A key almost never snaps without warning. It gets stiff, it needs a particular angle, you start jiggling it — and then one cold morning it goes. The good news is that extraction usually saves the lock.
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Keys are brass and locks are steel, so the key always loses. Over years of use the ridges on the key wear down while grit and dried lubricant build up inside the barrel, and the two together mean more force is needed each time.
Cold makes it worse. Brass is more brittle at low temperature and the grease inside the lock thickens, which is why the great majority of extraction calls happen between November and February, first thing in the morning.
Copies are more fragile than originals. A key cut from a copy of a copy is dimensionally further from the lock each time, and cheaply cut blanks use softer brass. If one key in the house is noticeably stiffer than the others, that is the one about to break.
Do not use superglue to stick the broken half to the piece in your hand. It is the single most common thing people try and it is the one that turns a straightforward extraction into a replacement lock, because the glue sets inside the mechanism as well.
Do not push the remaining piece further in. If part of it is still proud of the barrel it can often be gripped, and pushing it flush removes that option.
Do not force the lock with pliers on the stub, and do not try to turn the cylinder with a screwdriver. Both risk damaging the cam or the pin stack, which does convert a repair into a replacement.
If the broken piece is sticking out far enough to grip firmly with your fingers or fine-nosed pliers, and it comes with gentle straight pull rather than a twist, that is worth one careful attempt. Beyond that, leave it.
The tools are thin steel probes with a barb or a spiral, worked down the keyway alongside the broken section to catch the ridges and draw it out. On a lock that is otherwise sound this takes a few minutes and leaves nothing to repair.
If the key broke while turning, the cylinder may be part-rotated, which has to be brought back to the position where the key can come out. That takes longer but is still routine.
Once the piece is out, the lock is tested with a working key. If the extraction damaged nothing, you carry on with the same lock. The remaining question is whether the lock was already worn enough to break the key in the first place, which is usually the real cause rather than bad luck.
Most of the time, yes. Extraction is designed to leave the cylinder intact and it usually does.
The exception is where the break happened because the lock itself was worn past the point of reliable use. Replacing the key without addressing that means another snapped key within months, so it is worth an honest assessment of the cylinder at the same visit.
If you only have the one key left, have a copy cut from a working original rather than from another copy, and do it before you need it.
Three steps, and you know the price before anyone touches the door.
What has happened, what kind of door, and where you are. You get a likely cost range and an honest arrival estimate — not a best case.
The locksmith looks at the actual lock and confirms the price. If it is more than the estimate, you hear why before work starts, and you can say no.
Door opened or lock fitted, everything tested with you there. Card or cash on completion, with a receipt and warranty.
Broken Key Extraction across Bristol, Birmingham, The Black Country.
Usually. Extraction tools are made to draw the piece out without damaging the cylinder. If the lock was already worn enough to snap the key, replacing it may still be the sensible call.
Yes, and not for the better. Glue sets inside the mechanism as well as on the key, and that often means the cylinder has to be replaced. Tell the locksmith before they start.
Worn ridges on the key, grit inside the barrel, or both, usually made worse by cold weather. It is almost always a lock that had been stiff for a while.
Yes. The entry and the extraction are separate jobs and both are handled on the same visit.
Yes, and from a working original rather than from another copy. Each generation of copy is dimensionally further from the lock and more likely to snap.
Considerably. Brass is more brittle when cold and lock grease thickens, so most extraction calls come in between November and February.
Not if the lock allows otherwise. Most standard cylinders and nightlatches can be opened non-destructively. Some high-security locks cannot, and if that is the case you will be told before anything is drilled, along with the cost of the replacement.
It depends on the lock type, the time of day and whether the cylinder survives. You get an estimate range on the phone and a fixed quote at the door. There is no charge if you decide not to go ahead once you have the quote.
It depends on where you are and what is already booked in. You will get a realistic time on the call, and a message if it changes.
Yes, the line is answered 24 hours. Out-of-hours rates are explained on the call, not added afterwards.
Yes, for entry to a property you live in, with proof of residence. Changing locks in a rented property usually needs the landlord's agreement, and we will tell you where that line sits.
Ask for the company name, the locksmith's name and the vehicle before they arrive. You will get a written receipt with the business address on it. If anything about a locksmith feels wrong, do not let them start work.
Yes, card or cash on completion. Payment is taken after the work is finished, not upfront.
No. We do not work on vehicles at all — no car keys, no transponder programming, no key fobs. That needs a specialist auto locksmith with different equipment, and we would rather tell you now than waste your time.
