Rekey All House Locks in Fontana, With Nothing Missed

How this works in Fontana

Before the first pin comes out, decide how the finished house should be keyed. The simplest plan puts every exterior lock on one key, which is what most families want. But a whole-house rekey is also the cheapest moment to build in exceptions. You might keep a detached office or storage room on its own key, give a gardener a key that opens only the side gate, or set up a small master arrangement where your key opens everything and an ADU occupant's key opens only their door. Each separate key adds a little cost and something to keep track of, so the goal is the fewest keys that still match how your household actually uses the property. Making those choices first matters because changing the plan later means pulling and re-pinning cylinders a second time. We sketch the plan with you on paper, door by door, before quoting, so the price you approve reflects the keys you'll really carry.

How we can help in Fontana

• Whole-property lock inventory. An inventory also catches locks that shouldn't be rekeyed. A slider with a wafer cylinder, a storm door handle with a proprietary key, or a worn knob gets marked for replacement or exclusion right away. You see the whole picture, with every lock and every option, before you approve a single line of work.
• Outbuildings, casitas and padlocks. Sheds, workshops, pool houses and casitas tend to collect a random assortment of knobs, deadbolts and padlocks. Any door lock with a standard pin tumbler cylinder can join the house key or a separate outbuilding key. Rusted locks on the far side of the yard often make more sense to replace than to re-pin.
• Bringing mixed brands onto one key. Kwikset and Schlage are the usual pairing in a mixed house, and their keys are shaped and spaced differently, so neither can be pinned to the other's key. Where the outlier lock is in good shape, a matching cylinder is sometimes available; otherwise the lock itself is replaced. We quote both routes when both exist.
• Separate keys and simple master keying. Not every lock has to share a key. During a whole-house rekey we can put a home office, a storage room, a casita or a detached shop on its own key while the main doors share another. Each extra key is a small addition to the job, and it's far cheaper to plan now than to re-pin later.
• Smart locks, keypads and lockboxes. Retrofit smart locks such as August or Level sit on your existing deadbolt and keep its original cylinder. We remove the smart unit, re-pin the cylinder to the new house key, reinstall the unit and check that it still locks and unlocks on command. The new physical key and the app then match the rest of the house.

What's different about Fontana

Houses built before 1980 in Fontana often show their age at the keyhole: brass knobs from the 1950s, a deadbolt added in the 1980s, a mortise lock on the front door and a different brand in each room. A whole-house rekey here begins with an honest look at which pieces still work. Original mortise sets can often be rebuilt and re-pinned, while worn knobs and loose latches are better replaced. We aim to keep the character and still end up on one key.

Production homes in newer Fontana neighborhoods arrive with builder-grade locks, usually one brand on every door and keyed alike. But the construction crew, the sales office and the prior buyer's contractors may all have held keys. Rekeying all house locks resets that count. Builder-grade hardware generally re-pins well and cooperates. Check your builder paperwork before swapping anything, and keep the lock model numbers on your new key record.

Family homes in Fontana tend to accumulate keys: the babysitter, the grandparents, a neighbor who waters plants and a teenager who has lost three copies of their own. A whole-house rekey brings the key count back to something you can manage. We usually suggest a small number of new keys, a keypad or smart lock code for kids and visitors, and a clear plan for who can reach the garage and side gate.

Example situations

• A seller wants one key for the agent's lockbox, so showings, the photographer and the inspector all use the same key. We rekey the front, back, garage entry and side gate before the sign goes up. The seller hands the new keys to the escrow officer at closing, and every earlier copy is already useless.
• A homeowner installs a Schlage Encode on the front door and considers the house secured. The back door, garage entry and side gate still use the old key that a former contractor copied. We rekey those to match the Encode's backup cylinder, so a single physical key opens everything, and we show her how to prune old app users.
• A remodel crew held a house key for three months, along with the garage keypad code. The work is finished and the family is pleased, but they would like the key count reset. We rekey the exterior doors and the garage entry, help them change the keypad code, and walk the property to be sure nothing else, like a side gate or lockbox, still works for the crew.
• After a separation, a homeowner in Fontana wants every lock changed before her partner collects his belongings. The front door is the obvious one, but the walk-through turns up nine more cylinders: the garage side door, a slider latch, two gates, a shed and more. We re-pin them all to one new key during a single visit, and she sets a fresh code on her smart lock before we leave.

