Who to Call if You Get Locked Out of Your House

Time after time, you get to experience being locked out of your house. Maybe you unintentionally left the keys inside of your house. 

Considering how busy and choked up our schedules can sometimes be, leading to several day-to-day distractions in our lives. It is very easy to forget and make simple common mistakes like leaving your keys inside the house and in turn, locking yourself out. It’s typical human nature to make mistakes now and then. 

If you lock yourself out of the house, not only is it an inconvenience such as arriving to work late, but it can be frustrating as well. In a very rare case, locking yourself out of the house can be dangerous and scary if your little kid(s) or a pet is stuck inside as well. 

So if you lost your keys or left them in the house, don’t panic, you have lots of options that will help you get back inside without damaging anything or trying to break in with force by breaking the window or door.

Things to do if you locked yourself out of your house

As soon as you realise you have locked yourself out, there are three things you can do to get back inside:

• If you don’t live alone, you can call your roommate to come back home with their key and let you in. But if you live alone, you can call any family member you share keys with or one who frequently visits, and you decided to let them keep a key. You could call them to show up if they’re in town. Conversely, you can call your landlord as well. Most landlords tend to live in the same apartment or at least a few blocks away. You could call them for spare keys to your house. If you left your phone in your house, you could politely ask a neighbour for theirs.  However, if your landlord does happen to have a spare key, they are likely going to charge you a specific fee for another.

• You can seek your neighbour’s assistance. Some neighbours have tools and equipment that could help you. And they can give you access to their phones if you have to make an urgent call. A neighbour could help you with a ladder, screwdriver and Bobby pins if needed. Some neighbours may even assist you with a paperclip or a wire coat hanger with which you can use to open your door. 

• Double-check all access to your house. Be it windows, basement, or garage. If you live alone, you are likely to have these things, because there is no landlord or building managers. So you are free to check all the parameters in the house. If any of your windows are slightly open, you can attempt to its screen and open it. If you own a garage that uses a remote, try accessing it with your car keys. However, if you reside in a townhouse, you likely won’t have options such as backdoors or windows. If the day’s weather is pleasant, you may have decided to leave the back or side door open. If so, you can go in. Else there is no such alternative.

Read: Lose Your House Keys (Doors and Window Keys)

Things to do if you locked your keys in the house

Now that you’re aware of some of the things that will help you get back into your house if you locked yourself out, this section shows you the steps you can take if you lock your keys in. 

All doors do not use a similar lock mechanism. They are different. Older houses tend to be much easier to open (or break into) than modern ones. Modern houses come with more enhanced security and can be a tricky process getting in. However, if you locked your keys in, the following steps may help you get back inside your house:

• Turning your butter knife into a makeshift door lock pick.
• Using paperclips by turning them into lockpicks.
• Using Bobby pins to pick your door.
• Using a professional lock picking tool, but you will have to know how to use it. 
• Using a bump key. Bump keys come with crafted keys that can be used to unlock pin-based kinds of door lock systems. Bump keys are single-sided, which makes them a fine alternative for home locks.

However, if you have a reason to be worried, maybe you left the heater on, or a toddler crying inside the house, then you go ahead and try to break into your house. If you have a strong foot or firm shoulder, you can kick the door hard or use your shoulders to jam it open, as cops do in movies.

Read: House and Home Door Locks & Keys

Last resort

If neither of the listed methods worked for you, then there’s only one thing left to do, and that is calling out a locksmith. The cost of a locksmith opening the door depends on several factors. Such are, your location, and the type of door you have. A locksmith can charge you £60 to £100 to open to your door. 

Conclusion

If you realised that you’ve had to spend a considerable amount of money to get back into your house, then you wouldn’t want to lock in your keys or lock yourself out again. To prevent such occurrences in future, you can follow the above methods and save yourself the trouble and expense. You can leave a spare key with a trusted neighbour, family member or best friend who lives close just in case you get locked out again. 

If you have trust issues, or you just moved into a new neighbourhood where you don’t know anyone just yet, you can also hide your keys yourself. Look for a place that people would usually overlook and walk past and hide your keys there. You could hide them somewhere in your garden, under a bucket or tire perhaps. 

Read: What to Do When You Lose Your Keys