Home Tools for Lockout Solutions
Getting locked out of your own house or locked inside a room when a door lock gets inexplicably jammed are one of the most stressful things that could ever happen when you least expect them to. While we would normally recommend a locksmith for these types of situations, sometimes the time it would take for a locksmith company to reach you could already be ample time for you to try to do the unlocking yourself.
Although there are a lot of common house tools that you can use to unlock a door in your house (some may even be found in your wallet or dresser drawer), bear in mind that you must still exercise caution in attempting to do any of these. And if your first attempts don’t work, remember that you can always try again and that, ultimately, practice makes perfect.
However, while the following tips regarding the common house tools may prove to be useful for you, remember to use them only for your own house and never to get into somebody else’s property. That is a deliberate intrusion of privacy and trespassing of private property. These two actions are punishable under the law.
1. In the case of missing keys, you can opt to use a bump key.
In simpler terms, a bump key is a key that fits inside a lock but doesn’t open it. A bump key only becomes effective after it has been specially modified for the lock, which can be done by “deepening” the cuts in the key and by hammering it using a mallet and quickly turning the doorknob.
2. Use paper clips.
The materials you may use actually depend on the quality of the lock you’re trying to pick, but the most common tool used is a paper clip. You may straighten the paper clip and try picking the lock through the keyhole. Bobby pins may also be used in place of paper clips.
3. Your credit card may actually do the trick.
Inserting your credit card in the slit between the door and the doorframe, positioning it above the lock, and slowly pulling it down towards you can undo the lock, but this technique requires a lot of practice and trial-and-error.
