About

A town that starts work in the dark.

One van, kept at the north end of Monterey Road so most of the town sits inside a quarter of an hour, out to any door at any hour: a front door on a stucco street at half past five, a shed personnel door before a load goes out, a shopfront on the old main street, a truck at the kerb with the tools locked inside. Cutting equipment and cylinder stock ride with it, so nobody waits on a second trip for a key. This is how a visit runs.

(669) 356-8920 Book online

Daybreak Locksmith works Gilroy out of a van rather than a storefront, because a lock is bolted to a door and does not come to a counter. The van sits at the north end of Monterey Road, which puts most of the town inside a quarter of an hour: 9 minutes to the old centre and the main street, 10 to the east side, 10 to the outlets and the 101 corridor, 11 to Sunrise Park, 12 to Las Animas, 12 to South Gilroy and Luchessa, 13 to Glen Loma and 17 up to Eagle Ridge and the hills. Out of town it is 14 to San Martin, 24 to Hollister, 26 to Aromas, 28 to San Juan Bautista and 33 over Hecker Pass to Watsonville. Eleven minutes is the average. Calls are answered around the clock, every day of the year.

The idea this business runs on takes one line: in this town the expensive lockout happens before sunrise. Gilroy does not wake up at eight. Crews load out for the fields and the packing sheds around half past four. Framers and trades leave for sites that open at seven. Anyone working up in Silicon Valley is on the 101 by half past five, because half an hour later the same drive takes ninety minutes. So the door that will not open at 5:40 in the morning does not cost somebody an inconvenient evening, it costs them a shift that cannot be moved, a site that starts without them, or an hour lost inside traffic. That is a different problem from being locked out at midnight, and it deserves different treatment: the early window between four and seven is priced at $40 on top, the same as an evening call and less than the $70 an overnight call carries. Nobody here pays a panic premium for being an early riser in a town of early risers.

Pricing follows the same list every time and the $89 visit sits inside every figure. A house lockout is $119 to $209, a car lockout $99 to $189, a business lockout $135 to $239, post break-in repair $169 to $409. A rekey is $25 to $41 per cylinder, with the second cheaper than the first because the van is already at the kerb. Replacement hardware runs $112 to $279, a keypad or smart lock $169 to $419, a safe opening $189 to $495. On the commercial side, exit devices are $269 to $699 per door, access control $145 to $389, storefront locks $149 to $419, and master key systems get walked and counted on site before a figure is given. A car key is $155 to $379, a vehicle fob $89 to $179, an ignition $169 to $395, motorcycle keys $109 to $245. Four to seven in the morning adds $40, eight to midnight adds $40, and midnight to four adds $70, all counted in before you say yes. What is not on this list is anything to do with springs, panels, cables or opener motors, because that is a different trade and we are not it.

Before the Shift

Four things that hold the same way at ten to five in the morning as they do at two in the afternoon, for a house off Monterey Road, a shop on the old main street, a packing shed on the east side or a truck at the kerb.

The early hour is priced like an evening, not like an emergencyBetween four and seven in the morning a job carries $40 on top, which is exactly what the same job carries between eight and midnight, and less than the $70 it carries after midnight. That is deliberate. In this town the small hours are not exotic; half the working population is already awake, and charging them a panic premium for being early would be dishonest. The figure is said on the call with that already counted in.

One figure on the call, and the receipt repeats itThe number covers the visit, the labour and the parts. A cylinder that turns out to be older than the house, a strike screwed into trim instead of framing, a keypad with flat cells, a bolt that has not lined up since the last hot spell: none of that moves it. Your card is charged what you were told on the phone, and an itemised receipt reaches your email before the van leaves the street.

Cold opening first, and nothing destructive until you have agreed to itPicks, shims and bypass tools come out before anything destructive does, so the lock is still a working lock when the van pulls away. If one genuinely will not give, you hear what it is doing, what would replace it and what that costs, and the decision is yours. Agreeing to a drill has never earned anyone here a larger number.

You leave with a key or a code that works, not just an open doorGetting you in is half of it. The other half is that tomorrow morning is not a repeat of this one: a key cut at the van for the door that had none, a rekey so one key runs the house, the shop and the side gate, or a code you choose yourself and enter twice while the technician is still standing there.

The crew is loading out for the fields and the sheds: 4:40am
The drive north to San Jose: 5:30am
Framers and trades on a job that opens at seven: 6:15am

Where we work

Gilroy and the south valley, any hour

Pick your area for its own arrival time and the jobs we run there most.

Downtown & Monterey Street Old Gilroy & the east side The outlets & the 101 corridor Sunrise Park & north Gilroy Las Animas & the north-west South Gilroy & Luchessa Glen Loma & the west side Eagle Ridge & the hills San Martin Hollister Aromas San Juan Bautista Watsonville

(669) 356-8920

Open 24 hours, 7 days

Say the hour and what stopped you, hear the figure, get to work on time

Gilroy plus San Martin, Hollister, Aromas, San Juan Bautista and Watsonville, around the clock, every day. Four to seven in the morning costs what an evening costs and less than a night, and whatever hour it is, the number comes back on the call with the $89 visit already inside it — and it is the number on the receipt.

(669) 356-8920 Book online