Skip to content
MarklandWoods Locksmith Co.Open 24/7 (289) 805-2539
Hands comparing detached lock cylinders beside loose keys on a workbench. — Broken Key Extraction, Mississauga

Lockouts · Mississauga

Broken Key Extraction

That key had been bending a little for years, and you kept straightening it. Today it finally cracked at the deepest cut.

In plain words

What you have when the locksmith leaves matters as much as what was removed. The fragment is out and shown to you. The cylinder has been cleaned of grit, its pins and springs checked, and dressed with the lubricant its maker specifies. A new key has been cut from the key code or by reading the cuts on the two halves with a gauge, not copied from a worn original, and tested from both sides with the door open and closed. If the key broke because the lock was on its way out, a rekey or a replacement cylinder is offered as its own decision, explained first.

Sound familiar?Mississauga

The call
That key had been bending a little for years, and you kept straightening it. Today it finally cracked at the deepest cut. The stub is in the lock, and the spare you found goes in a few millimetres and stops against it.

NextHow the visit goes

Broken Key Extraction · Mississauga

How the visit goes

Steel door lever on an oval plate with a key in the lock, beside a row of metal bolts on the edge.
  1. Scene 1

    How the piece is sitting

    The first look is at the fragment itself, without touching it. Does any of the blade show above the cylinder face, or is it flush or deeper still? Is the plug sitting at its normal rest position, or did it stop partway round when the key gave way? A protruding piece in a resting plug is the simplest case. A fragment past the shear line in a rotated plug means the pins are holding it, and the plug has to be brought back before anything will slide. Reading this correctly decides which extractor comes out of the case and spares the keyway from needless probing.

  2. Scene 2

    Thawing first on a frozen lock

    A cylinder that broke a key because it was frozen needs the ice dealt with before the fragment will move. The locksmith works lock de-icer into the keyway, or holds gentle heat near the cylinder, until the ice inside liquefies and the plug loosens. Boiling water from the kettle stays indoors: it refreezes inside the keyway and can split a cold cylinder. With the plug free and at rest, the extraction proceeds as normal. Afterwards the cylinder is dried thoroughly and given a water-repelling dry lubricant rather than one that traps moisture, so the same morning is far less likely to repeat.

  3. Scene 3

    A cylinder that has been looked after

    Extraction usually doubles as a service. The keyway has been blown clear of grit and salt, the pins and springs checked for wear, the cylinder cap snugged if it had loosened, and dressed with the lubricant its maker specifies rather than a one-size-fits-all product, since some cylinders take a dry graphite or PTFE spray and others forbid graphite outright. General household oils and sprays commonly collect dust and clog the pin chambers. A puff of the right lubricant twice a year, spring and fall, keeps the cylinder turning freely, and a key that starts to need force is an early message worth acting on before it breaks.

In the van

  • Fine-jawed extractor pliers
  • Compressed air for the keyway
  • Vehicle key blades and chip shells
  • Hook key extractors
  • Manufacturer-approved cylinder lubricant

What shapes the quoteMarkland Woods Locksmith Co.

How deep the fragment sits
A piece standing above the cylinder face is the simplest case. One flush with the face or deep behind the pins takes longer, finer work with hooks and spirals, and the quote reflects that.
Vehicle key electronics
Fitting a new blade to a chip head, or moving the chip and remote into a new shell, is separate from the extraction and quoted as such, as is any ignition check.
Whether the plug turned before the break
A key that snapped mid-turn leaves the plug rotated and the pins holding the fragment. Easing the plug back to rest before extraction is an extra step in the work.

FeesSame any hour

Have it ready

Before you call · 0 / 3

(289) 805-2539

Frequently asked questions

Why did my key break at all?

Often fatigue, though not the only cause. A brass blade is weakest where the deepest cut leaves the least metal, and thousands of turns can slowly work a crack into that spot. Then one morning something asks more of it: a frozen cylinder, a bolt binding in a swollen door, grit in the keyway, or turning before the key was fully in. A bent, worn or poorly cut key can also fail on its own, with no such trigger. The lock is inspected afterwards to find which applied.

What proof do I need to show?

Photo identification and something that connects you to the lock. For a house or apartment that is a lease, a bill, addressed post, or confirmation from the property manager; for a business, your role there; for a vehicle, the registration or ownership papers with matching identification. If the documents are inside, say so on the phone and the check is completed once the door is open.

What happens if the piece cannot be removed?

It is rare, and it is discussed before anything changes. A glued, jammed or corroded-in fragment can usually still be reached by taking the cylinder off the door and working the plug out from the back. If even that fails, the cylinder is drilled where plug meets housing, sacrificed and replaced on the spot with new keys cut, so the door locks normally by the time the locksmith leaves.

Mississaugainformation

PeelOntario

Town
Mississauga, Peel
In business
26 years
Hours
Open 24/7
Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
Visits
On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.

2021 census: what it means at the door

Every square is one home in a hundred.

  • 38 in 100 homes · mixed ages
  • About 38% of homes in Mississauga were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.Where housing is mixed, doors that have been replaced sit beside doors that never were. A new door in an old frame, or an old door in a repaired frame, needs its strike and hinges checked together so the whole assembly works as one.
  • Single-detached houses make up about 37% of homes in Mississauga (2021 Census).Townhouse rows often share a keyway chosen by the builder. A locksmith can move a household onto a keyway of its own so a neighbour's key, or a key from the construction phase, no longer has any chance of fitting.

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile

Open Mississauga in Google Maps

On-site assessment

Request a visit.

That key had been bending a little for years, and you kept straightening it.

(289) 805-2539, open 24/7.