You’re arriving at your home after a long day of work. You’re excited to Key broken and stuck in the door? It happens!

What causes this breakage?

1. Sometimes this occurs due to normal wear and tear on a key over time. The teeth on the key get worn down and can make it difficult for the teeth to catch onto the lock.
2. In a hurry? Using excessive force can sometimes break a key in an instant.
3. Other times it can be due to the key being a cheap duplicate!

No matter the cause of your key breaking in the door, we can all agree that it’s a huge pain. The question becomes, how can you extract it and move on about your day?

3 Ways to Extract a Broken Key

Tweezers

This is usually the go-to tool when a key breaks off in a door for most people. Two things you need to be aware of is how far the key has broken off in the lock, and how wide/thick the tweezers are. Thin tweezers that open wide are ideal for the job. Too thick tweezers won’t allow you to position them along the sides of the key, while tweezers that don’t open wide enough will not be able to grasp it.

The last thing you want to do is end up pushing the key further in the locking mechanism. This method will only work if there’s a little bit of key sticking out. Pushing the key deeper is more likely to happen if this isn’t the case.

Jigsaw Blade

This is probably the most time-consuming method of them all and will most likely require a trip to your local hardware store. However, if available, use two jigsaw blades when trying to extract a broken key. Insert both blades on opposite sides of the key.

For this to be successful, the blades must be thin enough. Be sure the blades are also faced down so that they can hook the teeth of the key. After doing so, simply turn and pull.

If it doesn’t work the first time, try again!

Super Glue

This should be your last option if all else fails. While we do not always agree with this method, because it can end up making things worse, this is an option that can be pulled off if done correctly.

The trick here is to utilize something small like a match and glue it to the key. Mind you, this only works if part of the key is sticking out. After creating a firm bond between the two, try pulling the key out of the lock!

Extracting a key isn’t easy all the time. It depends on the type of lock and how the key is broken.

Contact Your Chicago Locksmith

Don’t feel like extracting it? Tried these methods and still came up short? Give us a call at 877-787-3399. With 24/7 service, Quick Key Locksmith & Security can get the job done fast and affordable when needed. Not only can we remove the key, we can also create a duplicate key.

When it’s time to consider replacing your lock, it’s important to know the difference between rekeying and lock replacement. Many homeowners and business owners choose lock replacement over rekeying simply because they didn’t know rekeying a lock was an option.

In most cases, you have the option to rekey or replace your locks. Let’s look at what both are and why you might choose to rekey your locks over replacing them.

What is Lock Rekeying?

While it might seem self-explanatory, lock rekeying is the process of readjusting the internal parts of the lock to fit a different key. The goal is to change the design of the key needed to unlock your doors to ensure the old keys no longer work.

Without a trained residential locksmith, it’s very difficult to rekey a lock. When your locksmith rekeys your locks, you will keep the same locks you have, but they will not open with the old keys. you will need a new key, which the locksmith will also provide, to open the locks.

Lock rekeying offers a cost-effective way to change the key for your locks when you have lost your keys, a tenant moves out, or for any other reason.

Since you will use the current lock body and change the interior parts, it’s often less expensive than replacing your locks. While rekeying your locks is a cost-effective way to boost security, it’s only a limited security boost. If you want to gain even better security, replacing your locks is a better choice.

Why Choose Lock Replacement?

When you decide to replace the locks, you will actually replace the entire lock with a new one. This offers the ability to upgrade your locks to a more secure choice compared to what you currently have for your home or office.

Choosing the right locks means you need to consider the necessary factors. It usually starts with a look at home much you want to spend, along with the features you prefer. Some locks offer better security features and you can even choose smart locks if you want to gain some convenience features.

If you want to upgrade your locks to a very secure option, multi-point lock installation might be right for you. With a trained locksmith, these locks can be installed and will give you a more secure option since they lock in multiple places unlike single-point locks found on most doors.

With the ability to choose the locks you want and upgrade your security; lock replacement might be the right option for your needs. Compared to rekeying, lock replacement offers better security, but it will cost more. You will pay for both parts and labor when having new locks installed at home or at the office.

Whether you choose to rekey or replace your locks, it’s best to hire a trained Chicago locksmith to handle the job. Trying to do it yourself could result in disaster. Without proper installation of new locks, you might cause more harm to your security than good. Hire a professional and make sure your locks are either rekeyed or replaced properly.

As a homeowner, you should never overlook the importance of spare keys, both to yourself and how they might be used by others. It is very easy to do that though because your spare keys aren’t the ones which you would ordinarily use – they’re just in the background somewhere, waiting to be called upon in an emergency, or in unusual circumstances. And if you don’t have a set of spare keys, all it will take is being locked out of your home one time, to convince you of the need to have a set made immediately.

Handling of spare keys

But where should you put your spare keys in order to make use of them when the time comes? You certainly don’t want to put them under the Welcome mat, since countless TV shows and movies have instructed generations of watchers about that hiding place, and truthfully, any object near your front door will be the first place a criminal-minded person would check for a spare set of keys. To avoid the risk of burglary or any other unwanted entry, you’ll have to situate your spare keys somewhere that is not obvious to intruders, but which you have easy access to when you need to retrieve them.

You could leave keys with a trusted neighbor, but that means they’d have to be home when you need your keys. Better options eliminate the need for any other individuals, because they simply may not be available at the precise moment of your need. You might want to try placing them under a deck outside, in a birdhouse you’ve placed in the yard, or under the doghouse if you happen to have a furry friend. A couple of other options might be to place keys inside an outdoor power meter box (carefully!), or along the siding of your home, in a spot which isn’t easily visible.

Any of these hiding places will probably be sufficiently secure from unwanted intruders, yet still easily accessible to you or someone from your household who needs emergency access, and does not have keys.

Other points to remember about spare keys

If you happen to be the manager of an apartment building, spare keys can be something of a problem, especially if they have been retained by previous tenants who will thus still have access to your building, and are no longer entitled to. If you are a tenant moving into an apartment, you should make a point of asking the landlord if a prior tenant still has a set of spare keys, because that could easily compromise your own safety.

These scenarios point up a common issue about spare keys, regarding the fact that they should always be accounted for and not simply forgotten. If spare keys are not monitored and turn up missing, that may be time to consult your residential locksmith or commercial locksmith and discuss an access control solution that keeps your premises, and yourself, secure.