Locksmith in West Allis, WI

Your locksmith in West Allis

When you need a locksmith in West Allis, we drive to you with the tools and the keys in the vehicle, so the job is done at your door or at your car. Opening a locked house or car usually takes a few minutes once we arrive, and a rekey or a car key takes 15 to 60 minutes. West Allis sits about 5 miles west of downtown Milwaukee, so it is a short trip from the rest of our area.

West Allis is a city of about 60,000 people in Milwaukee County, and its history explains a lot about its doors. The name comes from Edward P. Allis, whose company became Allis-Chalmers, and the huge Allis-Chalmers works were the reason the village formed in 1902 and became a city in 1906. Between 1910 and 1930 the population grew fivefold as factory workers bought houses near the plant.

Bungalows, Cape Cods, and workers' cottages

The factory boom left West Allis with streets of bungalows, Cape Cods, workers' cottages, and later ranch houses, most built in the first half of the 1900s. Many of these homes still have their original front doors, side doors to the driveway, and a back door to the yard, and over the decades each door got its own lock and its own key.

The most common West Allis request we get from new owners is simple: one key for every door. We rekey the front, side, and back locks to a single new key, and the old keys from the previous owner stop working (rekeying). A first lock rekey starts at $59, and each additional lock on the same visit starts at $20. If a lock is worn out rather than just keyed wrong, we replace it (lock change).

Doors on older houses

Older doors in West Allis come with their own problems. Wood swells in the summer and shrinks in the winter, so a deadbolt that closed easily in May can drag by January. A latch that no longer catches, a deadbolt that needs a push on the door, or a key that turns only halfway are often alignment problems, not a dead lock. We adjust the strike and the door first, and only sell you a lock when the old one is finished (lock repair).

Some of these houses have no deadbolt at all, or an old one that a modern lock would do better. We install deadbolts in existing holes or drill new ones in solid wood doors (deadbolt installation).

State Fair season

Wisconsin State Fair Park has been in West Allis since 1892, and the State Fair still fills the grounds every summer; the grounds also hold the Milwaukee Mile, the oldest operating motor speedway in the world. Fair days bring a lot of cars into lots and side streets around 84th Street and Greenfield Avenue, and a lot of keys locked in those cars. If you lock your keys in the car at the fair, tell us which lot or street you parked on, and we come to the car. A car lockout starts at $69 (car lockout).

Shops and small businesses

West Allis still has a working downtown along Greenfield Avenue between 70th and 76th Streets, the West Allis Farmers Market, open since 1919, and plenty of small shops, bars, and repair businesses across the city. For a business, we rekey after an employee leaves, change storefront cylinders, and set up master key systems so the owner carries one key while staff open only their own doors (master key systems). A business lockout starts at $89.

Car keys in West Allis

We make car keys at your house or your workplace in West Allis. A spare key with a working key starts at $69, a smart key starts at $159, and a key when all are lost starts at $119 (lost car keys). Bring the title or registration, and the key is cut and programmed in the driveway.

Near West Allis

West Allis borders the city of Milwaukee on the east and Greenfield on the south, and Wauwatosa and New Berlin are next door to the north and west. Highway 100 runs south from the West Allis area toward Hales Corners. We cover all of them at the same prices.