Broken Key Extraction in Detroit, MI

Where keys break in Detroit

By the Census Bureau's 2024 estimates, 41.4 percent of Detroit's homes went up in the 1940s and 1950s alone. A cylinder that has been on a door for decades wears unevenly, and a key that has to be jiggled or eased back to turn is under strain every time. Keys cut from a copy of a copy make it worse, since each generation fits a little less exactly.

Cold is the other common cause. When moisture freezes inside a cylinder, the key stops partway, and turning harder is usually how it snaps. Lock de-icer and patience do less damage than force.

Doors that everyone uses wear the most. In a two-family house or a small apartment building, the shared entry lock turns for every household, far more often than a single unit's door. Mailbox and storage locks use small, thin keys that bend easily when the lock is stiff with cold.

What not to do

• Don't try to turn the lock with the broken piece inside.
• Don't slide the other half of the key back in to catch the stub; it can push the piece deeper.
• Don't put glue on the stub. Glue that runs into the cylinder can ruin it.
• Don't pry at the keyway with a knife or screwdriver, which damages the pins and the cylinder face.
• Keep the broken half. It can help match a new key.

If the key broke in a rented unit's door or a shared entry, tell the landlord or building manager as well.

What to send with a broken key

• a clear photo of the keyway and one of the broken half
• which lock: front or back door, shared entry, unit door, mailbox or padlock
• whether the door is locked or open, and whether another door still gets you in
• whether the lock was frozen or hard to turn before the key broke
• where the door is: the neighborhood and closest cross streets

A locked door with no other way in is also a lockout; see house lockout. Related pages: broken key extraction for the service, lock repair for a cylinder that was already failing, and Detroit for the city.