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 Redwood City, CA
Rekey Locks is the service we do most in Redwood City, and this city’s housing stock makes it more interesting than most markets. Homes here range from original Craftsman bungalows in the Mount Carmel neighborhood to sleek new builds along the Redwood Shores bayfront, and each generation of hardware brings its own quirks to a rekey job. Add mild, wet winters that rust older cylinders and you have a city where rekeying is rarely a simple five-minute swap. Call (833) 589-8078 and we’ll walk you through what your specific property needs.
Why Redwood City Homes Are Different
Redwood City’s locksmith work is shaped by a mix of historic downtown buildings, many pre-1950 with original mortise locks and skeleton keys, and modern tech-campus keyless entry systems, requiring technicians to master both mechanical restoration and electronic access control in the same service area. Walk through the Centennial neighborhood and you’ll see Victorian homes with original rim locks that haven’t been manufactured in decades. Drive ten minutes to Redwood Shores and you’ll find smart deadbolts and keyless entry pads on newer townhomes. That split defines our day.
The climate matters too. Redwood City’s mild, dry summers and wet winters mean exterior locks face seasonal expansion-contraction cycles. Wooden doors swell in January, strike plates shift, and deadbolts that worked in August suddenly bind in February. Older exposed hardware takes the worst of it – winter rain rusts cylinders, and salt air in bayfront areas like Redwood Shores accelerates corrosion on metal components. We see locks that operate fine for years, then fail after one wet season because the internal pins have corroded. That’s a Redwood City pattern, not a generic California one.
Then there’s the mortise lock question. In the historic downtown and Mount Carmel areas, many older homes still have original mortise locks with bit keys. These aren’t locks you drill out and replace. They require a technician who understands how to disassemble a 1930s lock body, clean it, replace the springs, and rebuild it. That’s a skill less common in neighboring cities with newer housing stock. If you own one of these homes, you already know finding the right locksmith is harder than it should be.
Styles & brands we work with
Our Main Redwood City Services
Two jobs dominate the calls we take from Redwood City: car key replacement and emergency lockouts. Here’s what each one looks like in this city.
Car Key Replacement in Redwood City
Redwood City drivers cover a lot of ground, from commutes up 101 to daily errands across the city, and losing a key or breaking one inside a door lock resets an entire day. We replace transponder keys, proximity fobs, and traditional metal keys on-site, which means you skip the dealership tow and its markup. Citadel Locksmith has served Redwood City since 2011, and our technicians work with the brands serious about security – Schlage, Kwikset, Medeco, Abloy – so car key programming is well within our wheelhouse. Learn more on our Car Key Replacement in Redwood City page.
Emergency Locksmith in Redwood City
A lockout in Redwood City happens everywhere: a downtown apartment after work, a Redwood Shores condo at midnight, a Mount Carmel Craftsman on a Sunday morning. When you’re locked out, you need someone who answers, gets to you, and opens the door without destroying the hardware. Our emergency service model is built into the company, not bolted on. We respond, we open what we can, and we only drill when there’s no other option. Full details are on our Emergency Locksmith in Redwood City 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 Redwood City
Rekeying is the fastest way to take back control of who holds a key, and in Redwood City it’s the service we recommend after any move, tenant change, or key loss. Because so much of this city’s oldest housing stock – especially in the Mount Carmel and Centennial neighborhoods – uses original mortise lock bodies or vintage cylinders, rekeying here often means working with hardware that’s no longer made, not just swapping a Kwikset cylinder. That’s fine; it’s exactly the kind of work our technicians are trained for. If you’re not sure whether your locks can be rekeyed, or you simply want to know what it’ll cost, our Rekey Locks page covers the service in detail, and one call to (833) 589-8078 gets you answers.
Lock Rekey
Signs you need it
You’ve moved into a new place, ended a lease, lost a key, or realized you don’t know who else has a copy of yours.
What it costs in Redwood City
A standard cylinder rekey in Redwood City runs $85 – $120 per lock when you have a working key, plus the service call; rekeying after a lost key runs $100 – $140 per lock including key recoding.
How we do it
We remove the cylinder, swap the pins to match a new key, reassemble the lock, and test it in front of you.
