Broken Key Extraction in Aurora, IL

Where keys snap in Aurora

• Unit doors with closers. The city's guide for landlords preparing for inspection calls for self-closers on multi-family unit doors. A closer that leaves the door pressing on its latch or bolt can make the key stiff to turn, and forcing a worn key against that pressure is a common way to snap it. This is general information, not legal advice.
• Building entrances. One cylinder turned by every resident, many times a day, wears out sooner than a house lock.
• Mailbox locks. The keys are small and thin, and a key bent back and forth to work a stiff lock tends to give way inside it.
• Ice in the keyway. Snow that melts into a keyway can turn to ice overnight, and a key forced against ice can snap where it enters the lock.

What not to do

• Do not put glue on the broken piece to pull it out; it can bond the piece to the cylinder.
• Do not probe the keyway with a sharp tool, which can push the piece deeper.
• Do not push a spare key in beside the break or keep turning the stub.

If the key broke in a shared lock, such as a building entrance or a bank of mailboxes, tell the landlord or building manager before anyone works on it.

What to send

1. Which lock: unit door, building entrance, mailbox, deadbolt or knob lock.
2. Whether the lock is in the locked or unlocked position, and whether the door is open or shut.
3. A close photo of the keyway showing the broken piece, and one of the part of the key you still have.
4. Whether a working spare exists; if not, a new key may have to be made to fit the lock.
5. Your nearest cross streets, and which side of the Fox River you are on.

If the key broke while you were locked out, it is also a house lockout; a lock that was stiff before the key snapped may need lock repair too. See broken key extraction for the service and Aurora for the city.