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Get your free estimateMedeco Locksmith in Tujunga, CA | True Blue Locksmith
We provide independent Medeco service across Tujunga, from rekeys and repairs to full deadbolt replacements. What sets our Medeco work apart here is simple: we’ve spent years servicing these locks on canyon properties where a single call usually means multiple doors, gates, and outbuildings. Most locksmiths see one lockbox. We see the whole driveway. If you need a Medeco tech who understands Tujunga’s older ranch homes, call us at (877) 358-5506.
Why Tujunga Residents Choose Us for Medeco Service
Medeco isn’t a lock you hand to someone with a Kwikset pin kit and a prayer. The sidebar mechanism, the angled cuts on the key, the way the pins have to align in two planes at once – it’s a different animal from standard residential hardware. Our techs have worked on Medeco across the Crescenta Valley for years, from Medeco in La Crescenta-Montrose to early Medeco Original deadbolts and the current M3 systems, and we carry the brand-specific tools to do the job without guesswork.
We’re not affiliated with Medeco. We’re independent, which means we tell you straight when a repair makes sense and when a replacement is the smarter money. Noel Carrasco, our owner, learned the trade at Cerritos College and has been working locks in southeast LA County for nearly two decades. He’s the one who set the standard: if we wouldn’t put it on our own door, we won’t put it on yours. For broader Medeco sales & service help, that’s our main page, but this one is for Tujunga specifically.
We are also, frankly, one of the few shops that treats a Medeco rekey the way it should be treated – as a precision job with OEM parts, not a shortcut with generic pins.
Styles & brands we work with
Common Medeco Locksmith Problems We Solve in Tujunga
These are the five calls we get most often from Medeco owners in Tujunga. Each one is different enough that it needs a different fix, but they all share one thing: they get worse if you ignore them.
- Deadbolt binding after winter rains. Tujunga’s wet season causes door frames to swell, which pushes the strike plate out of alignment. The Medeco bolt catches on the plate edge, and over time that hard contact wears the hardened pin tips inside the cylinder. You’ll feel resistance when you pull the key out. We re-align the strike, adjust the throw, and if the pins are worn, rebuild with OEM Medeco pin kits.
- Gritty keys in hillside homes off Blanchard Canyon Road. Fine dust and ash from dry summer winds get into the keyway and collect inside the sidebar mechanism. Your key starts sticking or spins without catching. We flush the cylinder, lubricate the sidebar springs, and inspect for grit scoring. This is a Tujunga problem more than a Medeco problem – the canyon air is dry and full of fine particulate.
- Loose or worn tailpieces on older Medeco Original locks. Many 1960s ranch homes in Tujunga still have their original Medeco hardware. After fifty-plus years of temperature swings, the tailpiece can loosen and the cylinder housing can develop play. You struggle to get the key in all the way. We tighten or replace the tailpiece and re-secure the housing before it fails completely.
- Bolt hang-ups on thin mid-century doors. Medeco Maxum deadbolts need a square, properly drilled door face. A lot of Tujunga’s mid-century construction has thinner doors that have warped slightly over the decades. The bolt can hang mid-throw and not fully extend. We’ll shim, re-drill, or faceplate as needed to get the bolt moving clean.
- Multi-lock properties with mismatched cylinders. This is maybe the most distinctly Tujunga call we get. A house on a canyon lot will have a gate, a detached garage, a guest house, and the main door – each with a different lock, some Medeco, some not. The homeowner wants key control across all of them. We can key everything to the same Medeco cylinder where the hardware allows, or set up a staged keying system.
Medeco Service in Tujunga: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Take the canyon neighborhoods off Mt. Gleason Avenue. Properties out there often sit on long private driveways with multiple gates and outbuildings – and brush-clearance zones where fire safety dictates how you secure the perimeter. A single Medeco service call in that setting can easily become a three- or four-lock job: the driveway gate, the detached garage, the storage shed, the main house. All within a few hundred feet of defensible-space clearance. The result is that Medeco hardware up here gets harder use than it does in a flat, dense suburb. Gates slam in the wind. Shed doors swell and shrink. Dust works into every keyway. We plan for that when we service Tujunga properties, which means carrying more key blanks, more pin kits, and more patience for the fact that not every door was hung square in 1962. For a general look at our Tujunga service area, that page covers the broader picture, but the Medeco-specific reality is this: canyon homes need locks that can tolerate the environment.
