HawthorneVillager.com

My daughter has a lock on her room and has locked the key inside. This was the spare. The original has been lost in London.
Any ideas on how to get in...looks like a locksmith will cost around $125. Anything cheaper?
TIA

Depending on the lock mechanism, have you tried a credit card to jimmy the mechanism between the door frame and the door?

The art of picking a lock is to release the various tumblers with something like a nail while using another tool (small nail file) to provide contant pressure to turn the assembly as you would with the key.

It couldn't hurt to try

Can you post a picture of the knob or handle? If it's one of those Mattamy contractor-style handles, stick a flat screwdriver in the slot and wiggle it around to see if you can unlock it or get in. If it's a round knob, then hmmm.

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What is the difference between ignorance and apathy? I don't know and I don't care.

This may seem obvious but are the hinges on the hallway side or bedroom side?

If the hallway, remove the pin from the hinges , open the door in a reverse fashion, get the keys and re-hang the door.

Thats the quickest and best idea.

^but not as fun as Obama's idea

Can I ask why you would allow a child to be able to lock their door without you having an ability to bypass it?

I can perhaps get/understand giving them an eye/hook lock on the inside to keep out little borthers/sisters but a complete lock assembly on their bedroom door? Why?

Thanks for everyone's responses. The crisis has been averted! My younger daughter found the spare even though my husband and I looked in the exact spot...don't ask.

The hinges were on the inside - we did think of that.
It was not a Mattamy lock - we bought it special.
She is not a child - she is 20 years old and has 2 sisters she wants to keep out while she is at university. (She also would be paying for the locksmith.)

I guess I won't mention that our extension ladder didn't quite make it high enough to the third floor to try to break in the window!

Priceless. God is good.

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No, no. You know who was right all along? The Mongolians. They knew that you just can't wall yourself off from the outside world. Putting walls up never helps anything. Tearing them down brings us together.
-Randy-South Park

Allowing a locked room in your home is your call.

As a safety measure, I would suggest installing a separate smoke alarm in her room and that she provide to you a key in case of emergencies while she is out of the house.

If you want to think complete safety have a fire extinguisher in her room and near her room in the hallway as a precaution.

Also if she is going to lock her door at night, give thought to purchasing a collapsable ladder that would allow her to escape from the bedroom window to the ground flloor.

Yeah I am a safety nut

Thanks for the ideas...the spare key we couldn't find was our emergency key. Don't worry we will be making our own duplicate and not telling her now that we have gone through this!

...and then...LOL

why would you even have locks. Can't they just respect each other enough to stay out of a room if they're asked too?

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Chuck Barkley, Esq.
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Obviously not or I would not have posted this!
(Do you have kids? Specifically teenagers?)