From your call to the finished job

1. Count the keyholes before we arrive. Call or text with a rough list of doors: front, back, garage entry, garage side, gates and sheds. Mention brands if you can read them on the knob or deadbolt. That list helps us estimate the visit and bring parts, but the real count happens on site.
2. Gather every key and show you belong at the address. Put every key you own on the table: house keys, garage keys, padlock keys, tiny keys for cabinets and window locks. We try each in each lock to learn what opens what. Some turn out to fit nothing, which is a useful finding.
3. Agree on the key plan before any pins come out. Choose the structure first: one key for the whole house, a second for the outbuilding, perhaps a master. We sketch it door by door and write down how many keys of each you want. Changing the plan afterward means pulling cylinders twice.
4. Rekey one door at a time and test as we go. We pull each cylinder, empty the old pins, rebuild it to the new code and reinstall it. Then we cycle it from both sides before moving on, so the house is never left with several doors half-finished while we work.
5. Cut, count and test every key. We'll hand you a short list showing which door takes which key. Keep it private, since it shows how your keys work. If you ever add a lock, the list tells you which keyway and key to match.
6. Reset what rekeying doesn't touch. Rekeying changes metal keys only. Garage remotes, keypad codes, smart lock users, alarm codes and any lockbox are separate. We walk through each with you and help with the ones we handle, so the old ways in are closed on the same day.

What affects the cost

• How long your inventory list turns out to be. Some owners rekey the exterior doors only and leave interior keyed doors for later. That's a reasonable way to control scope, but remember what you skip. Bedroom or office locks matter if the person you're guarding against once lived there.
• Condition of the oldest and cheapest locks. Builder-grade knobs, gate latches and slider cylinders are the usual troublemakers. They may re-pin, but a worn latch will fail again soon. We point out which ones are worth rekeying and which are better replaced, and you decide. Nothing is swapped without your approval.
• Locks at the edge of the property. Not everything at the edge is yours to change. Cluster mailboxes, HOA gates and utility enclosures belong to someone else. We point out what's out of bounds so the quote covers only what you can legally and practically change. That avoids paying for work you can't use.

Every job gets a clear quote before any work starts. Call (951) 903-3193 with the details and we'll tell you what to expect for your situation in Fontana.

Common errors that cost time and money

• Rekeying everything to one key before deciding what shouldn't share it. A casita, workshop or rented room often deserves its own key. Settling the structure first costs nothing, while re-pinning cylinders a second time costs time and parts. Decide first, then pin once.
• Spending a rekey on a failing lock. A knob with a worn latch or a deadbolt chewed up by a past break-in will keep failing no matter how new the key is. Replace the weak hardware and key it to match, instead of nursing it along.
• Skipping the garage side door and the door from the garage into the house. These two are among the most commonly lent out and the most commonly forgotten. If either one stays on the old key, anyone holding that key still has a way into your home.

Advice before you book

• Use every new key on day one. Try each in its lock from outside with the door closed behind you. A key that sticks now is a fixable problem. One that fails a month later is much harder to diagnose, and we'd rather adjust it while the tools are still out.
• Look past the key at the door itself. A deadbolt with a short throw, or a strike plate held by half-inch screws, is a weak spot no new key fixes. Ask us to check strikes and hinge screws while we're there; longer screws into the framing make a real difference.
• Tell your alarm company about the change. Their keyholder and password lists often name people who no longer need access. Update the monitoring contacts, reset the alarm code and remove old users from the panel and app so every list matches the new key plan.
• Check the garage's emergency release cord. On many openers, a thief can reach in with a wire and pull the red handle to open the door. A small shield or cover over the release slot, plus a rekeyed entry door, makes the garage far harder to enter.

Reaching Fontana

Fontana is about 16 miles from our San Bernardino base, roughly 22 minutes in light traffic via Palm Avenue to I-215 South. When you call, you get an arrival estimate based on where the technician is and the traffic at that moment.

Homes and businesses just off Foothill Boulevard are routine stops for us. Give the suite or unit number and any gate instructions, and say whether the van can park out front or should pull into a side lot.

About Fontana: Fontana incorporated on June 25, 1952, and its 2024 Census Bureau estimate of 218,455 residents makes it the second-largest city in San Bernardino County.

Planning a rekey in Fontana?

Call (951) 903-3193 and tell us how many doors you want on the new key and the brand of the locks if you know it. We'll quote the rekey before any work starts.