate adjustment before any lock will work smoothly. That extra labor is reflected in the quote we give you before anyone is dispatched. The price we quote on the phone is the price on the invoice, with no call-out surcharge added on arrival.
Neighborhoods We Serve in San Anselmo
Most of our San Anselmo calls come from these areas, though we cover the full 94960 and 94979 ZIP codes. Typical response time for non-emergency work is same day or next morning, depending on our schedule.
- Downtown San Anselmo (San Anselmo Avenue, the creek corridor)
- Sleepy Hollow
- Butterfield Road and the surrounding hillside streets
- Oakland Avenue and the flats toward Fairfax
- Brookside and the neighborhoods west of downtown
Service Area – Cities Near San Anselmo
We regularly work in the neighboring Ross Valley towns and central Marin. If you’re just over the line in Ross, CA, Fairfax, CA, Sleepy Hollow, CA, or Kentfield, CA, call us and we’ll schedule you in with our next San Anselmo-area route.
Serving San Anselmo, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Anselmo 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 San Anselmo
Non-emergency rekeying and lock work is typically scheduled same day or next morning across the 94960 and 94979 ZIP codes. Emergency lockout calls are dispatched as soon as you call, and we cover San Anselmo around the clock.
No permit is required in San Anselmo for rekeying or replacing an existing lock on a residential door. For commercial storefronts downtown, the hardware only needs to meet any fire code requirements already in place for the door itself.
Yes. If you bring the existing key and it’s a keyway we stock, we can pin new or existing cylinders to match it. This is common when homeowners want the new front-door key to also work the back door. Call (833) 589-8078 for an exact quote, and we’ll confirm keyway compatibility over the phone.
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 San Anselmo Customers Say
"Programmed a transponder key for a 2014 model that the dealership wanted an absurd amount for. Same key, fraction of the price, took him twenty minutes in my driveway."
— Grace Lin"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."
— Greg Lawson"Told me over the phone that what I needed was a five dollar part from the hardware store, not a locksmith. I called him back a month later for real work because of that."
— Yolanda Mendoza