Broken Key Extraction in Allentown, PA

Where keys break in Allentown

Keys usually snap after weeks of fighting a worn, dirty, misaligned or iced-over lock. Some Allentown locks take more of that strain:

• Shared building entrances. With 56 percent of Allentown's occupied homes rented, per Census Bureau estimates, one entry lock in an apartment building may serve every household many times a day. The key that finally snaps there is often a copy of a copy.
• Mailbox locks. Many tenants collect mail from a box in a shared building, and mailbox keys are thin and bend easily. Ask the landlord or building manager who is responsible for the box before booking any work on it.
• Older cylinders. In an older house, such as those in the Old Allentown Historic District, a lock can stay in service for many years, and an old cylinder paired with a worn key is a common place for a key to twist off.
• Iced cylinders. On a winter morning, a key forced into a frozen lock can shear off. Treat an iced lock with a de-icer instead of muscle, because a forced key can snap.

What not to do

• Do not use superglue to pull the piece out; glue can bond the fragment to the pins and turn an extraction into a replacement.
• Do not push the remaining half, or another key, into the keyway.
• Do not dig at the piece with sharp tools, which can push it deeper and scar the keyway.
• Do not keep using the lock while part of the key is inside, even if the door still opens.

What to send with your request

• A photo of both halves of the key, and a close photo of the keyway
• Which lock it is: building entrance, unit door, mailbox, storm door or vehicle
• Whether the door is locked or unlocked right now, and whether you are inside or out
• Your neighborhood, and in a shared building, whether the manager knows about the work

Say so if you are also locked out. Once the piece is out, a stiff cylinder may need lock repair, and a new key should be cut from the unbroken original or a code, not copied from the broken halves. See the broken key extraction and Allentown pages.