Smart locks
House lockouts
Re-keying
Deadbolt upgrades
Schlage
Kwikset
Car keys & fobsNon-destructive entry first, always - and we re-key Schlage, Kwikset, and Baldwin locks on the spot while you watch
You get a price before we start. It does not change when we arrive. No surprises.
Get your free estimateMedeco Locksmith in Los Angeles, CA | Anaheim Locksmiths
We provide independent Medeco locksmith service across Los Angeles, from rekeys and cylinder swaps to full master key systems. The thing that sets our Koreatown Medeco service apart: we carry the adapters and vintage hardware needed to fit Medeco high-security cylinders into the old mortise locks that fill Koreatown and Mid-City apartment buildings. That’s not something a generic deadbolt crew stocks. Call (855) 382-0290 and tell us what you’ve got.
Why Los Angeles Residents Choose Us for Medeco Service
Medeco locks aren’t the kind of hardware you hand to someone who’s only ever swapped Kwikset cylinders. The Biaxial and M3/M4 cores use angled cuts and sidebar pins that demand a different touch. We’ve spent years working these systems across Los Angeles, often on doors that predate the locks themselves. Noel Camacho, our owner, started on this trade through the vocational program at Cypress College and has been deep in residential and commercial locksmith work across the region for close to two decades. We know what a binding Medeco Maxum feels like when a south-facing door frame in Medeco in Echo Park and across the city has spent a summer baking in the sun.
We are an independent shop, not a Medeco authorized dealer or factory branch. That independence means we chase the right fix, not a sales quota. When your Medeco has years left in it, we repair it. When the cylinder is worn past safe tolerances, we replace it and say so plainly.
Styles & brands we work with







Common Medeco Locksmith Problems We Solve in Los Angeles
- Heat-warped door frames causing deadbolt binding. South and west-facing doors in Mid-City and South LA take direct afternoon sun. The wood frame expands and shifts, and the Medeco Maxum’s hardened bolt starts dragging against the strike plate. We realign the plate, adjust the bolt throw, and smooth the keyway. This is the most common Medeco call we get in Los Angeles between June and October.
- Dust and debris in the sidebar mechanism. The dry, windy conditions here push fine grit into cylinders. Medeco’s sidebar pins are precise by design, which also means they don’t tolerate grit well. Intermittent key operation, a key that only turns when you jiggle it, is usually dust in the sidebar channel. We disassemble, clean, and lubricate with the right compound, not WD-40.
- Lost control of restricted key blanks. Medeco restricted keyways work only if the key blanks stay accounted for. When a landlord can’t track who copied what, or a former tenant never returned a key, the whole system’s integrity is compromised. We rekey the affected cylinders to a new restricted keyway and re-issue keys with a proper log. No forced entry required.
- Shifted foundations stressing strike alignment. Older buildings in Koreatown and the 90004-90006 corridor sit on decades-old footings. Floors settle, door frames lean a few millimeters, and suddenly the Medeco Biaxial cylinder turns hard at the latch point. We re-mortise or shim the strike so the bolt seats cleanly without forcing the cylinder.
- Vintage mortise locks with failing or outdated cores. Many 1920s-1940s apartment doors still carry their original mortise locksets. The old cores fail, or a new tenant moves in and the landlord wants modern key control. We pull the old cylinder and fit a Medeco core using retrofit adapters, keeping the vintage lockset intact while bringing the security into this century.
Medeco Service in Los Angeles: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
In Koreatown and Mid-City, the rent-controlled apartment stock has barely changed since the 1930s. The interior doors on these old multi-unit buildings frequently still have original mortise locks, and the landlords who keep these buildings running have learned that modern Medeco cylinders can be retrofitted into those vintage bodies. That’s the real skill set here. We carry the adapters, tailpieces, and old mortise cylinder housings required to seat a Medeco Biaxial or M3 core into a lock that was installed when Hoover Dam was still under construction. A generalist locksmith in Los Angeles will tell you the whole lockset needs replacing. We’ll tell you the truth: the old brass body is fine, the core just needs upgrading. That kind of judgment only comes from doing hundreds of these retrofits in this city’s specific housing stock.
