Broken Key Extraction in Chandler, AZ

Where a key snaps in Chandler

Two-thirds of Chandler's homes, 66.0 percent in the Census Bureau's 2024 estimates, are detached houses. A key can snap at the front door or the garage-entry door of a house, and the same break happens at a rented apartment door, a side-yard gate, a suite door in a business park, and a car's door or ignition.

Before anything else, work out whose lock it is. Renters occupy 36.8 percent of Chandler's occupied homes, and 20.8 percent of all homes sit in structures with five or more units. In those, tell the landlord or manager right away, because a piece lodged in the cylinder can leave the door unable to lock.

Leave the stuck piece alone

Do not push the stub deeper, pry at it or work anything into the keyway. Each of those can turn a simple removal into a damaged lock. If part of the key is still in your hand, keep it in an envelope, since its cuts show what the lock was made for.

Stop using the lock until the piece is out, and avoid leaning on the door or gate while you wait.

If the key broke in a car and a child or a pet is inside the locked vehicle, call 911 first. The extraction can wait.

Gates and doors that must stay secured

Chandler's pool-barrier rules call for pedestrian gates that close and latch by themselves, and for gate openings wider than four feet to be secured with a locking device and kept locked. A key that snapped in one of those locks can leave the gate impossible to secure properly, so mention the pool when you describe the problem.

A key broken in a car is its own case. Once the piece is out, the replacement for a key with an electronic chip in its head is a separate step from the extraction, so say what type of key the car uses.

What to send

• which lock it is: front door, garage entry, side gate, pool gate, car door, ignition or suite door
• whether the broken end still sticks out of the lock or has gone fully inside
• whether you still have the other piece
• whether the door is locked, unlocked or stuck part of the way
• whether a spare key exists and who else holds one
• photos of the lock face and of the key piece

A lock that has snapped a key may also be worn, and that is a question for lock repair. Extraction itself is described on the broken key extraction page, and Chandler's housing and districts are under Chandler.