Broken Key Extraction in Savannah, GA

Where keys snap in Savannah

A key usually breaks from twisting force, and three Savannah conditions add to it.

• Doors that bind. Georgia's summers are humid, in NOAA's description. When a wooden door swells, people lean on the key to turn a bolt that is dragging on the strike, and the key gives way before the bolt does.
• Worn copies in older cylinders. The Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) ties the Streetcar Historic District, formerly the Mid-City Historic District, largely to the 1888 electrification of the city's streetcar lines. A door in a neighborhood that old may carry an older cylinder, and a key copied from a copy often has shallow, worn cuts that crack under strain.
• Shared locks. With over half of Savannah households renting, building doors, mailbox locks and gate locks in rented buildings get heavy use. They may belong to the building rather than to you, so tell the manager when a key breaks in one.

What not to do

• Don't push a spare key into the same keyway; it drives the broken piece deeper.
• Don't use glue to pull the piece out. Glue that runs into the cylinder can seize it.
• Don't keep turning the stub or forcing the door. If the door is locked, try another of your own doors or wait for help.
• Keep the broken-off half. It can help cut a replacement key.

What to send

• A close photo of the keyway showing where the fragment sits, and a photo of the other half
• Which lock it is: front deadbolt, mortise lock, building door, mailbox, padlock, or a car door or ignition
• Whether the lock is locked or unlocked, and whether you can still get in another way
• For a building or mailbox lock, the manager's name and contact details

If the cylinder was damaged along with the key, lock repair may follow. See broken key extraction and the Savannah page.