Medeco Models & Products We Service in Los Angeles
We work on the full range of Medeco hardware you’ll find in Los Angeles: the Maxum deadbolt, the Original deadbolt, Biaxial cylinders, and the M3 and M4 high-security cylinders with their UL 437-rated cores. For repairs, we use OEM Medeco parts whenever they’re available. That keeps the original high-security rating intact. Some older models have discontinued OEM components; for those, we source quality aftermarket equivalents that meet or exceed the original spec. We keep a working inventory of common Medeco cores, tailpieces, and key blanks in our service van so a Los Angeles call doesn’t turn into a week-long parts wait. If the cylinder is worn beyond safe tolerances, we won’t patch it. We’ll show you the wear and quote you a proper replacement or rekey.
Medeco Service Pricing in Los Angeles
Medeco locksmith pricing in Los Angeles runs higher than standard hardware because the parts and the labor are both specialized. A typical service call for a Medeco rekey starts around $95 to $145, which includes the service visit and one cylinder. Full cylinder replacement with a new Medeco core usually lands between $180 and $300 per lock, depending on the model and whether we’re fitting it into a standard deadbolt or a vintage mortise body. Master key system design for a multi-unit building starts at $250 and goes up with the number of units and cylinders. Every job is quoted fully on the phone before anyone is dispatched. That quote is the price on your invoice. No dispatch fee added on arrival, no bait pricing. Call (855) 382-0290 for a free estimate on your specific Medeco hardware.
Serving Los Angeles, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Angeles area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – Medeco Locksmith in Los Angeles
Yes. We can pick or shim the cylinder to remove it, then rekey it to a new keyway. Having the original key makes the job faster, but we handle lost-key rekeys on Medeco systems across Los Angeles regularly. Call (855) 382-0290 and we’ll walk you through what we need.
We do. It’s one of the main reasons landlords in Koreatown and Mid-City keep our number. Our service van stocks the retrofit adapters and vintage mortise cylinder housings needed to seat a Medeco core into a 1920s or 1930s lockset without replacing the whole unit. Tell me what you’ve got. I’ve seen it before, and we’ll get it handled.
South and west-facing doors in Medeco repair in Silver Lake and across Los Angeles absorb hours of direct sun, especially during the inland heat spells. The wood frame expands and warps, which pushes the strike plate out of alignment and causes the Medeco bolt to bind. It’s a mechanical misalignment issue, not a flaw in the lock. We realign the strike, adjust the throw, and usually have it turning smooth in one visit.
Yes. We design and install master key systems for buildings with Medeco cylinders, including the Grand Master and sub-master levels. This means your tenants’ keys work their own units and common areas, while you carry one key that opens everything on the property. For a Los Angeles landlord with a dozen or a hundred units, that’s operational leverage. Call (855) 382-0290 to map out a system for your building.
Stop forcing it. A sticking Medeco key in Los Angeles is usually dust in the sidebar mechanism or a strike plate that’s shifted out of alignment. Forcing the key risks snapping it off inside the cylinder, which becomes a much bigger job. Spray lubricant can help short-term, but the right fix is a full cylinder cleaning and realignment. We handle this call nearly every week across Los Angeles. Call (855) 382-0290 before you make it worse.
Service Areas Near Los Angeles
We run Medeco service calls throughout Los Angeles and down into Anaheim, Fullerton, and Orange. For more on our full coverage, see our Los Angeles service area page. If you’re in the South Bay, check out Medeco service in Alondra Park. Down in Orange County, we also cover Medeco service in Ladera Ranch. For a broader look at the hardware we stock and service, see our Medeco sales & service page.
Book Your Medeco Service in Los Angeles Today
One call covers it. If your Medeco is sticking, binding, or needs a rekey before a new tenant moves in, call (855) 382-0290. We’ll quote the full price on the phone and get it handled. Same-day Medeco service in Hollywood and across most Los Angeles calls is available.
Written by Noel Camacho, Owner at Anaheim Locksmiths, serving Los Angeles and Orange County since he started in this trade.