Redwood City neighborhood · 24/7
Redwood Shores locksmith visits, for condos with the garage underneath, a buzzer panel at the lobby and an HOA that wants the request on paper
The lagoon district north of US-101: condo and townhome buildings along Redwood Shores Pkwy, Marine Pkwy and Shell Blvd with gated garages beneath them, HOA boards with rules about door hardware, the office campuses toward Oracle and Bair Island, and one road in and out.
22 min
Avg. arrival
$89
Service call
24/7
Availability
Redwood Shores was built in a few waves between the 1980s and the 2000s, and each wave used the same hardware on every door. A condo has a front door with a deadbolt and a lever in the finish the HOA chose, a door from the garage stairwell that locks behind you, and a patio slider. The lockout that repeats is the stairwell door: someone goes down to the car for a bag, the fire door latches, and the unit is bolted. That is $119 to $205 and it opens without damage nearly every time. Townhomes add a garage-to-house door and a small courtyard gate. A rekey when a tenant or a roommate leaves is $25 to $41 per cylinder, and the mailbox cam in the lobby bank goes on the same visit.
The HOA is a real party to the work here, and the technician treats it as one. Most associations govern the finish and style of anything visible from the corridor, and several require a request before a smart lock goes on. The cylinder inside the lock is yours to rekey; the lock on the outside may not be yours to change. Say on the call which it is. A smart lock, where the board permits one, is $175 to $449 installed, and on a fire-rated corridor door the technician checks that the closer and the label are left as they were. A written line addressed to the association or the management company is part of the receipt whenever you ask for it.
The campuses on the lagoon call about override cylinders, server rooms and exit devices, at $289 to $759 per device, with access control quoted after a walk-through. The garages under the residential buildings supply the car work: a lockout at $99 to $169 begins with the resident meeting the technician at the pedestrian door, since the gate wants a fob the technician does not have. Arrival is about twenty-two minutes, and it is honest to say why it is not twelve: the district hangs off 101 by one road, and whatever that road is doing at that hour decides the estimate. Evening adds $50 from 8pm and overnight $85 from midnight, both stated inside the figure on the call.
Say whether the address is a condo or a townhome, which door is the trouble, and whether the technician can reach it from the street or needs to be let through the lobby or the garage gate. If the HOA has a hardware rule, say so, and the technician brings the finish that matches.
Nearby
Across the town line, the same van
FAQ
What people ask before they call, and what is said back
How long until the van reaches my part of Redwood City?+
Twenty-one minutes is the average across the city, which is compact but not flat. Downtown and Courthouse Square usually see the van in 14, Centennial 16, Friendly Acres and Fair Oaks and Roosevelt 17, Woodside Plaza and Mount Carmel and Edgewood Park 21, Redwood Shores 22 because there is one road in and one road out, and Emerald Hills 27 because the roads above Farm Hill Blvd wind and the driveways are long. San Carlos is about 21, Atherton 22, Menlo Park 24, Belmont 26 and Woodside 29. The window in your text is worked out from the roads at that minute, not from the average.
Is there a different figure for evenings, weekends or holidays?+
Weekends and holidays cost the same as a weekday. The only additions are for the hour: $50 for arrival between 8pm and midnight, $85 between midnight and 7am, and both are counted inside the figure at the time you agree to it. A $119 house lockout becomes $169 after 8pm and $204 after midnight, and that is the figure read to you, with nothing produced at the door to add to it.
What does the figure include, and can it move?+
Four things: the $89 service call, the labor, any parts fitted, and the evening or overnight hour if there is one. They are added into one number before you say yes. A hill, a gate, a garage level or a buzzer panel does not change it. What can add to it is a second job you ask for once the technician is at the door, such as rekeying the rest of the house after a lockout; that is quoted as its own line and starts only on your yes.
Is drilling ever the first move?+
No. Drilling comes last and only with your agreement. Apartment cylinders, residential deadbolts, the mortise sets in the older houses, most aluminum storefront hardware and most car doors open with picks, decoders, bypass tools or an air wedge and keep working afterwards. It becomes a conversation when a cylinder is high-security, has already been damaged, or is seized by a broken key or corrosion. Then the technician explains the mechanism, names the replacement part and its cost, and the total stays at the figure settled on the call.
What proof do you need before opening a door or a car?+
For a house, condo or apartment, photo ID showing the address, or ID together with a lease, a utility bill or mail addressed to you on your phone. For a car, ID together with the registration or an insurance card, on paper or on a screen. For a shop, office or restaurant, ID together with a lease, a business license or a note from the property manager or the company. Without one of these the lock stays shut. The rule is the same one that keeps a stranger out of your door.
Our building in the Shores has a buzzer panel, a garage underneath and an HOA. Does any of that complicate things?+
Not the figure. Say on the call whether the van should come to the lobby panel, the garage gate or a side entrance, and whether someone can buzz it in. Condo deadbolts and unit locks are rekeyed or replaced the same way as a house; garage pedestrian doors and storage cages are usually keyed to the same key. If the HOA specifies a finish or a lock type for exterior doors, send the rule sheet and the quote will match it. A written line describing the work goes to the board on request, in the format most Shores associations ask for.
Our Mount Carmel house still has its 1920s mortise lock. Is it worth keeping?+
Usually, yes. A mortise set from the 1920s or 30s is a heavy, well-made mechanism, and most of what goes wrong is a tired spring, a worn key or decades of dried oil. It can be cleaned, re-sprung and rekeyed on site, and the brass plate and knobs stay where they are. If you want more security without discarding it, a modern deadbolt goes in above the original set. When a mortise body is genuinely worn out, a replacement is sized to the existing pocket so the door face is not cut again. The same applies to the side gates and back doors on those streets, which are often original too.
Do you come into the downtown garages, the Caltrain lot and the Kaiser lots?+
Yes. Car lockouts, key cutting and fob programming are done in the Jefferson and Marshall garages, the Caltrain lot, the Kaiser visitor and staff lots, the marina lot at the port and the campus garages on Seaport Blvd and in the Shores. Give the garage, the level and a landmark near the car. If the garage needs a badge, arrange for someone to let the van in or meet it at the entrance. Late on a show night at the Fox Theatre the downtown garages are slow to leave, and the window you get on the call will say so. None of it moves the figure.
24/7 — nights, weekends & holidays
One call, one figure, settled before the van turns the key
Calls answered 24/7 for Redwood City and the towns beside it. One figure for the visit, the labor and the parts, with the $89 service call inside it, and a receipt that matches it line for line.