You were in a rush to get the kids to school or getting to work in the morning, and without releasing it, you locked the door to your house and forgot the key. After a long and busy day, you come home to find yourself locked out. Now what do you do? Well, there are a few things you should try.
See If a Window is Open
The easiest method to get into your home when you have locked yourself out is to see if you left a window open on the first floor. While you should never leave a window open as it makes things easy for burglars to enter your house, if you left in a hurry and forgot to bring your keys, there is a chance that you also could have left a window open accidentally.
Check the back door as well! Maybe you had an off day and simply forgot to do these things if you were rushed, and the easiest solution could be walking through the back door, which was left unlocked.
If you did leave a window open, be sure to enter through it carefully as not to injure yourself, and explain to any bypassing people what the situation is so they don’t think you are breaking and entering someone else’s home.
Make a Phone Call
Is there anyone you can call to solve this issue, like a partner, roommate, family member, or landlord?
Do you rent an apartment in an apartment building? If you live in an apartment building, you can call the rental office or agency, they most likely have a spare key to your apartment.
You may have given the key to a close friend or relative in the past when you went on vacation to take care of pets or do house babysitting. If you have, they might still have your home key.
Call anyone who has had a key to your home in the past and see if they still have it. You may have misremembered if they have returned the key back to you.
Use that Old Credit Card
You have seen it done in countless movies and T.V. shows, the old credit card door shimmy trick. If you have an old credit card that you never use and don’t care if you lose or that card you got from a store you never go to, it’s worth a shot.
While chances are this isn’t going to work, especially on more modern door locks, if you have an old door handle lock, you might be successful, and if you are, congrats on feeling like the character of a spy novel or even Macgyver himself.
Thick plastic cards or the tool of choice here, and the business card for your lawyer or accountant simply won’t due. They are too flimsy for this type of finagling.
Take Apart the Door Knob
Unless you work in a trade, like construction, or you’re a mechanic, or you don’t have access to your garage, chances are you don’t have any tools on hand or in your vehicle.
If you do have access to tools, you might be able to take apart your doorknob if you are in a desperate situation to get into your home.
You might only need a hammer, screwdriver, and paperclip to take apart your door handle. Door handles come in different designs, but most can be disassembled with these tools.
Like with the window method, be sure to make your situation known to any bystanders, as they might think you are breaking and entering into someone else’s home.
Contact a Professional Locksmith
If you don’t want to break a window, attempt to disassemble your door handle or lock, and don’t have anyone to call, or for that matter, any easy way to solve this problem, your best option will be to call a professional locksmith.
Many professional locksmith businesses have emergency services that will respond to these types of issues 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Professional Locksmiths also carry special tools that they will use to open your door without damaging your handle or lock in the majority of cases, but in unusual cases, they may have to drill the door. In these rare cases, the handle or the locking mechanism may have to be replaced.
Conclusion
There are things you can do to get back into your locked home if you forgot or misplaced your keys, but in the event none of the methods listed above work, call a legitimate and professional locksmithing service to get you back into your home.