Guides
Plain answers for San Mateo, before you need them.
Prices, old hardware, fobs, gates and lockouts, written for this city and read in a few minutes.
Aug 2026 · 7 min read
A Sugarloaf House at the End of a Long Driveway: the Gate, the Release Key and the Thirty Minutes
Above Highway 92 the arrival is thirty minutes and the first lock is at the road. Why the estimate is longer, what a driveway gate operator needs from you, how the technician reaches a door the van cannot, keying a three-level house to one key, and the 2026 figures.
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Jul 2026 · 7 min read
A Foster City Condo, a Smart Lock and the HOA: What to Put in Writing Before the Van Comes
The front door is yours to use and the HOA's to look at. Why the association has a say, the four lines a request usually needs, what the locksmith writes for you, what a 1980s lagoon-side door does to a smart lock, and the figures for the whole visit.
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Jun 2026 · 7 min read
A Shop Door on 25th Ave or B St After a Break-In: Which Locks Actually Change
The glass is swept and the police report has a number. Now the question is which locks need to change and which do not. The two kinds of building on these streets, the shared rear door, the key that left with the cash drawer, what is repaired that morning, and what the insurer and the landlord will ask for in writing.
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May 2026 · 6 min read
Keys Locked in the Car in the Mall Structure or a Caltrain Lot in San Mateo
The stores are closing and the fob is on the passenger seat, or the last train came in and the key is in the trunk with the gym bag. Two places with two different clocks, how to describe where the car is, how the door is opened, and what an evening lockout costs in 2026.
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Mar 2026 · 8 min read
A 1920s Baywood Spanish-Revival Door and Its Original Mortise Set: What to Keep When the House Changes Hands
An arched plank door, a thumb latch, a mortise case fitted in 1928 and one key handed over at closing. How to read the case, what can be rekeyed and what should be replaced in the same pocket, why it sticks in winter, and the count for the first visit after a sale.
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Jan 2026 · 7 min read
A Bay Meadows Tower with a Fob-Only Garage: What a Locksmith Can Do When the Ring Is Gone
One ring held the lobby fob, the unit key, the mailbox key and the car fob. What the building controls, what a locksmith controls, the order to do things in, what the HOA wants to see, and the 2026 figures for each line.
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One call, one figure on the work order, the same figure on the receipt
Calls answered 24/7 across San Mateo and the towns beside it. The $89 service call, the labor and the parts are inside the number written down on the call, and the receipt matches it line for line.