Broken Key Extraction in Colorado Springs, CO

Where keys get stressed in Colorado Springs

• Iced keyways. Winter chinook warm spells melt snow, and the city's sharp day-to-day temperature swings can turn that water to ice inside a lock overnight. Forcing a key against ice in a cylinder risks snapping it.
• Shared entries and mailboxes. In apartment and condo buildings, the entry, garage and mailbox locks are turned by every resident. Those locks often belong to the building, so tell the property manager before anyone works on them.
• Older doors. Old North End houses date from 1885 to 1965, and a lock used for decades can wear until the key needs extra force to turn. A thin, worn key tends to crack at the shoulder.
• Car doors and ignitions. A worn or bent car key can break the same way, especially in a stiff door lock on a cold morning.

What not to do

• Do not keep turning or wiggling the stub. That can push the piece deeper or damage the pins.
• Do not use glue to rejoin the pieces; adhesive that seeps in can lock up the whole cylinder.
• Do not push the other half back in to try the lock.
• Do not spray oil into the keyway while the piece is still inside.
• Keep both pieces. The remaining half helps when a new key has to be cut.

What to send

1. A close photo of the keyway showing where the piece sits: sticking out, flush or deep inside.
2. A photo of the remaining half beside a coin for scale.
3. Whether the door is locked or unlocked, and whether you can get in another way.
4. What the lock is on: a house door, a building entry, a mailbox, a garage or a vehicle. For a vehicle, add the year, make and model.
5. For a building lock, the manager's name and whether they approved the work.
6. The neighborhood and nearest cross streets.

If the stuck piece has left you outside, house lockout covers getting in. For the service itself, see broken key extraction; Colorado Springs has more on the city's weather and buildings.