Broken Key Extraction in Jacksonville, FL

Where keys snap in Jacksonville

A key gives out when it is turned against resistance: a stiff cylinder, a key worn thin at the neck, or a door pulling on its bolt. Several Jacksonville settings set that up.

• Unit doors and mailboxes. In Southbank residential towers and Brooklyn's mixed-use developments, the lobby, garage or elevator may run on a building-managed fob, while a metal key may still work the unit door and, in some buildings, the mailbox. A small mailbox key twisted in a sticky lock breaks easily.
• Office suites. In Northbank towers, entry may be by card or fob while each suite door keeps its own lock, and a suite key that is shared and copied wears out while the card keeps working.
• Older cylinders. Avondale, developed from 1920, and Riverside's bungalow streets hold houses whose original locks may have decades of use behind them. A worn cylinder and a key copied from a copy leave little margin.

What not to do

• Do not push the broken tip back in against the other half or try to turn it; that packs the piece deeper.
• Do not put glue on the stub. Glue in the keyway can turn an extraction into a cylinder replacement.
• Do not spray household oil into the lock or let others try their own keys in it.
• If the key broke in a car ignition, do not force it or crank the ignition to try to start the car.

What to send

1. A photo of the broken piece beside the lock, and of any part still visible in the keyway.
2. Whether the lock is locked or unlocked, and whether you can still get in another way.
3. The kind of lock: house door, deadbolt, unit door, mailbox, padlock or vehicle.
4. For a mailbox or shared door, whether building management has been told, since the lock may be theirs.
5. Whether a working spare exists. If not, the lock may need rekeying or a new key cut once the piece is out.

See broken key extraction for how the service works. A lock that keeps binding may need lock repair, and the Jacksonville page has the city overview.