What to Do if You Get Locked Out of Your Home

When you were younger, you may remember being told by your parents to always bring the house key whenever you were going out and would come home late (even though this rarely happens).

However, every once in a while, you find yourself locked out of your own place, whether you lost, forgot, or misplaced your key. This is an embarrassing thing, but it happens to even the best of us at least once.

If you don’t have someone trusted, like a close friend or a family member, who has a duplicate, you can always try to break yourself in. While you may not always be successful in your attempts to break yourself into your own place, there are a few other things that you can try yourself to keep it from happening to you:  

1. Try the back door (or the window).

If you have friendly neighbors, you can ask them to help bust you in through either the back door or through an open window. Being clumsy and a little forgetful can be a lifesaver in this situation in the chance that you remember leaving one or both of them open, as you can simply go through the back and either open the unlocked door or get in through the window.

Do exercise caution when breaking into your house through a window if you live in an upper floor in an HDB flat in Singapore, and if you’re using a ladder to get from one fire escape to another. The same could also be said even if you’re living on the ground floor.

Another thing that you should watch out for is looking suspicious. Even if crime is low in Singapore, ask help from the authorities if they see you and ask what you are doing, and be honest with your situation regarding your being locked out of your own house.

2. Use different methods of opening your door.

There’s nothing wrong with being your own locksmith and open your own door without a key if you need to break into your own house for a number of reason.

You can use a number of items to break into your own house, from a professional lock picking set to even paperclips, hairclips to fiddle with the doorknob and other door locks, or even a borrowed screwdriver from your neighbor.

Using a paperclip or a hairclip to fiddle with the door lock/door knob will take time, and should be paired with a long, thin object such as a flat-head screwdriver or the short end of an Allen wrench.

Another way to open a doorknob is by using a card that you are okay with scratching or peeling, which means that all kinds of old, expired IDs. Jam the ID in between the latch bolt and the strike plate. Once they are separate, you can now open the door. 

One last option (which you shouldn’t take unless you’re prepared to spend a good amount of money on a replacement) is to simply destroy the door with a heavy metal object, such as a hammer.

The upside of these options allows you to get into your home, but these options also have the downside of allowing anyone to get into your home. Even though Singapore has a really low crime rate, there is still a chance that someone else can break into your home.

At the end of the day, prevention is key (pun intended). Find a good place to stash a duplicate or find someone you can trust with the extra key to the house, preferably a family member who lives in the same flat as you.

3. Call a locksmith service.

The safest way to open your door without a key and without destroying the locks is to simply call a locksmith Singapore service. A locksmith service will then send a reliable locksmith to pick the lock for you, though you may have to wait a little more outside your house than you already have.

Not only is finding a locksmith Singapore service now easier than ever, but they also offer a wide variety of services other than opening locks for your home, office, factory, or vehicle. These services include the installation, repair, and the servicing of your locks as well as the duplicate the key that you need.

*This list is compiled in no particular order.*