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Car keys & fobsNon-destructive entry first, always - and we re-key Schlage, Kwikset, and Baldwin locks on the spot while you watch
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Get your free estimateMedeco Locksmith in Redwood City, CA | Cypress Lock & Key
We provide independent Medeco service across Redwood City, from high-security rekeys to Maxum deadbolt rebuilds. The thing that sets our Medeco work here apart is that we see the city’s split housing stock every day: brand-new mid-rise entry systems downtown, and 1950s ranch locks in Mount Carmel that were never designed for a modern high-security cylinder. We work on both, and we know what each one needs before we touch the door. Call (877) 265-4385 and you’ll get a straight read on your lock.
We’re an independent shop, not a Medeco-authorized dealer. That matters more than most people realize, because it means our advice on your M3 or Maxum hardware isn’t shaped by a factory program. We recommend what the lock actually needs. If a rebuild beats a replacement, we’ll say so. If a cylinder is worn past spec, we’ll tell you that too.
If you’re in Redwood City and your Medeco key stopped turning, or you need a restricted keyway set up so nobody can copy your keys at the hardware store, we can usually be there the same day. For a full rundown of what we cover, see our Medeco sales & service page.
Why Redwood City Residents Choose Us for Medeco Service
Noel Carver, our owner and lead locksmith, completed a locksmithing and security systems program at Fresno City College and has been running calls in this part of California for close to two decades. He’s rebuilt Medeco side-bars on tailgates, fitted M3 cylinders into downtown Redwood City office doors, and rekeyed Maxum deadbolts on ranch houses where the original bore was off-center by a quarter inch. You don’t get good at this platform by reading a manual.
The practical difference for Redwood City customers is that we fit genuine Medeco OEM cylinders, side-bars, and keys whenever the keyway is patented. Aftermarket blanks won’t cut or hold tolerance on M3 and Biaxial. We stock the right parts locally rather than ordering from a catalog and making you wait a week. So a rekey that would back up a generalist shop for days is often done same-day for us.
Know your hardware, know your options – the rest is just turning a key.
Styles & brands we work with







Common Medeco Locksmith Problems We Solve in Redwood City
- Corroded Maxum deadbolts in older single-family homes. Damp winter mornings off the Bay and Redwood Creek are hard on exterior brass. The Maxum’s tighter tolerances mean even light corrosion stiffens the plug until the side-bar drags and the key fights you. We see this most in the 94061 and Mount Carmel pockets. The fix is usually a full teardown, cleaning, and relubrication, not a new lock.
- Binding bolts from undersized strike plates and off-center bores. In 1950s Mount Carmel homes, the original slab hardware often has a strike plate too small for a heavy Medeco Maxum cylinder. The bolt throws off-line, the cylinder sits misaligned, and the key grinds even though the lock itself is fine. We re-bore and reinforce the jamb so the Maxum sits square.
- Restricted M3 and Biaxial keys that got duplicated onto unauthorized blanks. It happens when someone loses the key-control card. The copy looks right but doesn’t index the side-bar correctly, and now the key won’t turn. Since the patent-protected keyway can’t be duplicated without the card, the honest repair is a cylinder replacement and a new set of controlled blanks.
- Fob and intercom hardware mixed with Medeco entry cylinders in new downtown mid-rises. We work on several buildings along the El Camino corridor where the builder paired a fob reader with a Medeco cylinder, but the cam length was wrong for the tailpiece. Symptom: the thumbturn slips, the bolt doesn’t retract all the way, and every resident blames the key. It’s a parts-matching fix, not a lock failure.
- Worn side-bars in commercial Medeco cylinders. In Redwood City offices that rekey every time an employee leaves, the side-bar pins wear faster than the keyway. You’ll notice the key only works at certain angles. At that point, we replace the side-bar and recut the controlled key rather than condemn the cylinder.
Medeco Service in Redwood City: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Here’s a Redwood City pattern we don’t see in San Carlos or Menlo Park to the same degree. The older neighborhoods around 94061 and Mount Carmel were built as tract housing in the 1950s, and many original doors have slab hardware with undersized strike plates and deadbolt bores that were never accurately centered. When an owner tries to retrofit a Medeco Maxum, the cylinder’s tighter mechanical requirements expose that sloppy original bore fast. The bolt binds. The key grinds. The lock gets blamed. In Redwood City, we’ve learned to check the strike plate and bore alignment before we touch the cylinder, because on these homes that’s the actual problem more often than not. The fix takes reinforcement and re-boring, not a new lock, and that’s a distinction a locksmith who doesn’t work this housing stock every week will miss.
