Extract or Replace the Lock
A key snapped in the lock is not the end of the lock, and usually not the end of the key either.
The broken half comes out with extractor tools that reach past it and pull, without drilling and without taking the lock off the door. Once it is out the cylinder is checked, because a key that snapped rarely snapped for no reason. In Fort Collins this is one of the few locksmith jobs where the cheap answer and the right answer are the same one, and the security of the door is never reduced by it.
Where Keys Break
Three places around Fort Collins, and the lock behind each one behaves differently.
A House or Padlock Lock
Cold Fort Collins mornings and a worn key. The blade shears at the shoulder and stays in the cylinder. Extracted at the door in Fort Collins and the cylinder keeps working, still secure.
A Car Door or Boot Lock
A thin car key in a stiff car lock. A car keyway is shallower than a door cylinder, so the broken piece often sits where fingers cannot reach but a locksmith's tools can.
The Ignition
The worst of the three for a locksmith. A car key snapped in the ignition means extraction and then a check of the cylinder before a replacement car key is cut.
What Changes the Price of Broken Key Extraction
Six things move a broken key extraction quote, and you can ask about all six on the phone.
- Which one — a house cylinder, a car door or an ignition are three different services
- How deep it sat — a fragment flush with the face is a quicker service than one pushed home
- Whether it was turned — a piece snapped mid-turn leaves the lock part-thrown and the door not secure
- A replacement needed — cutting a new car key adds programming to the visit
- Cylinder condition — a worn one that broke this car key will break the next
- Hour and distance — nights, holidays and longer Fort Collins runs
What Happens on a Broken Key Extraction Visit
Out, inspect, replace. Skipping the middle step is why a Fort Collins locksmith comes back twice.
The fragment comes out
Extractor tools reach along the keyway and draw the piece back. No drilling, the cylinder stays on the door, and its security is unchanged.
The cylinder is inspected
Worn wafers, a dry keyway, a cylinder the key had to be forced in. Whatever broke it is still there until somebody looks.
A replacement is cut
From the other half, from the lock, or from the car code. A car key is cut and programmed at the car in Fort Collins before the locksmith leaves.
When It Takes Longer
Most extractions are minutes. Three things are not.
A piece snapped while the lock was part-turned has to be brought back to the vertical before it will draw, and forcing it there is how a cheap job becomes a new cylinder. A car ignition is tighter than a door cylinder and there is less room for a locksmith's tools. And where the cylinder itself is what broke the key, extraction is only half the visit: the lock gets rebuilt or replaced so the door is secure again, and a fresh car key is cut and programmed so the same thing does not happen next winter in Fort Collins.
Who Calls Us for Broken Key Extraction
Three situations account for most of the Fort Collins extraction service we do in a week.
The First Cold Snap
Metal contracts, a stiff car lock or door stiffens further, and a worn key gives up. This is a November and December service call more than any other.
An Old Car Key
Years of turning a car door that needed a wiggle. The car key thins where it flexes and eventually shears at the shoulder.
Commercial Premises
A commercial back door lock used two hundred times a day. High traffic wears a commercial cylinder fast, the security of the door slides with it, and the key breaks before the lock does.
What Goes Wrong
Six failures we get called out to put right on a service call, and every one is avoidable.
- Superglue on the other half — now the fragment is bonded into the lock
- Tweezers and a paperclip — the piece goes deeper and the keyway gets scored
- Drilling it out — a five minute service turned into a new cylinder
- Extracting and stopping — the worn cylinder that broke it is still on the door and still not secure
- Copying the surviving half — half a car key traces to half a car key
- Ignoring a key that sticks — the warning arrives weeks before the break
Before You Call
Three things make the service visit shorter and the quote firm.
Leave it alone
No glue, no tweezers, no drill. A fragment sitting where it broke is a minutes job. One pushed deeper is not.
Which lock it is
A residential door, a car door, a car ignition or a commercial premises in Fort Collins. Each takes a different service and different tools off the van.
The other half
Keep it. A replacement house or car key can often be cut from the surviving piece, which is quicker service than cutting from the lock code.
Your Fort Collins Key Specialist
Licensed and insured broken key extraction service for cars, homes and commercial premises across Fort Collins. Locks are opened and cleared in a safe, non-destructive way, and nothing is drilled while extraction is still on the table.
The broken half of the key comes out with extractor tools rather than a drill, and the lock it came out of keeps working and the door stays secure. A car key snapped in a car door or an ignition is the same service with less room to work in.
Whatever broke the key is usually still there, so the cylinder is checked before we leave and a fresh key is cut to replace the one that failed. A Fort Collins commercial premises with a worn cylinder can have it rebuilt or rekeyed on the same service visit, and the whole job is quoted before anything is touched, so the number on the phone is the number on the invoice for the locksmith service.
Call a Fort Collins Locksmith
A locksmith answers this phone around the clock, and the response is fast when your security cannot wait.
Frequently Asked Locksmith Questions
The questions Fort Collins residents ask a locksmith most, on locks, keys and getting back inside.
Can you get in without damaging my lock?
Almost always, on a standard residential lock. Non-destructive entry is what a locksmith aims for, and the lock keeps working, so there is nothing to replace. Exceptions are a high security cylinder built to resist this, and one already damaged or drilled by someone else. If a lock must come out you hear that price first, never after, and the security of the property is restored on that Fort Collins visit.
We just moved in. Rekey or replace?
Rekey, in almost every case. If the lock works there is no reason to buy new, and changing the pins retires every key the last owner handed out for a fraction of the price. Replace only when a lock is worn out, is the wrong grade for the door, or you want a keypad instead. A Fort Collins locksmith pushing hardware on a working lock is selling, not advising, and the security gain is nil.
The door sticks. Is that the lock?
Usually not the lock. If it works with the door open and fails shut, the frame has moved and no new lock will fix it. A Fort Collins locksmith resets the strike or corrects the swing first. A worn residential cylinder differs: it fails whatever the door does, and that is an emergency waiting.
How fast can you get here?
In Fort Collins itself, quickly. The outer towns are an honest drive and the locksmith quotes that, not an optimistic figure. Snow stretches every run and fills the service diary at once. An emergency call runs around the clock, and an honest price is agreed on the phone before the van leaves.
What if I find a cheaper quote?
Compare the whole number. A professional locksmith quotes the lock, labour and call-out together, so nothing new appears on the step. A very low phone price that becomes three hundred dollars at the car is the oldest trick in this trade. We also cut car keys in Fort Collins and cover commercial premises, so one service visit takes care of the house, the car and the security of both.
Professional Locksmith Service Pricing
Locksmith service pricing in Fort Collins is quoted against the specific job before anyone starts.
Residential Locksmith Pricing
| Service | What it covers | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| House Lockout | Non-destructive entry | $55 – $145 |
| Rekeying | Per cylinder, less per unit on multiples | $25 – $45 each |
| Cylinder Change | Standard deadbolts and knob sets | $60 – $245 |
| Door Repair | Alignment, strike plates, worn cylinders | $55 – $195 |
| Deadbolt Installation | Door with no existing bore | $125 – $245 |
| Smart Entry Installation | Keypad and app-controlled hardware | $145 – $395 |
| Duplication | Standard house keys | $5 – $25 |
| Mailbox Cylinder | Swapped and keyed | $65 – $145 |
Service charge ranges vary with location, time of day and what the locksmith finds on site. Lock and security upgrades are quoted separately. Late nights, holidays and the longer runs out of Fort Collins can cost more.
Get a quote for the service you need today, call (970) 803-1100