Broken Key Extraction in Nashville, TN

Where keys give out in Nashville

A key usually snaps where it is turned hardest or against resistance. A few Nashville settings see more of that than others.

• Doors shared by several households. Germantown's homes date from the 1840s to the 1920s, and during decades of decline many became rentals or rooming houses. Where one door serves several households, every tenant's key works the same cylinder, often as a worn copy of a copy, and a tired cylinder with a thin key is a poor match.
• Mailbox and lobby locks. In Nashville's buildings of 50 or more units, which hold 15.6 percent of the city's housing, mailbox keys are small and thin and can break easily. Those locks usually belong to the building, so tell management first; they may need to approve the work.
• Cold mornings. A key forced into an iced keyway can shear off, so do not force it.
• Car doors and ignitions. A worn ignition key, or one turned while the steering wheel is locked, can crack at the neck.

What to avoid

• Do not push the fragment deeper, and do not try a second key in the same lock.
• Do not glue the pieces together; glue can run into the cylinder and bond to the pins.
• Do not spray heavy oil into the keyway first, since it makes the fragment slippery.
• Keep both halves. A mechanical key can often be copied from the two pieces laid together.

Photos and details that help

1. A photo of the lock face showing the fragment, and one of the piece you still have.
2. Which lock: unit door, shared entry, mailbox, deadbolt, car door or ignition.
3. Whether the door is locked or open, and whether the key broke while turning.
4. For a car, the year, make and model.

If the lock itself was damaged, lock repair may follow. A key that broke in a car ignition can also lead to car key replacement.