Rekey All House Locks in Pomona: Doors, Gates and Codes

What to expect in Pomona

People sometimes ask why they should rekey all house locks when only one key is known to be missing. The honest answer is that keys spread in ways nobody tracks. A standard house key can be copied at a hardware store kiosk in seconds, and a Do Not Duplicate stamp is a request, not a barrier. A key loaned to a contractor may have been copied for a helper. A key you think fits only the back door may also open the front if a previous owner keyed them alike. If you can't account for every copy, partial rekeys leave gaps you can't see. Rekeying everything at once closes them in one step, and it's far less expensive than replacing every lock, because the knobs, deadbolts, handlesets and finishes stay on your doors. The other benefit is a fresh start on key control: a known number of new keys, given to people you chose, with a written list of who holds one.

What we can do on-site

• 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.
• Re-pinning every exterior door. Exterior doors in Southern California see sun, dust and sprinkler overspray, and their cylinders show it. As we rekey all house locks, we note any door that binds or drags, and adjust strikes or hinges where it's quick to do. A freshly pinned cylinder lasts much longer when the door isn't fighting it.
• Garage access points. The garage usually has more ways in than any other part of the house: the door into the home, a side service door, sometimes a manual T-handle lock on the overhead door, plus remotes and a keypad. We re-pin every keyed cylinder there and remind you that the opener's remotes and keypad code need resetting separately.
• Outbuildings, casitas and padlocks. Padlocks are hit or miss. Some commercial-grade padlocks have rekeyable cylinders, and some are sold in common residential keyways. Budget padlocks aren't rekeyable at all, and the practical fix is a matched set of new keyed-alike padlocks. We'll tell you which of yours can be re-pinned before you pay for anything.
• Smart locks, keypads and lockboxes. Smart locks with a backup key cylinder, such as the Schlage Encode or Kwikset Halo, get re-pinned like any other lock. What re-pinning doesn't change are the codes, fingerprints and app users. During a whole-house rekey, we help you delete old codes, check admin access and confirm the motor still throws the bolt properly.

What's different about Pomona

Houses built before 1980 in Pomona 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.

Inland summer heat in Pomona bakes door hardware. Finishes fade, latches swell and stick, and cylinders collect fine dust that makes keys drag. Re-pinning a lock is a good moment to clean it and replace tired springs. During a whole-house rekey we note which locks feel gritty or stiff, because heat-stressed hardware often fails soon after. West-facing doors and garage entries tend to be the worst, and we can quote replacements alongside the rekey.

Student rentals and shared houses near Western University of Health Sciences see keys scatter every time a lease turns over. If you own a house that students rent, or you manage the lease for roommates, rekeying all house locks between tenancies keeps the key count honest. Number the keys, assign each one to a named tenant on the lease, and plan the rekey for the gap before the next group moves in so there's no overlap.

Situations this covers

• Over twenty years, a family in Pomona has handed spare keys to neighbors, a pet sitter, two babysitters, a visiting cousin and a long-gone housemate. Nobody can say who still has one. Instead of chasing each key, the couple rekeys every lock and decides to issue just three new keys, with a keypad code for anyone who needs occasional access.
• After a separation, a homeowner in Pomona 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.
• 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 homeowner converts a detached garage into a rental unit with its own door and a small side gate. She wants her key to open everything, while the tenant's key opens only the unit and the gate. We rekey the entire property with a two-level setup, so the tenant's key can never reach the main house, and we record which cylinders carry the extra pins.

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. We confirm you own or lawfully occupy the home before touching a cylinder. Photo ID plus a utility bill, mortgage statement, lease or similar proof works. For an inherited house, we may ask to see the paperwork showing you can act for the estate.
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. Expect the key count you agreed on, no more. Extra copies are available later from a key you keep in storage. Make duplicates from that master copy, not from daily-use keys, so the cuts stay precise and the count stays in your hands.
6. Reset what rekeying doesn't touch. Cut up or recycle the old keys so they can't be mistaken for current ones. Don't keep them just in case. Then store your master copy somewhere safe and away from the house, with the key list kept separately.

What affects the cost

• How many keyways are in the mix. Choosing the dominant brand usually keeps the cost down because fewer locks need replacing. If your favorite lock is the outlier, say the handleset on the front door, we can reverse the plan, although it may mean replacing more hardware.
• Condition of the oldest and cheapest locks. Sun and sprinkler overspray age exterior hardware faster than interior hardware. Expect the side gate and back door to be the hardest. A bit of cleaning and fresh springs revives many locks, while others have simply reached the end. We'll tell you which is which.
• 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 Pomona.

What to do before we arrive

• 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.
• Plan for two key sets: one carried every day, one stored. The daily set gets used, lost and copied. The stored set stays in a locked box or with a trusted relative and comes out only when something goes wrong. Cut future duplicates from the stored key, never a worn one.
• 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.
• Check the knob under the deadbolt first. On many front doors the knob has a key slot of its own, and owners forget it because the deadbolt does the real work. If it takes a key, it belongs on the new plan, or the old key still turns it.

Mistakes to avoid

• Keeping the old keys just in case. They open nothing after the rekey, but a drawer of dead keys confuses everyone later and tempts someone to hand one out. Recycle them, and keep only the new, labeled set and one stored master copy.
• 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.

Service in Pomona

Pomona is about 32 miles from our San Bernardino base, roughly 38 minutes in light traffic via University Parkway to SR-210 West. When you call, you get an arrival estimate based on where the technician is and the traffic at that moment.

If you're close to Temple Avenue, tell us which exit or cross street you're nearest. It trims the last mile and keeps the van from circling a block that looks right on the map but isn't.

About Pomona: LA Metro's A Line began serving the Pomona North station on Santa Fe Street, just west of Garey Avenue, on September 19, 2025, sharing the stop with Metrolink's San Bernardino Line.

Planning a rekey in Pomona?

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.