# Could you break into your house? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2023, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159 "2023-05-17T12:05:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/21 "2023-05-17T13:08:17Z")
Normally the house is unlocked. Even if I forget everything I have a garage door app on my phone. If the power is out? Triple pane tempered glass windows. Probably not getting in without major damage. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/22 "2023-05-17T13:11:43Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > When I sold the house, the new owner asked for the keys, and I shrugged and said, “There aren’t any.” My sister’s next door neighbor had no keys. When they sold the house that kinda freaked out the seller, who immediately installed locked doors. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/23 "2023-05-17T13:35:11Z")
We lock our house up pretty tight: all doors/windows. There’s a spare key hidden in the landscaping, but if I couldn’t find that, I’d have to break a window or call a locksmith. A couple of decades ago a babysitter next door stepped out of the house and had the door shut behind her. She was somewhat frantic, as there was a baby sleeping inside. The deadbolt wasn’t locked, this was just the doorknob lock. I ended up drilling the core out of the lock, and she was able to get back in. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/24 "2023-05-17T13:40:47Z")
If the bolt isn’t thrown, my back door is easily opened with a credit card swipe. My wife was scandalized the first time she saw me do it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/25 "2023-05-17T13:46:01Z")
When I was a little kid, we lived in a row-house in Squirrel Hill. Our next door neighbor locked themselves out pretty often. They’d knock on our door and we’d let them climb onto the porch roof from my parent’s bedroom, then into their window. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/26 "2023-05-17T13:47:12Z")
Hehe. A credit card swipe to a locksmith will do it, too. 😉 Ba-da-_bing!_ I’ll be here all week…Actually, longer than that… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/27 "2023-05-17T13:56:48Z")
I live in a condo. The Association keeps spare keys for emergencies. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/28 "2023-05-17T14:02:39Z")
We only lock up when we are away for a while. I do have a key hidden outside, and a doggie door that I might be able to get through. Would be tight. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/29 "2023-05-17T14:05:32Z")
I have a spare key in a lockbox but that will not help me if I accidently lock both storm/screen doors, which do not have keyed locks. But I would have access to my garage and all my tools. I guess I’d have to dismantle the door handle from the outside, certainly causing damage. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/30 "2023-05-17T14:11:56Z")
I can get in with my car (garage door opener) or my phone (same). But to get in without a device would require breaking something. My wife is compulsive about locking doors and windows. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/31 "2023-05-17T14:44:34Z")
Yes, and I’ll even tell you how, ladder from the garage to the back roof, up on the back roof to open one of the unlocked back windows. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/32 "2023-05-17T14:51:52Z")
Pretty hard. I live in an 8th floor apartment. The only entrance is the front door, and it’s thick steel. If it were locked, I’d be screwed. Only a locksmith can get me in. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/33 "2023-05-17T14:55:02Z")
We normally enter from the garage and we never lock that kitchen door. I don’t think we have a key for it. The garage has a keypad that our petsitter uses, but we make sure to tape over the lock so it doesn’t accidentally get turned. That would lead to a broken window. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/34 "2023-05-17T14:56:26Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > You don’t need to provide details that will leave you vulnerable. I’m not planning anything here. Really! Few properties are effectively secured from anyone but the most casual opportunistic intruder by a locked door. If security is the concern, it takes little effort or expense to install and self-monitor an alarm system. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/35 "2023-05-17T14:57:26Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I think the least amount of damage for me to get into my house would be one broken window pane. Once in Texas I got locked out, and as I was a long way from a phone I had to break a pane in the glass of the front door to get in. At least I _thought_ I was breaking a single pane. Turned out that the six-panel glass was an illusion created by the overlying wood frame, and the one large piece of glass underneath shattered and made quite a mess on the hallway floor. Years later i was watching an episode of “Cops” and saw a sheriff’s deputy make the exact same mistake, thinking he was only breaking a single glass pane but taking out all the glass in the door. These days we have a Secret Extra Key in a Secret Location. No, not under the doormat or a flower pot. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/36 "2023-05-17T15:04:51Z")
To leave the condo, I have to use a key to lock the door, so it’s unlikely that I get totally locked out. What’s more likely is that I’ll go out the main door and won’t be able to get back into the common area. To get into the common area, one of the other 7 families will probably be home and will let me in. I’ve done it enough times for certain neighbors. If I were to lose my key, I’ll need a locksmith to get inside unless I want to break a window. Depending on the situation, I might have to call my insurance company, because I have to arrange to get all the locks replaced. 8 apartment doors, 8 garages, 8 cellar doors, 8 mail boxes, 4 hobby rooms plus the 3 building locks, which can be opened by any of the residents. Not cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/37 "2023-05-17T15:17:08Z")
There is no need to, the back door doesn’t lock, can’t be locked. It sticks in the frame so that anyone trying the knob would think it is locked but you just have to push harder. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/38 "2023-05-17T15:25:41Z")
I have a “man door” in my garage with a single-pane window that I could break to open the door. There’s a key inside my garage I could then use to open the door to the house. One time I was with my brother and said man door was locked. I have a large dog door in the other man door in the garage, and he was able to crawl through it and get us in. I’ve since covered up the dog door, though. I just leave that back man door unlocked now, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/39 "2023-05-17T15:30:23Z")
I can open the garage door from a keypad, car remote or smartphone. But if the power is out that will not work. I don’t think our house has ever been locked up completely. There are seven entrances (counting attached garage as one) and two or three are almost never locked. If we were ever really locked out I suppose we’d need to break the glass on the door from the kitchen to deck. It’s a full glass door so would be expensive. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159/40 "2023-05-17T15:30:54Z")
Thankfully, my landlord lives close by. My younger sister lives pretty close and she has spare keys, as well as a neighbor across the street. If not, I’d be screwed as I only have the front door for access. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-break-into-your-house/984159.md?page=3)