Broken Key Extraction in Ann Arbor, MI

Where keys snap in Ann Arbor

Keys tend to break in locks that are worn, stiff or frozen. In Ann Arbor that points to three places.

• Shared building entries. In the 2024 census estimates, 40.7 percent of the city's homes are in buildings of five or more units. Where the entry takes a key, every resident turns the same lock many times, and a worn key in a worn cylinder is a likely place for a break.
• Older cylinders. The Old Fourth Ward counts over 400 resources, close to a third of them from before 1900, and the city's design guidelines encourage keeping original hardware in its historic districts. An old cylinder that needs jiggling to turn puts strain on the key every time.
• Frozen locks. Ice in a keyway or on a latch makes a key resist. A key bent by forcing a frozen lock, on a house door or a car door, can snap off inside, so apply lock de-icer and wait rather than turning harder.

What not to do

• Do not put glue on the broken piece; it can set the fragment in the keyway.
• Do not push the piece deeper with the other half of the key or any tool.
• Do not keep turning the lock with the half you still hold.
• Do not flood the keyway with household oil; it collects grit and can carry the piece further in.

In an apartment building, tell the landlord or building management right away, since other residents rely on the same entry lock.

Details that help

For broken key extraction, include:

• Which lock: building entry, unit door, mailbox, storage room or car.
• A photo of the keyway, showing whether any of the piece sticks out.
• Whether the lock was stiff or frozen before the key broke.
• Whether you are locked out as a result.

Keep the broken half; it can help when cutting a replacement. A stiff cylinder behind the break is a lock repair question, and the Ann Arbor page covers the city's historic districts in more detail.