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Get your free estimateMedeco Locksmith in Burien, WA | Lodestar Locksmith
We provide independent Medeco locksmith service across Burien, from original high-security cylinders to Maxum deadbolts and M3 keyway-restricted hardware. What makes our Medeco work different here is simple: Burien’s 1940s – 1970s housing stock still carries original mortise bodies and builder-grade deadbolts that have been retrofitted with Medeco cylinders over the decades, and we’re one of the few shops that will rekey or repair those rather than push a full replacement. Call (855) 382-0943 for a free phone estimate before anyone is dispatched.
Lodestar Locksmith is an independent Medeco service provider. We are not manufacturer-affiliated or authorized. Our credibility comes from bench experience across eight lock brands including Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy, Sargent, Schlage and Kwikset. For full Medeco sales & service in Burien, reach us seven days a week.
Why Burien Residents Choose Us for Medeco Service
Most locksmiths in the region can swap a Kwikset knob. Far fewer can open a gummed-up Medeco M3 cylinder, identify which slider wafer is hanging, and re-pin it with OEM parts on a tailgate. That’s the work Norm Eckley, our owner, has done for two decades, including the Automotive & Industrial Technology programs at Clover Park Technical College and years of hands-on Medeco hardware experience across Pierce and King counties. When a Burien landlord calls about a restricted key that won’t lift the sidebar anymore, we know exactly what’s happening inside the cylinder.
We work in the brands you researched. That means we don’t flinch at a Medeco Maxum deadbolt, an original Medeco Classic pin-tumbler cylinder, or a high-security cylinder retrofitted into a 1950s mortise body. We keep OEM pins, springs, wafers and cylinders on hand for fast turnarounds in Burien, and we repair rather than replace when the lock case is sound.
Styles & brands we work with







Common Medeco Locksmith Problems We Solve in Burien
- Damp-packed cylinders that refuse to rotate. Puget Sound’s wet marine climate keeps exterior locks damp for months. Medeco’s restricted keyway pins and slider wafers are tighter-tolerance than builder-grade hardware, so they gum up faster. We strip, clean, and re-lube them, then re-pin with OEM parts if needed.
- Rusted or corroded exterior Medeco cylinders on post-war bungalows. Homes off Ambaum Blvd and in the older downtown core sit with their deadbolt faces exposed through fall and winter rain. We see cylinders so corroded the key physically won’t seat. Often the cylinder can be rebuilt; sometimes only the face has to be replaced.
- Worn key control from rental turnover. The Ambaum corridor has a steady rhythm of tenants moving in and out. Restricted keys get copied, worn, and eventually stop lifting the sidebar or driving the pins cleanly. We cut new keys, re-pin for fresh key control, and set up master-key systems when a landlord needs tiered access.
- Misalignment on swollen sticking wooden doors. Burien’s 1940s – 60s houses have wood doors that swell every winter. The bolt throws off the Medeco strike, and a perfectly good high-security deadbolt feels broken. We realign strikes, adjust hinges, and true the door rather than blaming the lock.
- Retrofitted mortise-and-Medeco Frankenstein setups. A lot of Burien’s original mortise bodies have been fitted with Medeco high-security cylinders over the years. Newer locksmiths won’t touch them. We service, re-pin, and repair them because the original brass mortise body is often better-built than anything sold today.
Medeco Service in Burien: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Here’s something you won’t find on a generic Medeco page. Burien is its own incorporated city with its own permitting and rental-housing inspection culture, separate from Seattle next door. That means landlords along the Ambaum corridor and in the North Highline area don’t run on King County’s or Seattle’s turnover clock. They rekey and re-pin Medeco high-security cylinders on Burien’s schedule, when inspections demand it and when tenants cycle out. So in any given month, we’ll cluster a dozen Medeco rekeys and master-key changes within a few blocks of Ambaum Blvd, many of them on 1950s bungalows still running original mortise bodies. The work is different here than it would be in Seattle, White Center, or Normandy Park. Burien’s older housing inventory plus its own rental-inspection rhythm creates a steady flow of Medeco service that a generic city page will never capture. And because the housing stock leans 1940s – 1970s, we’re repairing and retrofitting far more often than we’re doing new-construction installs.
