We’d all like to believe that we’re always going to be incredibly self-aware, and will always remember every single detail of our daily routines. If not that, we’d at least remember to keep our keys on us all the time, it’s not that hard, right? Well, sure. However, with how incredibly busy everyone’s lives have gotten, and how hard it can be to manage everything in the limited hours we have, it’s pretty easy to forget the “little things”, like keeping your keys on you. That leads to a lot of people finding themselves tired from a long day of work, trapped outside their own home. If that sounds like what you’re going through, or you’d just like to be prepared in case this ever does happen to you, don’t worry! We’ve created a list of options that you’d have that you can use to get back in!
#1: Find your spare key
This is the first thing you need to do. As soon as you’ve figured out that your key is lost, look for your spare key. You should ideally have the key on the property hidden somewhere, with a neighbour or someone trusted that can hold on to it for you. This should let you in immediately. However, if you don’t have a spare key, or have lost that too, this option won’t apply to you.
#2: Call the other occupants of the house for help
If you live with other people in the same home, even if you’ve lost the key, chances are that someone else still has theirs, and can open the door for you. Call them up and see if they can use their key. Better yet, if they’re home, they’ll just be able to open the door from inside for you!
#3: Check for alternate entry points
If you don’t have a spare key, or a housemate, neither of the above options will work for you. At this point, it’s smart to start looking around to check if you can find alternative entry points. This can be you hopping the fence and making your way to the (hopefully unlocked) back door, or an open window on any of the floors. Although caution, this one requires a little bit of maneuvering to get done. If you’re not an avid “lock all the doors and windows before leaving” type of person, there’s a high chance that this will work for you.
#4: Try to break open the lock
If you’ve tried all the alternative entry points and have found them all to be locked too, it’s time to try to open the lock without a key. You should try to find the lock that you think may be the weakest, and try wiggling it open. You can even use an old credit card or improvise with some tools to break your way in. However, this does mean that you could potentially damage your locks, and there’s still no guarantee that you’ll break it in the correct way that’ll let you open the door. So don’t attempt this one unless you’re certain that you want to risk it.
#5 : Call a locksmith
If you decide against breaking your lock, want it to open up but don’t want to damage the lock, there’s a way to do that too! Call Locksmith NYC, or a recommended emergency locksmith in your local area to come and unlock your doors for you! They’ll be able to unlock your door by disassembling it, or use other unlocking methods to make sure that your lock is safe, but you can gain entry to your home! The best thing is that they can also make a spare key for you so that you never find yourself locked out of your home ever again!