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Everything below is work Oak Knoll Lock and Key does across Pasadena and the surrounding valley. Read the section that fits your situation, or just call (626) 706-3524 and describe what's going on.
Most calls we get from Pasadena homeowners and renters fall into one of a few buckets: someone's shut out, a lock has stopped behaving, or the keys need to change hands. The city's housing stock runs the gamut — turn-of-the-century Craftsman bungalows in the historic districts, Spanish Revival places near the Rose Bowl, post-war tract homes east toward Sierra Madre Villa, and stacked apartments and condos closer to the Playhouse District and Old Pasadena. Each comes with its own doors and its own lock hardware, and we come ready for that variety rather than showing up with a single trick.
Shut the door behind you without a key? It happens to careful people constantly. We open the great majority of home and apartment lockouts without damaging the door or the lock, so you're back inside and not shopping for new hardware afterward. Because we verify that you live at or are authorized to enter the property first, the process protects you as much as it protects the property.
A knob that spins without catching, a deadbolt you have to lift the door to throw, a latch that only cooperates when it feels like it — those are repair jobs, and often they come down to a worn cylinder or a strike that's drifted out of line as the house settled. When a lock is genuinely past its life, we replace it with hardware that suits the door and the level of security you want. Adding a lock where there wasn't one — a side gate, a new interior door, a converted garage entry — is straightforward install work we do all the time.
Rekeying is one of the most useful services a locksmith offers and one of the least understood. Instead of swapping out the whole lock, we reset the pins inside the cylinder so your old keys no longer turn it and a new key does. It's the right call after you move in, after a roommate or tenant leaves, or when a key has gone missing and you'd rather not wonder who has it. We can also cut duplicate keys and set several locks to open with one key so you're not juggling a crowded ring.
A solid deadbolt does more for a door than almost any other single upgrade. We install grade-rated deadbolts, handlesets, and reinforced strike plates, and we make sure the bolt seats fully into the frame — a beautiful lock does nothing if the door's out of alignment and the bolt only goes halfway. For folks who want to leave keys behind, we also handle smart locks and keyless entry, matching the hardware to your door and walking you through how it works before we go.
Keys snap, especially older keys in older locks, and usually at the worst moment. If a key has broken off in the cylinder, resist the urge to dig it out yourself — that tends to push the fragment deeper and score the pins. We extract the broken piece, check whether the lock was damaged in the process, and cut you a fresh key or rekey the cylinder so it's reliable again.
Other residential work we handle includes new-homeowner lock changes, condo and townhome entry locks, patio and sliding door locks, garage side-entry locks, high-security residential cylinders, and mailbox lock replacement where the box belongs to the home rather than a postal cluster unit. If you're not sure whether your situation fits, just ask.
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Pasadena's small businesses line Colorado Boulevard, East Walnut, Lake Avenue, and the Foothill corridor, and a lot of them share the same reality: the day can't start until the front door opens and can't end until it locks. We work with property managers, shop owners, office tenants, and building supers to keep entry hardware dependable and keys under control.
Whether it's the storefront, a back stockroom, an interior office, or a suite door in a shared building, we get commercial doors open so the day isn't lost. As with homes, we confirm the caller is authorized before opening a secured business space.
Commercial doors take heavy, repeated use, and their hardware wears faster because of it. We repair and replace commercial-grade cylinders, mortise locks, lever sets, and storefront hardware, and we service the deadbolts and latches on glass-and-aluminum entry doors common to retail spaces.
A master key system lets a manager or owner open every door with one key while staff carry keys limited to the areas they need. It's a practical way to run a shop, a medical suite, or an office floor without a tangle of keys. When employees or tenants turn over, rekeying the affected locks keeps old keys from opening anything — far cheaper and faster than replacing hardware every time someone leaves.
We handle storefront door locks, office door hardware, commercial deadbolts, and the day-to-day lock needs of property managers overseeing rental and mixed-use buildings around the city. Where a business legitimately needs it, we service panic and exit hardware and keyless entry devices as part of keeping a workable, code-minded entry setup. If a job calls for a specialized system beyond straightforward lock and key work, we'll tell you plainly rather than overpromise.
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Our automotive work is focused and honest about its limits: we help drivers who are locked out of their vehicles. If your keys are sitting on the seat behind a locked door in your driveway, an apartment lot near Allen Avenue, or a parking space off Colorado Boulevard, that's exactly the call to make.
To be upfront: we do not offer transponder or chip-key programming, ignition replacement, or specialized computerized key services. Our automotive help is lockout and basic entry assistance. If your situation needs dealer-level key programming, we'll say so and steer you toward the right resource instead of taking on work outside what we do well.
Some lock problems can wait for a convenient appointment. Others stop you cold — you can't get in, you can't leave the building unlocked, or a broken lock has left a door that won't secure. Those are the calls we treat as time-sensitive.
If a door has been forced or a lock damaged during a break-in, we can replace the compromised hardware so the property is secure again. We'll always tell you honestly whether a problem needs immediate attention or can be handled on a normal schedule for less.
A note on hours: give us a call and we'll let you know our current availability for your situation. We don't advertise around-the-clock coverage we can't back up — when you reach us, we tell you plainly when we can be there.
Every service on this page is available throughout Pasadena and the communities around it. We're based on East Walnut Street in the 91107 ZIP, and we bring the work to you — we do not keep separate offices in other cities. Serving customers throughout Pasadena and nearby communities including Altadena, Sierra Madre, Arcadia, San Marino, South Pasadena, Temple City, San Gabriel, and La Cañada Flintridge. If you're just outside that list, call and we'll let you know whether we can reach you.
Not sure which service you need? That's fine — describe the door, the lock, or the vehicle when you call, and we'll figure it out with you. Start on the free estimate page, or head back to the homepage for an overview of how we work.
Home, business, or car — one call to a local Pasadena locksmith who explains the job and the price before starting.
