Statistics indicate that up to 70% of people forget if they’ve locked their doors. In other words, up to 70% of us will lock ourselves out of our homes at some point.
Getting locked out of the house is a nightmare you wouldn’t wish on your most annoying neighbor. It’s worse if you’ve just gotten home from a stressful day at work and are looking forward to relaxing as you prepare for yet another busy day ahead.
Fortunately, there are several methods to deal with a home lockout situation. This article explores five creative ways on how you should handle a home lockout situation.
Common Reasons People Lock Themselves Out
Human Error
Human error accounts for the vast majority of home lockout situations. This is especially common where you’re in a rush and inadvertently lock your keys inside the house.
How You Should Handle a Home Lockout? Home lockouts occasioned by human error also tend to be more common for doors with automatic locking mechanisms. These are doors that simply lock themselves by pulling them shut.
Some doors with automatic locking systems include a spring that shuts and locks the door even without manually pulling it. While the feature is a great plus in terms of convenience, it can accelerate the risks of locking yourself out of your own house.
Faulty Locks
A significant number of home lockout incidences also result from faulty locks.
For instance, a lock that’s meant to be engaged using a key might suddenly start to auto-engage, resulting in accidental lockouts.
Similarly, faulty locks that go unrepaired for long might constantly chip away at the key. In the long run, the key could be rendered unable to turn the lock.
This underscores the importance of carrying out routine lock maintenance. Having your door locks checked and repaired or replaced could save you the agony of dealing with a home lockout situation.
Reactive Ways to Deal With a Home Lockout Situation
Stay Calm
Frankly speaking, we all lose our minds when we realize that we’ve been locked out of our house. We immediately start to rack our brains, trying to find the best way around the problem.
While it’s natural to be stressed while dealing with a home lockout situation, it’s best not let the anxiety consume you.
Start by taking a deep breath. It will help you think better.
With a calmer mind, you’ll be able to retrace your steps and determine the exact location you might have left the keys.
If you forgot the keys in the office and it’s not too late, you can simply rush back and pick them up. But if you’ve established that you, unfortunately, locked the keys inside the house, you can explore the next tip.
Ask For Help
Now that you’re certain you locked your keys inside the house or simply cannot trace your steps back to them, it’s time to ask for an extra hand.
Consult an immediate family member on what they’d do if they were in a similar situation. You can also make your close neighbors aware of your predicament.
If you’re not in a rush to enter your house, you could spend the night at a relative, friend, or neighbor’s place as you ponder over the matter. As they say, problems become easier to solve when we sleep on them.
By the following morning, you’ll have determined whether calling a locksmith is a perfect decision.
Proactive Ways to Deal With a Home Lockout Situation
Prevention is always better than cure. So, instead of dealing with a home lockout situation after the fact, you could explore the following proactive tips to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place;
Change Your Locking Mechanism
If you chronically get locked out of your own home, perhaps you should change your door’s locking mechanism.
First off, avoid self-engaging locks. Instead, consider those that only lock using a key. Deadbolts are particularly recommended here.
Deadbolts typically lock by turning a key or knob rather than a spring action. And by the way, deadbolts are also considered some of the best protection against break-ins and burglary.
Have Multiple Spare Keys
There’s a reason most locks come with multiple keys. The extras are meant to help in emergencies like home lockouts.
But multiple spare keys will be of little help if you simply keep them in one bunch. Instead, consider having the keys in several places.
The conventional wisdom is to have one key, each with a trusted friend, relative, coworker, and neighbor. Remember to reproduce a spare immediately and hand it to the respective custodian whenever you lose a key and pick a spare from any of these people.
Insist Have Your Doors Checked Regularly
This is arguably the essential proactive way of dealing with a home lockout situation.
Whether you’ve lived in the house your entire life or have just moved in, it’s crucial to have the locks checked regularly by a local professional locksmith.
These routine checks may not only address immediate problems. They can also help to forestall future lock malfunctions. Besides, you’ll learn a lot about the overall safety of your door’s locking system.
Summary
Locking yourself out of your own house can be stressful. Fortunately, you can implement the tips mentioned above to deal with the situation effectively.
Author Bio
Rebecca Siggers is a full-time content marketing specialist and a passionate writer who loves to write about creating an aesthetic and ambient living environment for everyone. She focuses on sharing ideas and techniques learned from his experience in a concise manner so that it can be used by everyone to make their surroundings beautiful to live in. Currently, She shares great tips on Elite Locksmiths.