Broken Key Extraction in West Valley City, UT

Where keys break in West Valley City

A key rarely snaps without warning. It usually goes after weeks of turning hard in a worn or dirty lock.

• Shared apartment doors. The apartment buildings at Fairbourne Station, near City Hall, date from 2014, 2021 and 2024. Any keyed door shared by a whole building, such as a side entry, storage room or mail room, is worked by many hands every day. The Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey counts about 9 percent of Salt Lake County homes in buildings of 50 or more units, against about 7 percent nationally, so shared doors are somewhat more common in the county than across the country.
• Mailbox keys. These are short and thin, and they bend before they break. A mailbox lock that has begun to stick will twist its key a little more each day.
• Old house cylinders. Redwood's brick ranches were mostly built in the 1960s and 1970s. A cylinder that old, worked by a key copied from a copy, can catch partway through the turn and shear the blade.
• Ice in the keyway. Forcing a key against ice on a winter morning puts heavy twist on the blade. Use lock de-icer to thaw the lock before turning.

What not to do

• Do not slide the spare key into the same lock. It can push the broken piece further in.
• Do not dab glue on the stub. Glue that reaches the pins can ruin the cylinder.
• Do not keep working the handle or yanking on the door.

Shared doors

If the key broke in a building entry, a mailbox or another lock you share, tell the manager or property owner in writing as well. The lock belongs to the building, and they may need to approve the work.

Photos and details

1. A photo of the keyway showing the broken piece, and one of the part you still hold.
2. Which lock it is: building entry, unit door, mailbox, house deadbolt or car.
3. Whether the door is locked or unlocked right now.

A worn cylinder points to lock repair afterward. For Fairbourne Station and Redwood, see the West Valley City overview.