Our life is unpredictable and a situation can happen to everyone when you find that you cannot get into a house, room, office or car, and despite the efforts made, the door still does not open. It is especially annoying when you go out for one second, and then you cannot get inside. And if there is a small child or pet left in the house? A way out of the situation can be found, although the final result can not completely satisfy you in all cases.
What to do in such emergency cases when:
- You have lost your key?
- The lock is broken or jammed?
- The door slammed shut, but you don’t have the key?
- Is the key or its part stuck in the lock?
5 ways to open the lock
Check windows and doors
If you do not live high, then you should check the windows and other doors. You may have left them open. If there are relatives, children, roommates at home, then you can ask them to open a door or window. The windows on the second floor can be reached using the fire escape or tree.
This article does not suggest that you take risks. If there is a danger of falling, then it is better not to use this method.
Seek help from neighbours
If you can’t get home, try not to panic first. Well, if you do not live alone, then you can just call your roommates and ask them for the keys. And if you rent a house, then you can call the owners because, as a rule, they have a spare key.
You can also seek help from the neighbours and ask the tools to try to pick the lock yourself or call a professional locksmith from your neighbours, which will be undoubtedly better.
Seek help from specialists
Perhaps the most correct and easiest way to open the lock. No matter the reason why you cannot open the lock, there are 24/7 locksmith service that will help you solve the problem with the locks in a matter of minutes. Locksmith near me is a service provided by professional craftsmen. They cover all areas of London, allowing them to arrive anywhere in the city within 30 minutes. In addition, locksmiths open locks without damage and at affordable prices.
Open lock using the improvised tools
If the door to the flat or room has slammed
Most often this happens with steel structures of the transom plan, these doors automatically snap into place when they are closed, meaning that no key is required. In this case, try using available tools, such as wire or a needless plastic card. A thin object can crawl into the gap between the door and the frame and move the latch bolt aside.
Step-by-step instructions will allow you to open the mechanism, which has a jammed latch bolt:
- A plastic card, ruler or knife must be inserted between the door and the frame in the area where the jammed part of the structure is located (you should focus on the area where the door handle is located).
- The tool should be slightly tilted and pressed down. You should feel how the tool slides against the bevel end face of the latch bolt.
- The tool should be directed towards the door, allowing the latch bolt to disappear completely into the lock. The door handle should be kept in the lowered position, and the door itself should be pulled in the direction in which it opens.
In the case of padlocks, this method may be ineffective. Then more serious construction tools will come to the rescue, for example, a grinder. With its help, you can cut off the visible crossbars, but after that, you will have to take care of changing the lock.
Take off the door knob
If the reason for the impossibility of opening the door is a malfunction of the lock itself, the problem must be solved by acting on the locking mechanism.
If there is an English lock in the slammed door, then half of the work has already been done, and the rest will not take much effort. The cylindrical mechanism of the lock can be rendered harmless by drilling it with a conventional drill. However, the lock or cylinder will need to be replaced.
Besides, the cylinder of such a lock can simply be knocked out by resting on it a sufficiently hard object that is suitable. To knock out, you need to use an ordinary hammer or whatever will be at hand.
If it is not an English lock, then the problem will be much more difficult to solve. The first step is to inspect the handle. If it is attached with bolts, then they need to be unscrewed with a screwdriver or other improvised tool.
When the handle has been removed, you should try to find the part of the mechanism that is responsible for snapping, and try to press it with a thin metal rod, pencil, or other thin durable object. At this time, the door handle must be lowered as far as possible. Concurrently with the pressure, the door should be pushed towards its opening.
It is worth considering that these actions can lead to an aggravation of the situation and the final breakdown of the lock or even the entire door, which will have to be completely changed. That is why we recommend that you contact a professional. This will save you time and money.
How to prevent an emergency lockout
Upgrade of the locking mechanism: If you manage to open the lock yourself, it means that your lock is not reliable and does not ensure the safety of your property, robbers can pick it just as easily as you did.
It is worth thinking about installing an electronic lock that does not require a key, and it can be opened by your phone or a code.
Spare key: Make duplicate keys and give them to neighbours, friends, or relatives.
Hide spare key: The spare key can be made of any shape, for example, stone. This will mask the key among the plants and the environment.