11What Do You Do When You Discover You’re Locked Out of Your Home?
This type of experience seems to have a large “been there done that” following among many people, male or female, married or single. It usually stems from forgetting the house keys and having left them either inside the house itself or in the office. This also happens when your doors automatically locks from the inside, so when you rush out the house, it’s very easy to lock the door, and realizing later you forgot the door keys.
Well and good if you left your keys and someone is home ahead of you. But what if your family isn’t home yet, or you live alone? Some people have a spare key hidden somewhere else, but this may be dangerous if intruders find out where you keep the hidden key. Another solution is to call a locksmith. However, you might want to try out a few things first.
Try scouting the house and see if someone forgot to lock a window. Also check the backdoor if it was locked. However, if you do discover an unlocked window or door, you might want to discuss this with your family and give them the old, “What if I was a thief? You just gave me an entrance to the house to steal all your good stuff.”
You can try breaking the lock if you can do this. Be advised and inform your next door neighbor before doing this, otherwise, someone might call the police thinking you’re a burglar. After breaking into your house, you can then call the locksmith to have a better lock for your door, one you can lock from the outside using a key. When you scout around the house try to see if you can use a rod, wire, or your old credit cards to pry open a window.
Breaking a glass window is never an option because the sound of breaking glass will attract attention, and maybe the police. Also, window repairs are much more expensive compared to having a doorknob or lock replaced.
Try calling up your family members since chances are one of them might be nearly home. Or, you can always go to where they are and go home with them later instead.
When all options are exhausted, perhaps it’s time to call the locksmith. Most locksmiths are on 24-hour call and if one is just nearby, the normal response time is up to 30 minutes.
The bottom line of all this is that, perhaps you should find ways to never ever forget your house keys.