Broken Key Extraction in Columbia, MO

Where keys break in Columbia

Keys snap where they are worked hardest or forced, and several Columbia settings add strain.

• Shared entries downtown. Downtown Columbia has added many high-rise apartments since the early 2000s, and a high-rise typically has one street door for everyone. A door that every resident opens several times a day wears its cylinder sooner than a house door, and a worn cylinder grips a key unevenly.
• Copies of copies. In a building where tenants pass keys along, a duplicate cut slightly off is the first to bend and crack.
• Older cylinders. East Campus houses date from about 1895 to 1945, and many are Greek student organization houses. When several residents share one front door, an aging lock and a drawer of copied keys add up.
• Cold mornings. Winters here can bring arctic air, NOAA notes. A cylinder stiff with cold or ice, and a key twisted hard to make it turn, is a common way to end up holding half a key.

What not to do

• Do not try another key, or the other half of the broken one; either can push the piece deeper.
• Do not put glue on the stub. Glue that reaches the pins can ruin the cylinder.
• Do not dig at the keyway with pliers, a knife or a needle.
• In icy weather, stop turning a key the moment it resists, and use lock de-icer rather than force.

If the door is locked, treat the job as a lockout. If it is still open, leave it that way so it cannot lock behind you. For a building entry, tell the property manager, who may control that lock.

What to send

• A close photo of the keyway with the broken piece showing, plus the other half of the key
• Which lock it is: unit door, building entry, storage room, or a car door or ignition
• Whether the door is open or locked, and whether a spare key exists
• The street and cross street, or the building name and unit

For a car, add the make, model and year, and see car key replacement if the key is gone entirely. Once the piece is out, a worn cylinder may need lock repair.