There’s also the split identity of this city. Downtown and the El Camino corridor keep adding mid-rise apartment and condo buildings with keyed entries, fob readers, and intercom hardware. Over in Mount Carmel and the Woodside Road corridor, it’s still 1950s ranch houses with mortise locks and original knob hardware. A Redwood City locksmith has to be fluent in both worlds on the same day. We’ll pull a Medeco Maxum cylinder from a downtown building manager’s front door at noon, then head up into Emerald Hills for Medeco repair in Emerald Lake Hills and rebuild a corroded Maxum on a ranch house by three. That range is the job here.
For Medeco owners specifically, this matters because the failure modes don’t travel. The damp-morning corrosion in the older neighborhoods is a Redwood City problem. The mismatched cam lengths in new mid-rise entry systems are a Redwood City problem. We fix both because we’ve been running calls here long enough to expect them before we arrive. If you’re in the Redwood City service area, you’re not calling a shop that sees one Medeco lock a month. You’re calling the shop that sees yours every week.
Medeco Models & Products We Service in Redwood City
We service the full Medeco line that shows up in Redwood City homes and buildings: the Maxum deadbolt, the Maxum Residential handleset, the M3 patented-keyway cylinder, and the original Biaxial cylinder. Each has its own quirks. The Maxum is a workhorse but the exterior brass needs annual lubrication in this climate. The M3’s side-bar and angled cuts mean aftermarket keys simply won’t work, so we cut every key from OEM blanks and control the duplicates through the key-control card.
When a Maxum housing is sound, we rebuild and rekey it. When the side-bar or cylinder body is worn past spec, we say so and replace the cylinder. That honesty is the whole job. We don’t sell you a new lock when your existing one has ten years left in it, and we don’t patch a cylinder that should have been retired three rekeys ago.
Medeco Service Pricing in Redwood City
Here’s the straight answer. Rekeying a Medeco Maxum or M3 cylinder in Redwood City typically runs $25 to $45 per cylinder when you already have the key, plus a service call fee that depends on your location and time of day. A full cylinder replacement with new OEM controlled keys runs higher, usually $120 to $250 per cylinder for the hardware and cutting. Rebuilding a corroded Maxum deadbolt is labor-driven, typically $85 to $165, which beats replacing a $200-plus lock outright. Those are honest ranges, not teaser rates.
What drives the cost is whether the cylinder is rebuildable, whether we’re cutting controlled keys from the key-control card, and whether the jamb needs reinforcement. Our estimate is free, and the price we quote on the phone before anyone is dispatched is the price on the invoice. No call-out surcharge added on arrival. Call (877) 265-4385 for an exact quote on your specific Medeco hardware.
Serving Redwood City, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Redwood City 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 Redwood City
Yes. We service the Medeco entry cylinders that sit alongside fob readers, intercom panels, and mailbox hardware in the new mid-rise buildings along El Camino and downtown. The usual culprit when a thumbturn slips is a mismatched cam or tailpiece length, and we match the right component to the existing hardware rather than replacing the whole assembly.
No, and we don’t pretend to be. Cypress Lock & Key is an independent Medeco service provider. That independence means we recommend what the lock actually needs, not what a factory program tells us to sell. We fit genuine Medeco OEM cylinders, side-bars, and keys because aftermarket parts don’t hold tolerance on patented keyways.
Yes, if you have the key-control card that proves you’re authorized to order duplicates. Without the card, we can’t legally cut restricted keys, and nobody else should either. If you’ve lost the card, we can replace the cylinder and set up a new controlled keyway so you’re back in control. Call (877) 265-4385 and we’ll explain the options for your specific keyway.
We make same-day service a priority for Redwood City lockouts and urgent security needs, and we’re usually at your door within the hour depending on where you are in 94061, 94062, 94064, or 94065. We don’t promise a specific minute-by-minute response time, because traffic on El Camino is what it is. Call us and we’ll give you a straight arrival window.
Yes. We quote the full price before anyone is dispatched, and that’s the price on the invoice. No call-out surcharge added on arrival. Medeco work in Redwood City is priced by the cylinder and the labor involved, not inflated after we see the lock. Call (877) 265-4385 for a free estimate, and that number won’t move on you.
Service Areas Near Redwood City
We run Medeco service calls from Redwood City into the surrounding Peninsula communities. You’ll find us in San Mateo and Hillsborough, down toward Larkspur when a property manager needs a commercial rekey, and up through the older hillside streets where Medeco owners tend to cluster. We also handle Medeco service in Sleepy Hollow and Medeco service in Montara for coastal customers who want the same restricted-keyway control without driving into the city.
Book Your Medeco Service in Redwood City Today
Call (877) 265-4385 and describe the lock. We’ll tell you what it likely needs, what it’ll cost, and when we can get there. Same-day service is usually available for Redwood City lockouts and urgent rekeys.
Written by Noel Carver, Owner at Cypress Lock & Key, serving Redwood City and the surrounding Peninsula since 2009.