San Rafael neighborhood · 24/7
Sun Valley and Fairhills locksmith calls, on the streets that climb west of downtown toward the ridge
The streets west of downtown and up toward the ridge: houses from the 1930s through the 1950s built into the slope, a garage cut in below the house with a door up into it, a flight of steps from the street, side gates onto a narrow path, and Fairhills higher up where the streets narrow and turn.
4.9 / 5· 228 reviews from San Rafael & the Marin towns beside it
19 min
Avg. arrival
$89
Service call
24/7
Availability
The houses here sit above the street with the garage below, and that shapes the calls. The way in is usually the garage: the roll-up goes up, a door at the back of the garage opens onto a stair into the kitchen, and that door self-latches. When the roll-up is closed and the garage door has clicked, the household is outside with the front door bolted and the side gate latched from inside. That lockout is $125 to $215 and it starts at the gate more often than at the front. A keyed latch on the side gate, on the house key, ends the pattern for the price of one more cylinder.
The hardware on the doors is from the 1950s more often than not: a knob set with a worn plug, a deadbolt added later in a different keyway, a sliding door onto a deck at the back. A rekey of every cylinder to one key is $26 to $43 each. Where a deck door has only a knob, a deadbolt above it is a replacement at $119 to $319 per door. Fairhills, higher up, has larger houses on larger lots with a driveway gate here and there, and the estimate on the call adds a minute or two for the climb.
Parking is the difficulty in this district. The streets are narrow, cars sit on both sides, and the house is at the top of thirty steps. The van stops at the nearest wide spot and the case goes up on foot, which adds a few minutes and nothing to the figure. Arrival is about nineteen minutes by way of Fourth Street or Fifth Ave. Evening calls carry $55 between 8pm and midnight and $90 overnight, inside the figure named on the call, and calls are answered 24/7.
Say whether the trouble door is the front, the side gate or the door from the garage, and say how many steps are between the street and the house. Turn a porch light on. The numbers here are on the risers and hard to read from the street at night.
Most requested in Sun Valley & Fairhills
Nearby
Over the hill, the same van
FAQ
What people ask about Sun Valley & Fairhills
The house is above the street with the garage below. Which door does the technician start at?+
Whichever one can be reached. On these streets the way in is often the side gate and then the door at the back of the garage rather than the front. Say on the call which doors are bolted, which are only latched, and whether the gate is barred from the inside. That settles the plan before the van leaves the yard.
The door from the garage into the house locks itself every time. Can that be stopped?+
Yes. Most of them are a knob set with the button pushed in, or a lever set to lock on closing, and it can be set to stay unlocked while you are home. Where the door has to stay locked, a keyed latch on the side gate cut to the house key ends the pattern for the price of one more cylinder.
The street is narrow and there are thirty steps to the front door. Does that cost more?+
No. The van parks at the nearest wide spot and the case is carried up, which adds minutes and nothing to the figure. What helps is the number: on these risers it is often unreadable from the road after dark. A light left on at the top of the steps saves more time than any description given on the call.
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.