Residential locksmith
Locked-out homeowners, rekeys after a move, deadbolts for old fir doors, window and garage locks, mailbox locks in shared buildings.
BRK94705 Elmwood & Claremont
Locksmith in 94705 Elmwood and Claremont, Berkeley
College Avenue shops, big shingled houses and winding streets climbing toward the Claremont. 94705 is full of original period doors.
- Price quoted before work starts
- Mobile: we come to you
- All major credit cards
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Lock and key work in Elmwood & Claremont
94705 covers southeast Berkeley: the Elmwood shopping district on College Avenue, the leafy blocks around Ashby Avenue, and the Claremont neighbourhood climbing toward Tunnel Road and the Claremont Club and Spa, the white hotel on the hill. Alta Bates hospital is at Ashby and Colby. Parts of this ZIP cross into Oakland, so check your street address if you're near the city line.
Many houses here are large early-1900s brown shingles and Arts and Crafts designs, built with care and often still wearing their original doors and hardware. Beautiful, and sometimes stubborn. Old mortise locks lose springs. Skeleton-key interior locks get stuck. A rim lock on the inside face of a door can be charming but offers little security. Owners often want to keep the look and add real security, and that can usually be done with a matching mortise cylinder or a discreet deadbolt.
The upper Claremont streets wind, climb and have little parking. Many houses have a garage at street level, stairs up to the front door, and a side path to the back. Tell the dispatcher how the house is laid out, which door you need opened, and where a car can stop.
Fire is part of life up here. The 1991 Oakland Hills fire burned to the edge of the Claremont area. Some owners keep a lockbox with a key for a neighbour or family member, so someone can get in quickly if the household is away during an evacuation.
Garages on the Elmwood flats are often old single-car buildings at the back of the lot, with a hinged wooden door and a hasp. If you store bikes or tools there, a closed-shackle padlock and a hasp bolted through the door are worth the small cost, because a cheap padlock on a thin hasp is easy to defeat.
Typical calls here
- Servicing and rekeying original mortise locks
- Discreet deadbolts that suit period doors
- Lockouts at hillside houses with garage, stair and side-path entrances
- Stuck skeleton-key interior doors
- Shop and café locks along College Avenue
- Key lockboxes for neighbours and family
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Services on offer
Commercial locksmith
Shops, studios, labs and offices: lockouts, master key plans, restricted keys, panic bars, cabinet locks and keypad entry.
Automotive locksmith
Keys locked in the car, keys snapped in the door, lost transponder keys, remotes and ignitions, sorted where the car is parked.
Emergency locksmith
Can't get in, or can't lock up? Describe it on the phone, get a price, then decide. Broken keys and post-burglary repairs too.
CH 04FAQ
Questions from Elmwood & Claremont
Can you rekey a hundred-year-old mortise lock?
Many of them, yes. Some older locks use parts that are no longer made. The locksmith will check and tell you the options, including a modern cylinder that fits the old case.
Will a deadbolt spoil the look of my front door?
It doesn't have to. Slim deadbolts in aged finishes, or a mortise lock with a deadbolt built in, keep the door looking original.
Is a key lockbox a good idea?
It can be, if it's a solid, wall-mounted box with a code you change from time to time. Put it out of sight from the street.
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Request a callback
Not urgent? Leave a name, a number and a line about the lock. A dispatcher rings back to confirm the address, the job and the price, and only then books a locksmith.