Keyed Alike
Signs you need it
Your front door, back door, and garage each use a different key, and you’re tired of carrying a ring that jingles like a janitor’s.
What it costs in Redwood City
Re-keying multiple locks to one key in Redwood City costs $85 – $120 per lock, with a service call of $60 – $90, and each additional key copy runs $5 – $15.
How we do it
We re-pin each lock to a single key, cut as many matching copies as you want, and label nothing that could reveal your address on the key ring.
What Rekey Locks Costs in Redwood City
| Item | Typical range in Redwood City |
|---|---|
| Rekey a single lock (with working key) | $85 – $120 per lock |
| Rekey after lost key (includes recode) | $100 – $140 per lock |
| Service call / trip charge | $60 – $90 |
| Additional key copies | $5 – $15 each |
Can you rekey original mortise locks in old Redwood City homes?
Yes. In Mount Carmel, the Centennial neighborhood, and around downtown, many homes still have original mortise lock bodies. We disassemble, clean, re-pin, and rebuild them rather than replacing them, and we’ll tell you upfront if a lock is beyond saving.
Is the price you quote on the phone the final price?
Yes. The price we quote before dispatch is the price on your invoice. No bait pricing, no arrival surcharge. If we find something unexpected in an old Redwood City lock, we stop and talk to you before any additional work.
Brands We Service in Redwood City
Citadel Locksmith works across eight lock brands, from everyday Schlage and Kwikset to high-security Medeco and Abloy. We stock common pins, cylinders, and tailpieces for these brands in our service vehicles, so most Redwood City jobs are completed same-day without a follow-up visit. See our our brands page for the full roster.
Pricing for Locksmith in Redwood City, CA
| Service | Typical range in Redwood City |
|---|---|
| Rekey a lock (with working key) | $85 – $120 per lock |
| Rekey after lost key | $100 – $140 per lock |
| Service call / trip charge | $60 – $90 |
| Additional key copies | $5 – $15 each |
| Car key replacement (basic metal) | $120 – $200 |
| Car key replacement (transponder) | $160 – $280 |
| Car key replacement (proximity fob) | $250 – $450 |
| Emergency lockout service | $90 – $180 |
In Redwood City, the main price drivers are lock age and door condition. A rusted mortise lock in a century-old Mount Carmel house takes longer to rekey than a clean cylinder in a newer Redwood Shores condo, and swollen wooden doors often need minor alignment work before a new key turns smoothly. Every job gets a firm phone quote before we dispatch, and that’s the price you pay when we hand you the invoice.
Neighborhoods We Serve in Redwood City
We work everywhere in Redwood City, from the tree-lined streets of Mount Carmel to the bayfront condos of Redwood Shores. Our normal response window across the city is 30 – 45 minutes for lockouts and same-day or next-day for scheduled rekey and car key work, depending on where a technician is finishing their previous job.
- Mount Carmel
- Centennial
- Redwood Shores
- Downtown Redwood City
- Palm Park
Service Area – Cities Near Redwood City
Citadel Locksmith serves Redwood City and the surrounding peninsula communities, including Emerald Lake Hills, CA, San Carlos, CA, Woodside, CA, and Menlo Park, CA. If you’re in one of those cities and need a rekey or an emergency lockout, the same technicians and same upfront pricing apply.
Serving Redwood City, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Redwood City 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 Redwood City
We typically reach Redwood City addresses within 30 – 45 minutes, depending on traffic on 101 or El Camino Real and where our nearest technician is finishing a prior job. When you call, we’ll give you a realistic arrival window, not a vague promise.
No city permit is required to rekey or replace existing locks in Redwood City. Some condo associations in Redwood Shores and newer downtown buildings maintain an approved-locksmith list or key registration policy, so check your HOA docs if you’re in a managed building.
Yes. Our technicians are trained on both mechanical mortise lock restoration and modern electronic deadbolts. In older Redwood City homes we can rebuild original hardware, and in newer builds we work with keyless entry systems when you already have them installed.
Call (833) 589-8078 for a free estimate on any lock or key job in Redwood City.
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 Redwood City Customers Say
"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"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