San Rafael neighborhood · 24/7
Dominican locksmith service on the hillside streets around the university, where the first lock is a gate in a hedge
The large older houses on the curving streets around Dominican University: 1910s to 1930s houses set back behind hedges, pedestrian gates on a keyed latch, driveway gates on an operator, guest houses and detached garages, and households whose keys are held by a housekeeper, a gardener and a property manager.
4.9 / 5· 228 reviews from San Rafael & the Marin towns beside it
17 min
Avg. arrival
$89
Service call
24/7
Availability
The first lock in Dominican is usually at the sidewalk. A gate in a hedge with a keyed latch, or a driveway gate on an operator with a keypad on a post, stands between the street and a front door fifty feet back. The lockout that repeats is the pedestrian gate closing on its spring behind someone walking the dog toward the campus, $125 to $215, and the gate latch is worked before anything on the house. Driveway operators carry a manual release on a small key of their own; where that key has never been seen, the technician says on the call whether the gate can be released without damage.
Keys multiply in a house with staff. The housekeeper has the kitchen door, the gardener has the side gate, the pool service has the pool gate, and the owner is in another time zone for part of the year. A rekey of every cylinder is $26 to $43 each, and the count on a Dominican property runs to eight or nine once the guest house and the detached garage are included. Property managers who hold the keys for an absent owner call to book the work in the owner's name, and the written line that goes to the owner afterwards is provided as a matter of course. Households that want to stop cutting keys put a smart lock at $185 to $469 on the door the staff actually use and issue codes that can be retired. A safe in the study is opened at $189 to $525.
The streets are wide and quiet and the van stops at the gate. Arrival is about seventeen minutes by way of Mission Ave or the streets above it. Replacement of a worn mortise case on a large front door is $119 to $319, and the original trim is kept wherever it can be. Evening supplements are $55 from 8pm and $90 from midnight, named inside the figure on the call, and calls are answered 24/7.
Say whether the technician can reach the front door from the street or must come through a gate, and whether that gate is on a keypad, a key or an operator. If staff hold keys, count the cylinders rather than the people. The rekey figure depends on the first.
FAQ
What people ask about Dominican
The pedestrian gate in the hedge closed behind me and my keys are in the house. Which lock is worked first?+
The gate. There is little point planning the front door while the front door is fifty feet behind a latched gate. Gate latches on these streets are usually a rim cylinder in a metal frame and they open without damage. Once the technician is inside the hedge the house door follows, and both sit inside the one figure named on the call.
The driveway gate runs on an operator and the remote is in the kitchen. Can it be opened without breaking it?+
Nearly always. Operators carry a manual release on the motor housing, usually behind a small keyed cover, and releasing it lets the gate swing by hand without touching the motor. If there is a pedestrian gate beside the drive, say so on the call: the technician can walk in and keep the release for the drive out.
Staff hold keys to different doors. Can some keys be retired without rekeying the whole house?+
Yes. Cylinders are priced one at a time, so the kitchen door and the pool gate can be re-pinned while the front door and the guest house stay on the old key. What matters is deciding in advance which key should open what. The technician writes that plan down on the porch before the first cylinder comes out.
Open 24 hours, 7 days
One call, one full figure, the same figure on the receipt
Calls answered 24/7 across San Rafael and the Marin towns beside it. The $89 service call, the labor, the parts and the drive up the hill are inside the figure named on the call, and the receipt repeats it.