Call (619) 837-7178 Text us 24/7 lockouts · Office Mon–Sat 7am–7pm Españolالعربية Contact
Locksmith · El Cajon, CA · 24/7 lockouts
(619) 837-7178

Solid as the mountain. Fast on the 8.

El Cajon's Locksmith: Rekeys, Deadbolts and Lockouts, Handled

Rekeys and stronger doors for the houses and apartments of The Box. Turnover accounts for the people who own them. Car unlocks along the 8 and the 67. A quote on the phone before the van moves.

Licensed & insured Hablamos español · نتكلم عربي
The El Cajon Arch over Main Street at dusk, sign lit, the marked van parked below

Locked out right now?

Door shut behind you on Mollison, keys on the kitchen counter. It happens all day in a city where most people rent. Here is how it goes.

  1. Call or text. Tell us the cross streets and whether it's a house, an apartment or a car. We give you an honest ETA for where you are, not a number that sounds good.
  2. Have ID and something with the address ready. A lease, a utility bill on your phone, or mail with your name. We check ID and proof of residence before we open any door. That rule protects you as much as your neighbors.
  3. We open it without wrecking the lock. Most house and apartment doors open with picks or a bypass, so your key still works after. If the lock has to be drilled, we say so first and quote the replacement before touching it.

Lockouts are answered day and night, every day. The price for a house or apartment lockout is on the pricing page, and it's the same number we say on the phone.

Renting and locked out?

You don't need your landlord on the phone to get back in. You need ID and proof you live there. If your lease says the landlord must be told about a lockout, tell them after you're inside.

If a roommate or an ex still has a key, being back inside is only half the job. A rekey the same visit makes the old keys useless.

Rekey while we're there →

What we do most in El Cajon

Car Keys & Fobs

Lost or broken key? Transponder keys, fobs and push-to-start remotes cut and programmed at your car.

Lost or broken car key

Not sure which one?

Describe the door or the car and we'll tell you what it needs and what it costs. No guessing, no fear-selling.

Call and ask

Built for a renter town

About 59% of El Cajon households rent, from the courtyard complexes along Mollison and Second Street to the duplexes off Broadway and the 1950s ranch houses in Fletcher Hills that changed hands three times. We built the shop around that.

If you rent

You can have your locks rekeyed. Read your lease first, because most El Cajon leases want the landlord told and given a copy of the new key. We do the rekey on your doorstep, usually the same day, and the old keys stop working before we leave. If you're moving in and the last tenant's cousin still has a key, this is the first call to make, not the last. How a household rekey works.

If you own the building

Duplex, fourplex or forty units on Madison: we run turnover accounts with per-unit pricing, key tags by unit, a photo of every door we touched, and one invoice at the end of the month. Master key systems that tenants can't copy at a kiosk. Gate and laundry-room hardware. Set up a turnover account.

A breezeway of matching new deadbolts at a 1960s courtyard complex in Bostonia
The marked van pulling into the El Cajon Transit Center park-and-ride on Marshall Avenue during the morning commute
Auto lockouts

On the 8 and the 67

During commute hours the van stages near the I-8 and SR-67 interchange by Parkway Plaza. If your keys are sitting on the seat at a gas station on Fletcher Parkway, in the Transit Center lot, or in the Sycuan garage at 1 a.m., we're not coming from across the county.

Damage-free unlocks for doors, trunks and hatches. Flat rate along the corridor. We'll ask for ID and registration, and if a kid or a pet is inside a hot car, call 911 first and us second.

Straight numbers, before we roll

The trip charge is stated up front. You get a quote before any work starts, and that is the number on the invoice. No "$19 service call" that turns into $300 at the door.

See all prices
Common jobs and what they start at
Rekey, per lock from $25
Car lockout, flat $85
Deadbolt install from $85
Trip charge, daytime $75

What neighbors say

Reviews from Yelp and Nextdoor, tagged by neighborhood so you can see we've worked on your street.

Bostonia · apartment rekey

Real review goes here once the Yelp / Nextdoor profile exists under this brand. Paste it word for word with the reviewer's first name and the source. Nothing invented.

Fletcher Hills · deadbolt and strike upgrade

Real review goes here once the Yelp / Nextdoor profile exists under this brand. Paste it word for word with the reviewer's first name and the source. Nothing invented.

I-8 at Greenfield Dr · car lockout

Real review goes here once the Yelp / Nextdoor profile exists under this brand. Paste it word for word with the reviewer's first name and the source. Nothing invented.

Where we work

All of The Box and the county pockets around it. Tap a neighborhood for the streets we drive, the calls we get there, and an honest drive time.

Zip codes 92019, 92020, 92021. Not sure if that includes you? See the full service area or call and ask.

Who's behind the van

Mark Rocco, 6 years in the trade, licensed by the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services and living under the same mountain you see from your driveway.

We check ID before we open anything, quote before we start, and don't replace hardware that still works. Who we are, and how we're licensed and insured.

Owner portrait on Main Street with The Magnolia marquee behind, BSIS ID on the lanyard
24/7 lockouts · Office Mon–Sat 7am–7pm
Call (619) 837-7178 Text us