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
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Get your free estimateSchlage Locksmith in Fairfax, CA | Citadel Locksmith
We provide independent Schlage service across Fairfax, from rekeying B60 deadbolts on bungalow doors to troubleshooting Encode smart locks that have gone quiet, and we offer Schlage service in Sleepy Hollow as well. What makes our Schlage work different here comes down to one thing: Fairfax doors are old, damp, and out of square, so the lock rarely fails alone. The door, the strike, and the cylinder all move together. Call (833) 589-8078 when a Schlage cylinder stops turning the way it should in Fairfax.
Roland Vásquez and our team at Citadel Locksmith work on Schlage sales & service weekly, from vintage mortise cylinders to current smart deadbolts. We know which parts are worth rebuilding and which are done. We’re an independent service provider, not manufacturer-affiliated, and our credibility comes from real jobs on Fairfax’s settled wood doors.
Why Fairfax Residents Choose Us for Schlage Service
Schlage makes reliable hardware. But in Fairfax, reliable hardware meets doors that swell in winter, frames that settle out of square, and a long history of previous owners who swapped parts without documenting it. That’s the work we actually do. Roland learned the mechanical fundamentals at City College of San Francisco’s locksmithing program, and he’s spent decades applying them to stubborn, sensitive lock problems, the kind of jobs where a generalist either damages the door or sells you a new lock you don’t need. We also provide Schlage service in San Anselmo.
We stock genuine Schlage OEM cylinders, tailpieces, and rebuild kits because a B60 deadbolt with an aftermarket cylinder rarely throws cleanly. And because we cover Fairfax service area regularly, we arrive already knowing what a redwood-shaded bungalow door does to hardware in February. That local familiarity shortens every call.
Styles & brands we work with







Common Schlage Locksmith Problems We Solve in Fairfax
- B60/B62 deadbolts that bind or drag. Fairfax doors sit in a damp redwood microclimate west of the Civic Center. Every wet season, original wood doors swell and frames shift, so the deadbolt bolt no longer aligns with the strike. The key turns but the bolt won’t throw fully. We re-set strikes, adjust bolt throw, and re-key rather than replace when the existing Schlage body is sound.
- Encode and Encode Plus deadbolts with dead keypads. Shaded exteriors on Fairfax hillsides push moisture into the battery compartment and thumbturn gear. Short battery life, false jam states, and unresponsive keypads are the usual results. We clean the corrosion, replace the battery tray, and recalibrate the jam sensor instead of telling you to buy new hardware.
- Sticky or spinning Schlage mortise and rim cylinders. Older Fairfax bungalows often still have their original mortise locks. After decades of re-keys by a string of owners, the pins and cam wear down. Keys get stiff, then refuse to turn. Rebuilding the original cylinder in place usually beats forcing a modern deadbolt into a mortise prep it was never designed for.
- Mismatched Schlage parts from previous work. We routinely open a Fairfax door and find a Schlage cylinder seated in a non-Schlage mortise body with a poorly seated tailpiece. It works until it doesn’t, then it locks you out. Matching vintage hardware instead of swapping it is the actual job.
- Seasonal lockouts and rental turnover rekeys. Fairfax has a steady mix of long-time residents, weekenders, and rental turnover. Landlords need rekeys between tenants, and second-home arrivals often find the key that worked last August won’t turn in February.
Schlage Service in Fairfax: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Downtown Fairfax’s older storefronts and the residential lanes around them have been re-keyed by a string of owners, renters, and property managers over decades. Walk into one of those doors with the hardware exposed and you’ll commonly find a Schlage cylinder seated in a non-Schlage mortise body, with a tailpiece that doesn’t quite seat and a strike that’s been filed or shimmed three different ways. It works until a damp winter swells the door enough to finish the job, and then the lock jams on a Tuesday night. That’s the distinct rhythm of Schlage service in Fairfax. In a newer Marin subdivision, you replace the deadbolt and move on. Here, matching vintage hardware, rebuilding the original cylinder, and re-setting a strike on a door that hasn’t been square since 1962 is the actual skill. A modern deadbolt rarely fits the existing mortise prep cleanly, and forcing one causes more problems than it solves. We lean toward rebuilding the original lock in place on older Fairfax doors, because preserving the door matters as much as fixing the lock. On a hillside lane off downtown, a homeowner’s Schlage B60 deadbolt stopped throwing fully after the wet season swelled her original wood door out of square. We re-keyed the existing cylinder to a fresh key, re-set the strike, and adjusted the bolt throw rather than selling a new lock, then added a reinforced strike plate so the seasonal shift wouldn’t bind it again. A separate call up the same lane was an Encode Plus with a corroded battery tray and jammed thumbturn. We cleaned the moisture out, replaced the tray, and reset the jam calibration. Neither job needed new hardware. Both needed someone who understood what damp redwood air does to metal and wood together.
