Broken Key Extraction in Atlanta, GA

Where keys snap in Atlanta

A key breaks when it is twisted against resistance, and a few kinds of Atlanta lock supply more of it than others.

• Shared doors and mailboxes. In a Buckhead high-rise or a Castleberry Hill loft building, the lobby door, mailbox bank and amenity doors are turned by many residents every day, and they are often the building's own locks. If a key breaks in one of them, tell management before anything else.
• Older cylinders. Inman Park, planned in the late 1880s, still has Victorians from the original plan. A cylinder worn by decades of use, paired with a key copied from a copy, is one way a key ends up giving way halfway through a turn.
• Summer binding. Humid summers make wood doors swell, and a swollen door can press its bolt hard against the strike. People turn harder and the key shears off. Pushing or pulling the door to take pressure off the bolt before you turn helps prevent that. NOAA describes the state's winters as short and usually mild, so a lock stiffened by cold is a less likely culprit than one squeezed by a swollen door.

What not to do

• Don't put another key or the broken shank back in; either can push the fragment deeper.
• Don't use glue on the stub. It can bond the fragment to the pins.
• Don't dig at the keyway with a knife or pin. Damaged pins can turn an extraction into a cylinder replacement.
• Keep both halves of the broken key. A new key can often be cut from them.

What to send

In a broken key extraction request, include:

• which lock it is: your unit door, a building entry, a mailbox, a storage room or a car
• whether the door is locked or unlocked, and whether any of the key sticks out
• a photo of the keyway and of both halves
• for a shared building lock, whether management has agreed to have it worked on

If the key broke in a car door or ignition, ask about car key replacement as well. If the lock itself was damaged, see lock repair, and for the city's buildings see the Atlanta page.