Broken Key Extraction in Albany, NY

Where keys break in Albany

Between downtown's old rows and the postwar houses farther out lies a ring of two-family homes from the late 1800s. In those houses, and in the two-to-four-unit buildings around Clinton Square, a key ring may work a shared street door and a unit door. The shared entrance lock is the one every household uses, so it tends to wear first, and a worn cylinder grips a key harder.

Cold adds to the strain. Wind-driven snow and meltwater can get into an exterior keyway and ice up there, according to the state's climate report, so a key that will not turn on a winter morning may be iced rather than broken. Forcing it can snap the key in the cylinder. Warm the key, try once more gently, and stop if it still binds.

What not to do

• Do not put glue on the broken piece to pull it out; glue can seal the cylinder.
• Do not push the other half in after it, which drives the fragment deeper.
• Do not dig at the fragment with a knife, screwdriver or wire; that can wedge it tighter and scar the keyway.
• Do not try a spare key in the same lock until the fragment is out.

Leave the fragment where it is and photograph it instead.

What to send

1. A photo of the broken half of the key beside a coin for scale.
2. A photo of the lock face showing how much of the fragment is visible.
3. Which lock it is: building street door, unit door, mailbox or car.
4. Whether the door is locked or unlocked right now, and whether a spare exists.
5. In a rental, whether the landlord knows, since a shared entrance lock affects every unit.

See broken key extraction. If the cylinder is damaged, lock repair may follow. Local notes are on the Albany page.