February 4, 2026 4 min readBy Tim, Open Sesame Lock & Key
Standing outside your own front door is a bad feeling, and it gets worse in the dark or the cold. Work this short list before you spend money — then, if none of it helps, one phone call gets you back inside.
Check these first
- Every other door. Back doors, side doors, garage service doors, and basement entries get overlooked constantly.
- Garage. If the opener has a keypad, that's your way in. If the power is out, the emergency release cord still works from inside a partially open door.
- Windows. Not to climb through recklessly — just to confirm one is genuinely unlocked before you consider it.
- Anyone with a spare. A neighbor, a family member, a property manager, a real estate agent from your closing.
What not to do
- Don't credit-card the latch. On any door with a deadbolt it does nothing, and on a spring latch you usually just damage the frame and the card.
- Don't break a window. Glass, board-up, and cleanup will cost several times a lockout call.
- Don't let anyone drill your lock as a first move. Damage-free entry is possible on the overwhelming majority of residential doors.
What we'll ask on the phone
- Your address, and whether you can prove you live there — ID, a piece of mail, a lease. Any legitimate locksmith will ask.
- The type of lock: knob, deadbolt, smart lock, or a storm door in front of it.
- Whether the door is simply locked or actually jammed. A jammed latch is a different job from a locked one.
- From there we give you a price range and an arrival window before we leave.