Broken Key Extraction in Minneapolis, MN

Where keys snap in Minneapolis

A key usually breaks where it is used hardest, where the lock is worn, or where the cylinder is stiff. Minneapolis offers all three.

• Shared entry locks. More than one in four Minneapolis homes (26.8 percent) sits in a building of 50 or more units, and a lobby door in a building that size takes many residents' keys every day. A key that has to be wiggled to work is already close to breaking.
• Warehouse-loft doors. In the North Loop's converted warehouses, a shared street door, garage or elevator lock may belong to the building rather than to any one resident. If a key breaks in one of those, tell the building manager first, since other residents rely on it.
• Stiff cold cylinders. On a subzero morning, a cylinder that will not turn tempts people to force the key, and twisting harder is how many keys snap.

What not to do

• Do not keep using the lock, even if part of the key sticks out; turning it can push the piece deeper.
• Do not put glue on the broken piece to pull it out. Glue can seal the cylinder and turn an extraction into a replacement.
• Do not pour hot water into a lock that iced up overnight; it can run inside and turn to ice again.
• On a shared door, tape a note over the lock so no one else tries a key.

What to send

• The broken pieces or a clear photo of them; the head of the key shows its type.
• A photo of the lock face showing how much of the piece is visible.
• Which lock it is: unit door, lobby, garage or storefront.
• Whether the door is locked right now, and which side of it you are on.
• The cross streets and, for a shared door, who manages the building.

A key that broke in a worn cylinder often points to lock repair next. Housing patterns across the city are on the Minneapolis page.