Broken Key Extraction in New Haven, CT

Where keys snap in New Haven

A key breaks where it gets the most use and the most strain. In New Haven's housing, that tends to mean:

• Shared front doors in multi-family houses. In Newhallville and Dixwell, two- and three-family worker housing went up around the Winchester plant after 1870. When several households use one entry cylinder every day, its pins and everyone's keys wear together, and a thinned key can eventually give way.
• Street doors to upper-floor apartments. In the Ninth Square's commercial blocks, a single door off the sidewalk can serve every flat above the shops. Small mailbox keys in multi-unit buildings bend easily.
• Copies of copies. A key cut from a copy of a copy, rather than from the original, can fit loosely, bind and twist in a cylinder that has already worn.

Cold adds to all of this. Ice inside a cylinder can hold the pins in place, and turning harder against it is a common way for a key to shear off at the blade.

What not to do

1. Don't put glue or adhesive on the key or in the keyway. It can bond the fragment to the pins.
2. Don't push the other half or a different key into the keyway. That drives the fragment deeper.
3. Don't spray oil into the lock. It holds grit and makes the fragment harder to grip.
4. Don't grab a protruding stub with pliers and twist. That can damage the plug and turn an extraction into a cylinder replacement.

What to send with a request

• A clear photo of the keyway showing whether the broken piece sticks out or sits flush.
• The other half of the key, kept safe. It may help in cutting a new one.
• Whether the door is locked or unlocked, and whether it is a shared entry, your unit door or a mailbox.
• The street, nearest cross street and floor.

If a shared entry lock is affected, tell the owner or manager as well, since every household on that door depends on it.

More on broken key extraction and New Haven. If the cylinder is damaged, see lock repair.