Broken Key Extraction in Greenville, SC

Where keys snap in Greenville

A key tends to break in the lock that works hardest or wears unevenly, and two kinds of locks in Greenville fit that description.

Shared locks in apartment buildings. Nearly half of Greenville's homes, 43.8 percent by 2024 Census Bureau estimates, sit in buildings with five or more units. The main entry and any mailbox lock are among the most-used locks in such a building, and neither belongs to one tenant. If a key breaks in either, tell the property manager before anything else: management decides who works on its locks, and a mailbox lock may be handled separately from the doors.

Old cylinders in older houses. Overbrook, where Craftsman bungalows dominate the first section, was fully developed by 1924. In a house of that age, a front-door cylinder may have been used, copied for and rekeyed many times. Keys cut from copies of copies fit loosely, and a loose key twists before it turns. If the house is in a historic district, say whether the lock is original, since the city's guidelines say historic door hardware should be maintained.

What not to do

• Don't grab the stub with pliers and keep turning; that can push the piece deeper or bend the pins.
• Don't put glue on the broken half to pull the rest out.
• Don't spray oil into the keyway; it holds debris around the fragment.
• Don't keep using the lock with part of a key inside, even if the door still opens.

If the door is locked and you are outside, you also have a lockout, so say that up front.

What to send

• a photo of the keyway showing the fragment, and one of the piece you still hold
• which lock it is: unit door, building entry, mailbox, deadbolt, car door or ignition
• whether the door is locked or unlocked right now
• whether a spare key exists

Keep the broken half. It often serves as the pattern for a new copy once the fragment is out. See broken key extraction, house lockout if you are stuck outside, and the Greenville page.