Lost Your Front Door Key and Don't Have a Spare?
Don’t you hate it when you can’t find your house keys? The rush of panic you feel as you frantically search for them is a feeling no one ever wants to experience! Luckily, there are things to consider before resorting to calling a locksmith. There are actually ways to get in! Here are three things you can do before calling a locksmith:
1) Relax
This may be obvious, but when you’re in a panic it doesn’t always occur to you: Does anyone else have your key? Family, a friend, a neighbor? Your landlord?! Go down a list in your head and see if there is any possibility someone else may be able to come through for you.
2) Try a DIY Technique
Another idea to try is the classic credit card trick. Hopefully even if you’ve lost your keys you still have your credit card! This handy little tool can open a door without a key. Take your card and make sure it’s touching the doorknob. Push it in and it’ll gradually start to slide in easier. Then bend your card in the opposite directions so that it is able to push the lock back. Don’t hesitate—open the door as soon as you can! A little tried and true trick that has come in handy throughout the ages.
3) Lubricate the Lock
Alternatively, suppose you do have your key… but the key broke off in the lock. Now not only do you have a broken key, but you have to find a way to remove the broken key from the lock. Luckily, there is a solution to this too. To remove a broken key, there are multiple methods to choose from. If the key broke in the lock, it is important that you do not attempt to use the other half of the key and assume it still works. Many people have tried to fix their broken key by inserting the rest of the key and hoping for the best. Not a good idea. It will only push the other half of the key in farther.
Putting some kind of lubricant on the lock is known to be helpful. Dry lubricants tend to work better than oil-based lubricants, but either will work in a pinch. Get some pliers, and work on sliding that key out of there!
4) Try a Tool
Not everyone has lubricant on hand, however. That’s why little, everyday things can also work when it comes to removing a key, like hair clips, paper clips, safety pins, or bobby pins. Of course, the most successful tool is tweezers. If you have those on hand, definitely choose tweezers to help pry out the key. Just make sure they’re the right tweezers—make sure the tweezers are big enough to wrap around the key, but not too big to get trapped. If this kind of thing happens to you often, you may want to invest in a broken key extractor or a jigsaw blade. These tools are the real deal.
What Is the Next Step if the Methods Above Fail
If all else fails... call a locksmith and get unlocked quickly and easily. For those of you who don't spend their free time with DIY projects, unlocking a door can be complicated. You may do more harm than good so take the best action early and contact a professional carpenter.
