Where keys break in Alexandria

Keys snap where they are turned hardest and most often. Alexandria's housing mix and its old buildings point to three settings.

Shared entries and mailboxes. By 2024 Census Bureau estimates, 36.3 percent of Alexandria homes are in buildings of 50 units or more, so a lobby door or mailbox bank may pass many keys through one cylinder. Management may run those locks. If a key breaks in one, report it to management first; the lock is theirs to have serviced.
Old cylinders. The Alexandria Historic District spans nearly one hundred blocks of buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. Locks in older doors, and keys copied from copies, wear unevenly, and a key that needs jiggling is one twist from breaking.
Frost and grit. An iced or gritty keyway invites extra force, and extra force is what snaps a key. Let a frozen keyway thaw with lock de-icer before the key goes back in.

What not to do

Do not push a spare key or the other half into the lock. It drives the fragment deeper.
Do not put glue on the fragment. Glue that reaches the pins can ruin the cylinder.
Do not keep turning the lock or try to work the door with the stub.
If the door is open, leave it open or unlatched until the piece is out, so a broken key does not become a lockout too.
Keep both pieces so the key can be matched later.

If the cylinder turns out to be damaged, lock repair may follow.

At the door

Removing a key that has snapped off or become stuck in a lock, then checking the lock and providing a new key where possible.

ID and proof you may access the property are checked before any work.

Public records and references this page draws on. They are outside USA Locksmith Pros and open in a new tab.