Locksmith in West Oakland, Jack London and Chinatown

Old houses, new lofts

94607 holds some of Oakland's oldest houses. Prescott, the Lower Bottoms and Oakland Point are full of Victorians and Italianates, many with tall redwood doors and original hardware.

Closer to the water, Jack London Square has warehouse lofts and newer apartment buildings with key fobs, intercoms and keyed-alike unit doors.

Chinatown and Old Oakland

Chinatown, centered on Webster and Franklin, and the historic blocks of Old Oakland around 9th Street are packed with restaurants and small businesses. Storefront hardware, back-alley doors and padlocked gates are the usual jobs.

If your business has a roll-up door, mention it. Roll-up locks and padlock hasps take different parts from a swing door.

Victorian doors

Original Victorian doors are often thin at the edge where the lock goes. Drilling them for a big modern deadbolt can split the wood. A rim-mounted deadbolt or a serviced mortise lock is often kinder to the door.

Warehouses and live-work spaces

West Oakland has a lot of converted warehouses, studios and live-work spaces with heavy steel doors, sliding doors and padlocked hasps. These doors take commercial-grade hardware, and the locksmith brings parts to suit when told what the door is in advance.

If your space has a roll-up door with a slide bolt and padlock, mention it. A high-security padlock is a simple upgrade.

Near the port

Businesses near the Port of Oakland and along the Embarcadero often call about gate locks, office rekeys and file cabinets. Ask about a master key plan if several people need different levels of access.

More local notes

Chinatown's older buildings sometimes have several businesses sharing one back alley door. Agree with your neighbours who keeps the keys before booking a rekey, so nobody gets locked out of the shared entrance. A short note on the door with a contact number helps too.