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 Albany, CA
Rekey locks in Albany usually costs $65 to $180, depending on cylinder type and how many locks you’re changing over. Most Albany homes we visit date to the 1920s through 1950s, which means original mortise locksets and wood doors that need careful retrofitting, not quick drilling. If you need a locksmith in Albany, call (833) 589-8078 and we’ll quote the full job before we dispatch.
Why Albany Homes Are Different
Albany’s housing stock is mostly single-story bungalows and Mediterranean-revival stucco homes built between the 1920s and 1950s. Many of those front doors are original redwood or fir with mortise locksets that haven’t been touched in sixty years. When we’re rekeying one of these, the job often includes tightening a loose mortise body, replacing a worn spindle, or prepping the door for a modern deadbolt because the original door never had one. Albany’s slim rental stock lives in those same older buildings, which drives frequent landlord-tenant lock changeovers, often on short notice when a lease turns over around the first of the month.
The marine layer off the bay creates a specific problem here. Fog and winter rain soak into older exterior doors, and wood swells enough to bind the lockbolt or throw the strike alignment off. It’s common for a rekey call in Albany to start with a door that won’t latch cleanly. Along Solano Avenue, small commercial storefronts run narrow aluminum-framed doors with panic hardware that needs adjustment more often than most people expect. We work those same storefronts when a keyholder leaves and the hardware needs repinning fast.
Styles & brands we work with
Our Main Albany Services
Albany homeowners call us most about two things: car keys when a transponder key goes missing, and emergency lockouts when a door closes at the worst possible time.
Car Key Replacement in Albany
Lost a car key in Albany? We cut and program replacements for most major makes without sending you to the dealership. That matters when you’re parked on a side street off Solano Avenue with one key between you and getting to work. We bring the programming gear to your location and handle both standard cut keys and transponder chips. Car Key Replacement in Albany runs through the full process and what your specific vehicle needs.
Emergency Locksmith in Albany
Locked out of a bungalow on a foggy Albany night, or standing outside your car with keys still in the ignition, is not the time to search for the cheapest option. Our emergency line is built into how we operate, not an afterthought. We arrive with the right tools for older mortise locks and modern deadbolts alike, and we get you back inside without wrecking your door. Emergency Locksmith in Albany covers how fast we typically reach your side of town.
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 Albany
When you need Rekey Locks in Albany, the job usually comes down to one thing: you want to know exactly who holds a working key. In neighborhoods of 1920s bungalows around Albany, many of those old mortise locksets have years of duplicate keys floating around with ex-tenants, cleaners, and contractors. The fog and rain off the bay make older wood doors swell over winter, which means we often rekey and realign a lock in the same visit. Rekeying the cylinders on an Albany mortise lockset rather than replacing it keeps that original door hardware intact, a detail that matters when the door is original to the house.
Lock Rekey
Signs you need it
A keyholder has moved out, a key has gone missing, or the lock accepts keys you can’t account for.
What it costs in Albany
A straightforward lock rekey typically runs $65 to $160 in Albany, with additional cylinders adding to the total.
How we do it
We pull the cylinder, swap the pins to a new key, reassemble the lock, and test it in the door before we leave.
Keyed Alike
Signs you need it
Your key ring has four or five different keys and you’d rather carry one for the front, back, and service doors.
What it costs in Albany
Keying multiple locks alike in Albany generally adds $20 to $35 per cylinder on top of the base rekey.
How we do it
We pin each cylinder to the same key cut, confirm every lock turns smoothly, and hand you the new key set on the spot.
What Rekey Locks Costs in Albany
| Item | Typical range in Albany |
|---|---|
| Single lock rekey | $65 – $160 |
| Additional cylinders, keyed alike | $20 – $35 per cylinder |
| New key cut | $5 – $15 |
How long does a rekey take in Albany?
Most single-door rekeys in Albany take 20 to 40 minutes. Older mortise locksets may push toward the longer end if the cylinder needs tightening or the door has swelled from bay moisture.
Can you rekey a lock to match my existing key?
Yes. We can key new or existing cylinders to any working key you already hold, so one key operates every door. Call (833) 589-8078 and tell us what you’re matching.
Brands We Service in Albany
We service Schlage, Kwikset, and Medeco locks in Albany, along with Abloy high-security cylinders for homeowners who want more than a standard pin system. Parts for common Schlage and Kwikset locks are stocked on our vans, which means most rekeys and cylinder swaps happen in one trip. For Medeco and Abloy work, we quote the exact hardware before we order. See what we carry at our brands.
Pricing for Locksmith in Albany, CA
| Service | Typical range in Albany |
|---|---|
| Lock rekey (single cylinder) | $65 – $160 |
| Keyed alike (per additional cylinder) | $20 – $35 |
| New key cut | $5 – $15 |
| Emergency lockout (residential) | $85 – $200 |
| Car key replacement (basic, non-transponder) | $95 – $180 |
| Car key replacement (transponder/programmed) | $145 – $285 |
| Deadbolt installation | $95 – $220 |
| Mortise lock rebuild | $140 – $300 |
Things that push a price up in Albany: original mortise locks that need the whole body removed and rebuilt, doors that have swelled so much the strike has to be recut, and commercial storefront hardware on Solano Avenue that requires a specialty cylinder. Whatever the job, the price we quote on the phone before dispatch is the price on your invoice. No call-out surcharge added when we arrive.
Neighborhoods We Serve in Albany
Albany is compact, but the blocks around Solano Avenue, Pierce Street, Marin Avenue, and the area near Albany Hill each have their own mix of bungalows and small apartment buildings. We work all of 94706.
- Solano Avenue corridor
- Pierce Street residential district
- Marin Avenue area
- Albany Hill and surrounding blocks
- West Albany near the bayshore
Most Albany calls are short trips for us, and we typically reach any corner of the city within 30 minutes once a job is dispatched.
Service Area – Cities Near Albany
If you’re in a neighboring community and need the same careful work on old hardware, Citadel Locksmith serves El Cerrito, CA, Kensington, CA, Berkeley, CA, and East Richmond Heights, CA. Every one of those cities has its own mix of older homes and changing keyholder rosters.
Serving Albany, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Albany 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 Albany
Most Albany addresses are within a 30-minute dispatch window once we have your cross streets and confirm the job. Emergency lockouts in 94706 get priority, and we’ll give you a realistic arrival time on the phone, not an optimistic guess.
For a standard residential rekey, no permit is required. If you’re a landlord changing locks between tenants in an Albany rental building, rekeying the existing cylinders satisfies the changeover requirement without replacing the hardware. Call us for specifics on your property.
We schedule rekey jobs during business hours and on weekends, not only at midnight. Landlords and property managers around Solano Avenue often book a run of unit rekeys for the last few days of the month, and we handle those on a scheduled route. Call (833) 589-8078 for a free estimate on any locksmith job in Albany.
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 Albany Customers Say
"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"Key snapped off in the deadbolt. He extracted it without damaging the cylinder, which I did not think was going to be possible."
— Oscar Reyes"The old deadbolt was mounted crooked by whoever lived here before and had been sticking for years. He redrilled and reset it properly rather than just replacing the hardware."
— Brandon Wong