# You're locked out of your house; how screwed are you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800 "2016-01-21T18:09:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/21 "2016-01-21T21:29:08Z")
Strictly following the OP, not screwed at all. We have a locking mailbox, and the key is on the ring with the house keys. If I’m going out to get the mail, I have the house keys in my hand. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/22 "2016-01-21T21:54:37Z")
My house is currently waiting for demolition, with most of the openings actually covered with plywood but I could easily take a crowbar to remove a partial sheet, except there are no doors that are attached to the building and hence no locks… ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/23 "2016-01-21T22:00:08Z")
I voted “slightly.” I keep a window unlocked for just that reason. It’s in an inconvenient location, so it would be slightly hard to get to it. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/24 "2016-01-21T22:04:38Z")
Not at all - I have a key hidden in the form of a remote keypad entry for the garage door. If it’s batteries are dead and or the garage door won’t open, I do know how to break in my house. But I need someone smaller than me to fit in to the dog door after I kick out the metal shield that keeps it from being used. What I would do tho is go to my parents’ house, who happen to be my within-walking distance neighbors, and get my key. If they’re not home, I keep a key to their house in my wallet. I’m pretty not screwed at all. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/25 "2016-01-21T22:06:33Z")
Not at all. A trusted neighbor and I keep each other’s keys under the our doormats. I once was locked out, and it was easier to go in through a window, than to walk down to my neighbor’s for the key. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/26 "2016-01-21T22:50:36Z")
For a while I had a certain routine when arriving home from work: I’d pull into my garage, get out of the car, hit the button to close the door, and then duck under the closing door. No problems for several years. But once, there was a song I really wanted to finish listening to, so I sat in the car for a couple of minutes after stopping. After the song was over, I went about my usual routine. Except, of course, that this time I left my keys in the ignition. And my normal garage door was locked. I have a condo on the third floor (with an entrance on the second), so climbing in through a window wasn’t an option. I called a locksmith with my cell. I now keep a spare key in my wallet. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/27 "2016-01-21T23:05:33Z")
I live in a Condo. The Association Manager has an extra key, locked in her office. She lives upstairs from me. BTW–we have security cameras. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/28 "2016-01-21T23:10:35Z")
I live in a development with an office manned 24 hours, and they hold my spare keys. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/29 "2016-01-21T23:15:16Z")
I get locked out sometimes when I’ve just stepped outside for a second because _some_ people are compulsive door lockers. Not to worry, I have a key in a basket hanging on the front of the door. If the key weren’t there for some reason, I can climb in the unlocked window next to the door. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/30 "2016-01-21T23:54:18Z")
Slightly screwed. There’s a key in the shed in a lockbox, so mildly complicated to get to it, more so if it’s dark and hard to see what I’m doing, but it’s out there if I don’t have my key for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/31 "2016-01-22T01:23:09Z")
I picked “It’s not possible”-- it actually is conceivable, but not in the manner described, because the front door lock is a deadbolt where you have to use the key from outside. Getting locked out would thus require somehow losing the key in an unretrievable way while outside. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/32 "2016-01-22T01:30:19Z")
Oh gosh, we just keep all our doors and windows open! 361 15th Street, Brooklyn, NY. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/33 "2016-01-22T02:13:21Z")
All exterior locks are keypad locks on deadbolts. They can’t self-lock. If they somehow did I still know the combo even if I’m somehow outside in my undershorts. If somehow the batteries are dead in all of them so the combo won’t work there’s a conventional override key on file with the building supervisor. And various residents have 24 hour access to the building’s key safe even when the super is off duty. It’d take a very powerful collection of bad magic and bad luck to lock me out. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/34 "2016-01-22T02:18:02Z")
I live in an apartment. It’d depend on whether it was the door to the building, or the door to my individual unit, that I was locked out of. If it’s just the door to the building, I’d buzz one of the neighbors who recognizes me to let me in. If it’s my own unit, I’m somewhere in between “call a friend/neighbor” and “call a locksmith”: I’d call the landlord, which would probably be cheaper than a locksmith, but would still have a charge. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/35 "2016-01-22T02:30:05Z")
This actually just happened to me the other night. I went out to have a smoke, which I rarely do, and found myself locked out. I FREAKED. However, as luck would have it I had left on of my front windows unlocked so I was able to climb in. In my nightgown. Sans underwear :smack:. So, my answer is a combo: based on the fact that no one else has a key and I’m not one to have my phone on me most of the time, I was looking at a really sucky situation (did I mention I was half naked and it was about sixty degrees outside)? As it turned out, I was able to “break in” and I will make and hide a spare key but until then, I can say “slightly”. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/36 "2016-01-22T02:31:39Z")
If my sister wasn’t home, I’d have to wait for someone in my building to come along and, once in the building, ask to use their phone to call the manager, who lives offsite but in the area. Option number two could be the manager’s nephew, who lives just around the corner. If a neighbor didn’t show up, I could go there but I think I’d use that as a last resort. But it’s possible he has a spare key or, if not, at least give me a warm place to wait until his uncle showed up. It’s hard for me for me to bother people though. I might just head down the nearby fire station and ask to use their phone or maybe they would be willing to let me in to my place if it’s not a busy time for them. Or I could go over to the hospital, which is nearby, too, and wait in the cafeteria for my sister to get home. Yeah, that is probably what I’d do. The point is, I’ve got options, so I’m not too worried about getting locked out. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/37 "2016-01-22T02:32:28Z")
My door requires a key to lock it, so the OP scenario wouldn’t happen. My brother has a key and the complex manager lives next door. I once had a key break of in the lock and had to resort to the rock through the window trick. Then the police came through the window after me and it got ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/38 "2016-01-22T02:50:09Z")
My Dad went out in the garage last winter to check on something. It was about midnight. The door somehow slammed behind him; it was locked. It was about 3°F and he was in his pajamas. He lives alone. No outside key nor unlocked window. So he grabbed a reciprocating saw and sawed the doorknob off. Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/39 "2016-01-22T03:04:08Z")
This house is insecure as all get-out, particularly at the windows, and even more particularly at my bedroom window. But even if it wasn’t I have many housemates who also have their keys or will most likely be inside to let me in. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800/40 "2016-01-22T03:33:14Z")
> [@Lurking\_Quahog](#): > > Key hidden in shed. Don’t tell anyone, but it’s on the top shelf under the ceramic bunny. I moved it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-locked-out-of-your-house-how-screwed-are-you/743800.md?page=3)