Schlage Models & Products We Service in Fairfax
We service the full Schlage range that shows up in Fairfax homes. That includes B60 and B62 single-cylinder deadbolts, Encode and Encode Plus smart deadbolts, the F-Series (F51 keyed knobs, F58 handlesets), and Schlage commercial ND-Series cylindrical locks on downtown storefronts. We use genuine Schlage OEM cylinders, tailpieces, and rebuild kits where they match the existing body. Quality aftermarket hardware only comes into play when an OEM part is discontinued or a vintage mortise body can’t be sourced. On pre-war Fairfax doors, the default is rebuilding what’s there, not cutting new prep into an 80-year-old door.
Schlage Service Pricing in Fairfax
Schlage rekeying in Fairfax typically runs $85 to $145 for a standard cylinder, depending on how many cylinders and whether the lock body needs servicing while we’re inside it. Deadbolt installation starts around $120 for a straight swap on a prepped door, with retrofits on older Fairfax doors running higher because of the frame work involved. Encode smart lock installation generally falls between $150 and $275, including keypad programming and ensuring the bolt throws cleanly on your door. What drives the cost is the condition of the door and hardware, not hidden charges. The price we quote on the phone before anyone is dispatched is the price on the invoice, full stop. We don’t add a call-out surcharge when we arrive. Call (833) 589-8078 for an exact quote; estimates are free.
Serving Fairfax, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Fairfax area and know this community well, and we also offer Schlage repair in San Rafael. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – Schlage Locksmith in Fairfax
It’s usually both. The Encode’s auto-lock feature depends on the deadbolt throwing fully into the strike. On a Fairfax door that has swollen with seasonal moisture or shifted in its frame, the bolt catches on the strike edge and the lock reads it as a jam. We check the door alignment, adjust or replace the strike, and recalibrate the lock’s jam detection. Call (833) 589-8078 and we’ll sort out which side of the problem is yours.
Yes, and that’s a common job here. We re-key Schlage mortise and rim cylinders in place on older bungalow doors regularly. We remove the cylinder, re-pin it to a fresh key, and inspect the cam and tailpiece while it’s out. If the body is worn but sound, we rebuild rather than replace. Call (833) 589-8078 to schedule a look.
Fairfax winter means damp air and swollen wooden doors. When the door swells, the deadbolt’s bolt no longer aligns with the strike, and the key resists because the bolt is binding. It’s a door problem and a lock problem at once. We fix both: re-set the strike for the new door position and service the cylinder. Call (833) 589-8078 for a quote that covers the whole assembly, not just the cylinder.
The Encode Plus works well on a Fairfax weekend home if it’s installed on a door that closes properly and has no moisture intrusion. The real concern is the battery compartment on a shaded exterior. If the door faces downhill shade or gets hit with runoff, moisture gets into the tray and kills the keypad. We can add a weather seal or choose a location on the door that stays drier. Call (833) 589-8078 and we’ll walk the property with you before you buy.
We carry genuine Schlage OEM cylinders, tailpieces, and rebuild kits, and we keep a rotating stock of parts for the models Fairfax actually runs. For discontinued vintage mortise bodies, we source what’s available and use quality aftermarket only when OEM isn’t made anymore. Call (833) 589-8078 with your model and we’ll tell you honestly what it needs.
Service Areas Near Fairfax
We serve Fairfax and the surrounding Marin communities, including Mountain View, Inverness, and Petaluma, along with Loyola and Temelec on the way over. Each area has its own door habits, but the same principles apply: rebuild what’s worth keeping, replace what’s done, and never sell a lock a door doesn’t need. We also do Schlage service in San Lorenzo and Schlage service in Ashland for customers with properties on both sides of the bridge.
Book Your Schlage Service in Fairfax Today
A lock is only as strong as the decision behind it. If your Schlage hardware is binding, jamming, or simply worn down by Fairfax’s damp seasons, or if you need Ross Schlage service, call (833) 589-8078 today. We’ll give you a straight quote before dispatch, schedule a time that works for you, and send someone who knows what your door has been through.
Written by Roland Vásquez, Owner at Citadel Locksmith. Roland grew up in the Excelsior District, trained through the City College of San Francisco locksmithing program, and has spent decades solving lock problems that generalists walk away from.