San Francisco neighborhood
The gate that buzzes, and everything behind it
Half the buildings in the Mission have one: the metal gate at the sidewalk that buzzes you through. When it stops buzzing, or the strike sticks, or the key snaps off in it, the whole building is locked out. We fix those a lot.
Gates, buzzers and electric strikes
A buzzer gate is three parts: the lock in the gate, the electric strike that releases it, and the button or intercom upstairs. Any of them can fail, and the result is the same: nobody gets in without a key, and sometimes not even with one. We repair and replace strikes, rekey gate cylinders so every tenant's key still works, and install keypad entry on gates for buildings that are tired of copying keys.
We also get called when a family cannot reach someone inside and needs the door opened. We do that only with a family member or the authorities present, and we open without damage so the door locks again afterwards.
New tenants, new owners, newer locks
People move in and out of the Mission constantly, and every move should end with a rekey. The old tenant's cousin, the contractor, the dog walker: all of them had a key at some point. Rekeying the day you get the keys closes that chapter.
A lot of residents go a step further and switch the front door to a keypad or a fingerprint lock, so there is nothing to copy and codes can be changed from the phone. Restaurants and shops along Mission and Valencia bring us the commercial side: lever locks on back doors, and the vertical rods and push bars that make an emergency exit open the way the fire code says it should.
What people in 94110 call us for
House and apartment lockout
Apartment and flat lockouts, often behind a locked gate.
Lock change and rekey
Move-in rekeys so the old keys stop working the same day.
Business locks and access control
Buzzer gates, electric strikes, panic bars and exit hardware for restaurants and shops.
Smart locks
Keypad and fingerprint locks fitted to older doors.
Car keys and fobs
Car keys made on the street when the only one is gone.
How the price works
Gate and strike repairs are priced by the part and the wiring involved. Rekeys by the number of doors. Either way, the number is said before any tool comes out.
Free on-site estimate on most jobs, and the final price is said before any work starts. You can still say no.
Questions from the Mission
The gate buzzer stopped working. Is that a locksmith job?
Can every tenant keep their key after you fix the gate?
I just signed a lease on Bernal. Rekey or new locks?
Do you install panic bars on exit doors?
Locked out behind a gate in the Mission?
Call. We open the gate and the door, and fix what broke.