Medeco Models & Products We Service in Tujunga
We service the full Medeco deadbolt line you’re likely to find on Tujunga homes: the Medeco Maxum, the Medeco Maxum Pro, the Medeco Original (Biaxial), and the Medeco M3. That covers everything from the two-sided residential Maxum to the high-security M3 with its UL 437 rating and key-control features. We stock genuine Medeco OEM pin kits, sidebar springs, and tailpieces for these models, which keeps turnaround fast for Tujunga customers. We will not put aftermarket pins in a Medeco cylinder – they don’t hold tolerance and they void the point of having a high-security lock. When parts aren’t on the truck, we order direct and come back. No shortcuts.
Medeco Service Pricing in Tujunga
Medeco work costs more than standard Schlage or Kwikset service because the hardware is more precise and the parts are OEM. A typical Medeco rekey runs between $35 and $65 per cylinder, depending on the model and whether we’re cutting new keys. If you’re having a Medeco deadbolt installed fresh, you’re looking at $180 to $340 for the full job, hardware included, and a Maxum Pro or M3 will land at the higher end of that range. Multi-lock canyon properties, where we’re servicing a gate, garage, and house in one visit, will run more simply because there’s more work — same as our Medeco in La Cañada Flintridge calls. Every estimate is free, and we give you the full price over the phone before anyone is dispatched. No add-on when we arrive. Call (877) 358-5506 and tell us what you’ve got on the property.
Serving Tujunga, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Tujunga area and know this community well, and we also handle Medeco in Glendale. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – Medeco Locksmith in Tujunga
Yes, and this is usually the right move. We rekey Medeco cylinders by replacing the internal pin stacks with new OEM Medeco pins cut to your new key. You keep the existing hardware, we do the work in place, and the lock’s UL 437 rating and key-control registration stay intact. Only if the cylinder body is cracked or the keyway is badly worn do we recommend replacement. Call (877) 358-5506 and we’ll tell you over the phone which path your lock needs.
In Tujunga, the grit is usually fine dust and ash that’s worked its way into the keyway, or it’s the pins binding because the door has swollen in winter rains and thrown the alignment off slightly. We clean and lubricate the cylinder with a dry lubricant that doesn’t attract more dust, then check the strike plate and bolt throw. If the pins are worn from the grinding, we replace them with OEM Medeco parts. It’s a quick fix if you catch it early – call (877) 358-5506 for an exact diagnosis.
We do. Tujunga has plenty of 1920s-1960s ranch homes with original mortise locks, and some of them were fitted with Medeco cylinders years ago. We service those cylinders, including rebuilding the pin stacks and replacing tailpieces, without disturbing the mortise box itself. If the box is beyond saving, we’ll tell you straight and walk you through the replacement options.
Yes. We’ll pull the old deadbolt, prep the door for the Medeco footprint, and install the new Maxum or M3. On thin or warped mid-century doors, we’ll reinforce the door face and adjust the bolt throw as part of the install, because a high-security deadbolt is only as good as the door it’s bolted into. Most installs are done in one visit.
Don’t force the key. Ash and debris can get packed into the keyway during an evacuation, and forcing the key can snap the blade inside the cylinder. Call us at (877) 358-5506 and we’ll come out, flush the cylinder, extract any broken key fragment if needed, and rekey or replace the lock on the spot. After wildfire season, we recommend having your Medeco cylinders inspected anyway – the dust will settle into places you can’t see.
Service Areas Near Tujunga
We handle Medeco service for Tujunga and the surrounding foothill communities. If you’re in Medeco service in Santa Fe Springs, we cover that side of the county too. We also work across Medeco service in Whittier and nearby neighborhoods. Same Medeco expertise, same OEM parts, same straightforward pricing.
Book Your Medeco Service in Tujunga Today
If your Medeco deadbolt is sticking, spinning, or you just want better key control across a multi-building property — whether here or needing Medeco service in Burbank — call us at (877) 358-5506. We’ll give you an honest quote over the phone, same-day service when we can, and we’ll show up ready to work on the whole property – not just one lock. Honest work, solid locks – that’s the whole job.
Written by Noel Carrasco, Owner at True Blue Locksmith, serving Tujunga since 2005.