Locked Out of Your House? What to Do First

Being locked out feels urgent, and sometimes it is: a child inside, a pot on the stove, a dog that needs out. If there is any danger to a person, call 911 first. Firefighters will force a door without waiting, and that is the right trade. For everything else, a few minutes of calm saves both the door and the bill.

Check the easy ways in first

• Try every door, including the one from the garage into the house and the side or back door. People lock the front and forget the rest.
• If the garage door opener is in the car, or there is a keypad on the garage, that is often the way in.
• Ask who else has a key: a partner, a family member, a neighbor, a cleaner.
• If you rent, call the property manager or landlord before anyone else. Many keep a key and will let you in for nothing.
• If you have a smart lock, check the app and the backup code before assuming the worst. A dead battery is a different problem, covered in our smart lock dead battery guide.

What not to do: climb through a window, force a sliding door off its track, or pry at the door frame. A broken window or a split frame costs far more than opening the lock, and a sliding door lifted out of its track rarely goes back in properly.

How a locksmith opens a house door without damage

Most residential locks, the Kwikset and Schlage knobs and deadbolts on nearly every door in Santa Clarita, can be picked or bypassed without harming the lock or the door. A good locksmith tries that first. Some doors open by the latch rather than the lock when only the knob is locked and the deadbolt is not thrown. Drilling is the last resort, kept for high-security locks and locks that are already broken, and a locksmith should explain it and what the replacement involves before a drill comes out. If someone reaches for the drill straight away on an ordinary lock, stop them.

What the locksmith will ask you

Expect to be asked to show that you live there: an ID with the address, a lease, a utility bill, a piece of mail, or a neighbor or manager who can vouch for you. Sometimes the document is inside, and the locksmith will wait while you fetch it before you go in. That question is not a hassle, it is the sign of an honest locksmith. The one who opens a door without asking is the one who would open yours for a stranger.

How to avoid the lockout scam

The classic scam starts with a very low price on the phone and ends with a much bigger number at the door, often after an unnecessary drilling. Protect yourself:

• Get the price before anyone drives over, in writing if you can. Texting a photo of the lock is the easiest way to get a firm one.
• Look for a real local business with a California locksmith license number. Ours is LCO8511. Our guide to choosing a locksmith shows how to check any license in a minute.
• Be wary of a company whose name you cannot find anywhere except the ad, and of anyone who will not say the price until they arrive.

Once you are back inside

If the keys are lost rather than locked inside, the question changes: someone may have them. A rekey makes the old keys useless without replacing the locks, and it is worth doing the same day if the keys were lost somewhere with your address, such as a bag or a car. If the lockout happened because the lock was stiff, worn or the door had to be pushed to latch, that is worth fixing too, before it becomes the next lockout; our lock repair page explains why the door is usually the real culprit.

That is how our house lockout service works: price first, damage-free wherever the lock allows, any hour across the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys.

Questions people ask