How to unlock a door?

I'm seeing several options here, some of which haven't even been mentioned yet. The variables seem to be:
  1. Time
  2. Money
  3. Exertion
  4. Collateral damage
  5. Fun
 
So I just realized I have a spare door in my attic.
It is an interior door I took off a closet after I converted the closet into not a closet.

Given this new bit of information, would you just go at the locked door with a hole saw and reach in and unlock it?

Actually, hole saw and a poster would work even if I didn't have the spare door.
 
Is the key close enough to the door that you can fish it out with a coat hanger or some improvised long thin tool?
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
So I just realized I have a spare door in my attic.
It is an interior door I took off a closet after I converted the closet into not a closet.

Given this new bit of information, would you just go at the locked door with a hole saw and reach in and unlock it?

Actually, hole saw and a poster would work even if I didn't have the spare door.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
So I just realized I have a spare door in my attic.
It is an interior door I took off a closet after I converted the closet into not a closet.

Given this new bit of information, would you just go at the locked door with a hole saw and reach in and unlock it?

Actually, hole saw and a poster would work even if I didn't have the spare door.
Click to expand...
Ahh - attic access.

Climb into the attic, get above the bedroom, cut a hole in the ceiling, rappel down into the room, grab the key, pull yourself back up through the hole, unlock the door from the outside. Extra points if you do it at night while wearing a tactical turtleneck and NVGs.


---

edit: You are going to find out the spare door doesn't fit.
 
Uh. Don't destroy your door with a saw. Either pick the lock or destroy the lock. The lock is way easier to replace then it is to replace the door and get it to close nicely.

You can destroy a lock and door handle and replace those for minimal cost and a few minutes of your time. It'll look nice afterwords. Don't go destroying something that gives you a much larger problem or looks like hell.
 
Mike Smith said:
Im opening it with a credit card/drivers license and going about my day. Also, you can turn that lock set around in about 90 seconds with a Phillips head screwdriver.
Click to expand...
better yet take the lock off
 
Matthew said:
Ahh - attic access.

Climb into the attic, get above the bedroom, cut a hole in the ceiling, rappel down into the room, grab the key, pull yourself back up through the hole, unlock the door from the outside. Extra points if you do it at night while wearing a tactical turtleneck and NVGs.
Click to expand...
Make sure you're wearing a wetsuit with ice in it so the temperature sensors don't trigger the alarms.

And watch out for the lasers!
 
Do you have a crawl space under the house.? Trap doors are really cool.....
 
Credit card trick won't work if there is a safety "pin" on the bolt (it gets depressed when the door is shut and prevents the bolt from being moved by such tactics).

Other option, carefully remove the doorway trim, insert pry tool and separate the door from the strike-plate enough and the door should open. Put door trim back on. New door knob should come with a new strike plate, so sacrifice the old one in the prying. Take care not to damage door or inside jamb trim.

Or destroy the lock.
 
C4?

How 'bout through the window, get a little 2nd story man experience.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Did you try calling your daughter's boyfriend to see if he has a key?



Skydog58 ducks and runs.
Click to expand...

I was going to say just ask the wife for the extra key she kept from six years ago. But I like this answer better.

PS... assuming you have checked that none of the other locks match, like the shed, basement or whatever?
 
Pole vault over the wall. Get a good run so you land on the bed.

Or locksmith or lock pick.

Cheers
 
1) Bring daughter into hallway.
2) Demonstrate to daughter how easy it is to kick in locked door when she is in there with door locked and boyfriend present.

Probably well worth the cost of a new door jam...
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I swear a flying forum is the best place for advice on any subject. Thank you Pilots of America.

Hammer drill did the trick!
Click to expand...

Wait, I thought this was a hypothetical. Had I known it was a real-life scenario, I would have told you to pull the red handle.
 
overdrive148 said:
Tactleneck!
Click to expand...

They come in Black, and Slightly-Darker-Black.

Congrats on the door opening. In college we had a similar situation and [drunkenly] decided the best way forward was to mule kick the door in. It was not the best way forward, as alluded to by a few folks... Fixing a broken lock would have been much easier than learning to mortise hinge pockets while hungover.
 
Good thing this was a hypothetical situation. I was about to give you my formula for semtex.....
 
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