Broken Key Extraction in Reading, PA

Where keys break in Reading

A key usually snaps where it has been under strain for a long time. A few situations stand out in Reading:

• Shared street doors. By the city's 2024–2028 Consolidated Plan, about one Reading home in five sits in a building of two to four units. In a divided house, every household may turn the same street-door cylinder several times a day, often with keys copied from copies. A loose-fitting key wears the lock, and the worn lock wears the key.
• Tired cylinders on older houses. Worn pins make a key catch partway, and people respond by twisting harder. That extra force is what cracks the blade.
• Mailbox and cabinet locks. Their small, thin keys bend easily and snap when forced.
• Iced-up locks. In winter, forcing a key into a frozen cylinder is a common way to break one.

What not to do

• Do not push anything else into the keyway. It drives the broken piece deeper.
• Do not use glue. It can bond the fragment to the pins and ruin the cylinder.
• Do not keep turning the stub with pliers; a twisted fragment is harder to remove cleanly.
• Keep the broken-off piece. It shows the cuts and can help make a new key.

In a shared building

When the snapped key is in a street door, nobody else's key will go in until the piece is out. Tell the other residents and the owner right away, and agree how people will get in and out in the meantime.

What to send

• A close photo of the lock face showing the fragment, and a photo of the part you still have.
• Which lock it is: street door, unit door, mailbox, padlock or car.
• Whether the door is locked or unlocked right now.
• The neighborhood or nearest cross streets, for example in Prince, Penn's Common or Southside.

A key broken in a car door or ignition often means a new key as well; ask about car key replacement. If the cylinder was damaged getting the piece out, lock repair may follow. See broken key extraction for the service overview.