Broken Key Extraction in Santa Fe, NM

Why keys snap in Santa Fe's older doors

A key usually breaks because the lock is resisting it: a cylinder that has been dragging, a worn copy of the key, or a bolt pinned against its strike plate by a door that has shifted. Three Santa Fe settings shape what to tell someone about a broken key.

• Adobe houses in Barrio de Analco and along Canyon Road. New Mexico's climate is arid or semiarid, and the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Wood Handbook explains that wood shrinks as it dries and can warp. A wood door or frame that has moved can leave a deadbolt off-square with its strike, and forcing a key against a bolt that binds is one way it breaks.
• Compounds. A Canyon Road compound can have a street gate, a courtyard door and a house door, each keyed differently. Say which lock holds the broken piece, and which key it came from.
• Multi-family buildings in Tierra Contenta. Its more than 3,000 homes include multi-family buildings. If a key breaks in a shared entry, tell the manager or association, who can say which locks are yours to change.

What to leave alone

• Do not keep turning the key or pull at the piece with force. More torque can push the fragment deeper or jam the cylinder.
• Keep glue and anything else that goes into a keyway away from the lock.
• Keep every piece you have. The cut and any brand stamp on it help identify the lock.

What to send

1. Which lock it is: gate, courtyard door, house door or shared entry.
2. A photo of the keyway showing whether the broken end sits flush or sticks out.
3. The other half of the key, and any spare, with its brand if it is stamped on it.
4. Whether the lock had been sticking, dragging or needing a push on the door before the key broke.

Once the fragment is out, ask whether the lock needs lock repair so the next key does not break too. See broken key extraction and the Santa Fe page.