San Mateo neighborhood · 24/7
Baywood and Aragon locksmith work, on 1920s Spanish-revival and Tudor doors that still carry the mortise set the builder fitted
The curving streets between El Camino Real and Alameda de las Pulgas: Spanish-revival and Tudor houses from the 1920s and 30s, arched front doors with a thumb latch and a mortise case in the edge, wood side gates onto the drive, and houses that have stayed in one family for fifty years.
4.9 / 5· 319 reviews from San Mateo & the towns beside it
23 min
Avg. arrival
$89
Service call
24/7
Availability
The doors here are the reason the case on the van carries mortise parts. An arched plank door with iron straps, a thumb-latch handle set outside and a mortise lock in the edge was standard in 1928, and a great many are still on their original case. Most were converted to a pin cylinder decades ago and can be rekeyed at $24 to $40 per cylinder. Where the case still takes a bit key, or the latch spring has gone soft, a modern mortise case fits the same pocket and the outside stays as it was; that is a lock replacement at $112 to $305 per door. The technician will say plainly which doors are worth keeping, and on these streets it is most of them.
Lockouts start at the side gate. The gates are wood, latched from inside, and the path past the kitchen door is how the bins go out; the gate closes, the front is bolted and the kitchen door latched. That is $112 to $195, opened without damage first. Long-owned houses now change hands, and the new owner arrives with one key and a list of people who might hold another. The first visit is a count: front, kitchen, basement door, garage, gate, and the wall safe in the hall closet that came with the house, opened at $179 to $499 when the combination left with the estate. A keyed latch on the gate so the person taking the bins out can get back in is a small line in the same visit.
The streets curve, the trees are mature, and some blocks have no sidewalk, so the van stops in the driveway or at the nearest wide spot and the case walks in. Arrival is about twenty-three minutes by Alameda de las Pulgas or W 3rd Ave. Smart locks are asked about and often do not suit an arched slab; where a family wants a code for a caregiver, the door that takes it is usually the kitchen door, at $172 to $445, with the front door left as it has been since 1928. Evening calls add $45 between 8pm and midnight and $75 overnight, inside the figure written down on the call.
Say whether the front door is arched or has its original handle set, and send a photo of the outside and the door edge if you can. Count the doors, including the basement and the gate. On these houses the total is larger than it looks from the street.
Most requested in Baywood & Aragon
Nearby
A few blocks over, the same van
FAQ
Asked about Baywood & Aragon
The wood side gate latches itself and that is how the bins go out. What gets fitted?+
A keyed latch or a small deadbolt on the gate, keyed to the same key as the house so nobody carries a second one. It is a lock replacement line at $112 to $305 and usually the cheapest end of it, because the gate stile takes standard hardware. If the gate has already shut on you today, opening it is part of the lockout at $112 to $195.
There is no sidewalk on our block and the van cannot stop at the door. Does that add anything?+
No. The van parks in the driveway or at the nearest wide spot and the case is carried in, which costs a few minutes and nothing else. The figure written on the call already covers the visit. Leaving the porch light on and the gate unlatched saves more time on these curving streets than any parking arrangement would.
Open 24 hours, 7 days
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.