Medeco Models & Products We Service in Burien
We service the Medeco Maxum deadbolt, the Medeco M3 high-security cylinder, the Medeco Original (Classic) pin-tumbler cylinder, and the Maxum 11 Series deadbolt across Burien. When a lock’s restricted keyway and key-control have to be preserved, we fit genuine Medeco OEM pins, springs, wafers and cylinders. We’ll use quality aftermarket hardware only for non-security trim, never for the core cylinder. On old mortise bodies in Burien’s 1950s homes, we repair rather than replace when the case is sound. Rekeying a Medeco in Burien usually means we’re keeping your original hardware and restoring its key control, not swapping in something new.
Medeco Service Pricing in Burien
Medeco locksmith work in Burien typically lands in these ranges:
- Medeco rekey (single cylinder): $60 – $110
- Medeco rekey with new restricted keys: $85 – $160
- Medeco cylinder rebuild (cleaning, re-pinning, new wafers): $120 – $210
- Medeco Maxum deadbolt install or replacement: $180 – $340
- Master-key system setup (per cylinder): $35 – $75 on top of rekey
- Service call + labor: $45 – $95, depending on time and location
What drives the cost: how badly the cylinder is corroded, whether we’re preserving an original mortise body, and how many keys you need. Every estimate is free over the phone. The price we quote is the price on your invoice. No call-out surcharge added on arrival. Call (855) 382-0943 and we’ll talk through what you actually need before anyone gets in a van.
Serving Burien, WA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Burien area and know this community well, and we also serve Boulevard Park. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – Medeco Locksmith in Burien
Yes, in most cases. Medeco’s key-control system is designed to restrict key duplication, but if you own the lock and can prove it, we can disassemble the cylinder and re-pin it to a new restricted keyway without the original card. It takes longer than a standard rekey because we’re working through the sidebar and wafer stack. Call (855) 382-0943 and we’ll tell you exactly what’s involved for your specific model.
We do whenever the mortise body is sound. Burien’s older homes off Ambaum often have original brass mortise cases that are better-built than modern replacements. We’ll fit a Medeco high-security cylinder into the existing body, service the internal springs and levers, and you keep the character of the original door while gaining restricted-key security. If the body itself is cracked or worn beyond repair, we’ll tell you straight and show you why.
Riverton Medeco service faces the same wet climate, but Burien’s marine weather saturates exterior locks for months, and Medeco’s tighter tolerances mean damp-packed pins and wafers bind sooner than on builder-grade hardware. Add swelling wood doors on 1940s – 60s houses and you get two compounding problems: a sticky cylinder and a misaligned bolt. We clean and re-lube the cylinder and adjust the strike plate to fix both.
Yes. We’ve built master-key systems for Burien landlords running Medeco cylinders across multiple units along the Ambaum corridor. We’ll map your access levels, re-pin each cylinder for the right tier, and cut master keys that work across the buildings while tenants keep individual restricted keys. This is scheduled work with a written scope and flat per-lock pricing, not a dispatch call. Call (855) 382-0943 for a walkthrough of what it would take.
A Medeco cylinder only protects what it’s mounted to. Burien’s older rentals, especially 1940s – 60s bungalows, often have thin door frames and shallow strike screws that give way under force. We install door reinforcement plates and longer screws so the Medeco deadbolt actually resists a kick. Without that, you’ve got a $200 high-security cylinder in a door that fails at the frame. For rentals, it’s the difference between a lock that slows someone down and one that stops them.
Service Areas Near Burien
Lodestar Locksmith serves Burien and the surrounding South King County and Pierce County communities. If you’re just outside our Burien zone, see Burien service area details, Medeco service in East Hill-Meridian, or Medeco service in Covington. We also cover Tacoma, Browns Point, Fircrest, Fife, Fife Heights, and Waller for Medeco high-security work.
Book Your Medeco Service in Burien Today
If your Medeco cylinder is fighting you, or you’re ready to step a Burien rental up to restricted-key security, call (855) 382-0943. We’ll give you a straight phone estimate, schedule fast, and show up ready to fix it. The right fix the first time, because a second lockout call is one too many.
Written by Norm Eckley, Owner & Locksmith at Lodestar Locksmith, serving Burien since 2015.