Pushing key from outside of mortice lock

vicki2221

I've managed to lock myself out of my house and am wondering how to get back in when I go home in a few hours. There is a spare key for the back door hidden in the garden but there is also a key left in the inside of the back door, blocking the lock. It's a mortice lock. My husband thinks I could push something through the lock to push the key on the inside out so I can use the spare key to get in.

I wondered if anyone has experienced this before and has any advice/tips?

davetrousers

Where is your husband? Does he have keys?

vicki2221

He has keys for the front door but he is away on business trip

shortcrust

You might just be able to use the spare key to push the other one out, but only if the key's already in the right position to be removed without turning it. Good luck! Happens to me all the time. I have to do a Krypton Factor like clamber to get into my back garden, and the spares are for my front do so I have to do it twice...

Le_Kirk

This happened to me several years ago - although in my defence I did not do the locking out - and I was fortunate in that I had my toolbox in the car. I used a pair of round nosed pliers to grip the end of the key and turn it before pushing it out of the lock. In the absence of pliers or tweezers, maybe a small screwdriver or similarly shaped implement to move the key to the right orientation to push it out.

another_casualty

Years ago in my previous property, my brother locked himself out.
He got a coat hanger to remove the keys that were hanging inside the lock . I have used a dart before to open a cupboard door in the past.

Probably useless information:) Hope it all works out

vicki2221

Le_Kirk wrote: »

This happened to me several years ago - although in my defence I did not do the locking out - and I was fortunate in that I had my toolbox in the car. I used a pair of round nosed pliers to grip the end of the key and turn it before pushing it out of the lock. In the absence of pliers or tweezers, maybe a small screwdriver or similarly shaped implement to move the key to the right orientation to push it out.

Thanks for the great advice! I got home and the key was slightly turned and I couldn't push it through. So I took off the handle to get a bit closer to the key, went to the toolbox in the shed and typically there were no pliers! But I got a small screwdriver and managed to use it to turn the key by slotting it between the key and the edge of the lock and then turning. The key turned right round and unlocked the door, I didn't even need the spare key! Now I am going to leave the key OUT of the door seeing how you can leverage it to unlock the door from the outside :eek:

Le_Kirk

Well done! A great decision to leave the key out of the lock - we always do for our front door now but only because the back door lock jammed (separate occasion to the "getting locked out" scenario) and we needed to get in the front.

Hoploz

Glad you're in! I did the same a long time ago ... The only way we could get in was by forcing open the one remaining timber window we had not replaced with upvc. It was a small top window so the only person small enough to enter was my son so off I went down to the school to explain I needed to borrow him for 10 minutes!!

Straightaway we then got a Key Safe and fitted it hidden away outside. In this I have put both a front and back door key, so if I leave a key in the lock I can unlock the other door!