Lock and Key Guides
Three practical guides: a key that sticks or will not turn, lock care through desert heat and dust, and choosing a new lock.
Most lock trouble starts small: a key that needs a wiggle, a deadbolt that rubs on its strike, a car fob that works only up close. Caught early, much of it comes down to a few minutes of care or one sound decision about what to buy. Left alone, a stiff lock tends to end with a key snapped off in the cylinder.
The order is the same whatever the lock: look at what the lock and the door are doing, try only what cannot make things worse, and stop at the first sign of a broken or loose part.
Which Guide to Open First
Start from what the lock or key is doing today. Some situations share a cause, so two of them can lead to the same guide.
| Your situation | Guide to read |
|---|---|
| The key goes in but will not turn, or turns only with force | Key Won’t Turn |
| Part of a key broke off and is still in the lock | Key Won’t Turn |
| A lock that worked in spring is stiff by late summer | Summer Lock Care |
| A car fob works only up close, or a keypad lock asks for batteries | Summer Lock Care |
| You are choosing between a deadbolt, a keypad lock and a smart lock | Lock Buyer’s Guide |
| You want keys that nobody can copy without your permission | Lock Buyer’s Guide |
What a Guide Can Handle and What Needs a Locksmith
A guide is enough when the lock still does its job and the question is care or choice: a key that turns a little stiffly, a dusty keyway, a weak fob battery, or which lock suits a door. A visit is the better call when the lock has stopped doing its job, or when the fix means taking the lock or the door apart. These signs should not wait:
- A key broken off in the cylinder
- A key that turns while the bolt or latch stays where it is
- A deadbolt that will not slide out fully with the door shut
- A lock, strike plate or cylinder that moves in the door
- A door that no longer latches when it closes
- Keys that went missing, or were not handed back after a move
Each of these needs hands on the lock, and each is part of the lock and key work we do, from lockouts and rekeys to new deadbolts and car keys.
A Small Kit for Lock Care
The safe steps need only a few things, and they are easiest to find when they live together in one drawer:
- A small flashlight, for looking into a keyway before anything goes in
- A can of compressed air with a thin straw, for blowing out dust
- Powdered graphite or a dry PTFE lock lubricant, and no oil
- A screwdriver that fits the screws on the inside of your locks
- A soft, dry cloth for keys, keypads and lock faces
- Spare batteries: the coin cell your car fob takes, and the size your keypad lock uses
Leave out anything that adds force, such as pliers, a hammer or a second key pushed in after a broken one. A lock that needs force has a cause, and the cause is what needs fixing.
Rentals and Business Doors
If you rent, cleaning a stiff lock is ordinary care, but changing or rekeying it is usually a matter for the lease, so talk to the landlord first. Whether a renter may rekey, and who keeps a copy, are common lock and key questions.
For landlords and property managers, a change of tenants is the natural time to clean every lock in the unit, test each key, and decide between a rekey and a new lock. On a property with a master key system, any cylinder that is changed has to be keyed to the master again.
Storefronts and offices are a different case. Panic bars and exit devices have to let people out every time, and high-security cylinders depend on careful key control, so their adjustment and repair are not home jobs, even when the problem looks small.