No one wants to be locked out of their own house or room. The feeling of frustration is just too much when you realize that you left your key on the wrong side of the door or lost it somewhere you can’t figure out yet. You’re in a rush, you forgot an important document inside, and someone is waiting for you. What’s worse, you’re alone. No one is an insight to help you open that heavily locked piece of a barrier. Have you been in this kind of situation before?
Here’s the good news. You can still open your locked door by yourself, even without the key. Read on and discover six ways to open a locked door in the absence of a commercial locksmith.
1. Use a flexible card or credit card.
You’ve probably seen this method in one of the movies you’ve watched. The character lost his key and badly needed to go inside the house. He found his credit card, inserted it, and there goes the door wide open. Have you tried it too?
One of the most commonly used everyday items to open a locked door is a credit card or any flexible or laminated card, such as a gift card. How does it work?
First, the credit card should be inserted between the doorframe and the strike plate (the metal plate affixed to a door jamb with a hole where the latch goes in). Afterward, the card should be swiftly swiped downwards at a right angle to the door. The door will open as long as the card is placed right between the hole and the bolt.
However, using a credit card to open a locked door will only work for spring locks, not for deadbolts.
2. Use a small screwdriver or thin tools.
This method is ideal for interior doors with privacy handles, in which the door becomes locked by pushing a button in the door handle. On the doorknob is a tiny hole. This is where you will insert a small screwdriver or anything tools like a bobby pin or a flat paper clip. When the thin tool is inserted into the hole, turn and twist it until it reaches a groove, and the lock clacks open.
3. Use a hex wrench on interior doors.
You will need a hex or hexagonal wrench for this method. It works for those doors with doorknobs that can be opened when it’s accidentally locked out. This special type of doorknobs has a small, round hole at the center.
The hex wrench is an L-shaped piece of metal with a hexagonal cross-section. You can usually buy it in a set because no one hex wrench will fit into all sizes of holes. Similar to using a screwdriver, you only need to push the wrench into the hole and gently move it from side to side. When you turn the wrench, the door should open.
4. Pick the lock.
With lock picking, you are manipulating the components of the lock device to unlock it without using the original key. This is where a lock pick set comes in handy. If you don’t have it yet, you can easily buy one from the nearest hardware store. If there’s none, bobby pins and flattened paper clips also work well with lock picking, but not in the same ease as those of real lock picks.
Picking the lock requires a tension wrench or pin lock underneath to manipulate the key pins in the lock. While keeping a steady pressure at the lower edge of the keyhole, pick the lock at the end with a firm pin or metal.
5. Remove the hinges.
If working on the locks won’t work, then you should try taking the door from its hinges. A flat-head screwdriver or any sturdy metal with a flat tip will do the job. Insert it between the pin and the bottom knuckle. Steadily pry the bolt loose and remove the hinges. You will need to repeat the process for all other hinges. When the door becomes free from all the hinges, you can easily remove the lock and get inside your home.
6. Destroy the lock with a hammer or drill.
You should consider this method your last resort. Simply, you need to hammer down your door lock or drill through it. The lock components will then be easily destroyed. The disadvantage is you will need a new set of locks and have some parts of the door repaired maybe.
This method is a destructive way of unlocking a door. You will probably rather call a professional locksmith to do it.
