When we cannot open a door because of problems in the lock, in general, we have a bad time, especially if it is the one that lets us in and out of the house or is the one that guards an environment of much everyday use, such as a bathroom or a bedroom. Therefore, in order not to make things worse, the first thing to do is calm down, take a deep breath and get to work. We teach you how to open a locked door without the help of a Lockup Service and without generating damages that end up costing you very expensive.
Although locksmiths such as locksmith hollywood FL are the experts in the repair of locks for homes, businesses and even cars, there are many things we can do to solve this type of problem ourselves.
The first point to keep in mind is that when a lock starts to fail it is important to repair it as soon as possible because at some point it will stop working and it will create problems for you.
It is good to know what kind of problems are the most common in domestic locks, what are their causes and how to solve the issue.
How to open a locked door
There are different methods that we can use when we have to unlock a door. Let’s see what they are:
- Use the Leverage method.
- Remove the old lock and place a new one.
- Remove the hinges and remove the door.
Leverage method
The lever method is one of the simplest methods to unlock locks in case of emergency. First, we must look at the lock and find the point where the latch fits with the frame and closes. Once we have found that point, we must obtain the object with which we are going to make the lever: it can simply be a card or a pointed kitchen knife.
Next, what you should do is insert the object into the gap between the latch and the door. For this you must go through it carefully, trying to move the latch. What you can do is use a knife that is used to spread, which are harder, and pry the latch. In these cases you have to be careful, avoiding breaking the wood or damaging the frame.
Remove the old lock
If the thing is complicated, maybe the best thing is to remove the old lock and check if it can be lubricated and recovered. To do this you have to look for the screws that hold the lock in place. Once located, you have to remove them from only one side of the handle or knob to disassemble the lock in parts. Once you pull out from the side you can see the inner system. What remains is simply to remove from the other side so that you can disassemble the lock completely.
Place a new lock
Once removed the old lock, you can try to fix it by lubricating it so that its mechanism works better or directly to place a new one. The procedure is really very simple. Simply place the new one in the space where the previous one was and re-adjust it with the appropriate screws. The only consideration you have to have is to check that the size corresponds to the lock you removed.
To refine details and leave everything impeccable, see if when removing the lock you see the wood worn or broken in some sector. If so, you can apply putty, let it dry and then install the new lock.
Remove the hinges
Sometimes the problem has nothing to do with the lock. In these cases, we will have to remove the door by dismantling the hinges. Although it sounds complicated, it is quite easy to do. In general, you will see as hinges two metal and flat sheets, which are joined by a pin or bolt that is housed inside two hollow cylindrical tubes.
We just have to remove the pins that join the hinges, placing a screwdriver under the cap or head that hides the bolt and then pry up. There you will see the bolt and you can begin to remove it with your hands or with a clamp. Then you must do the same with the next hinge. After removing the bolts, the door can be removed. If necessary, this will also allow easy access to the lock.
