Austin, TX is one of the least stressed-out cities in the entire country. According to a recent survey called “Most Stressed Cities in America,” Austin landed at No. 138 of the 150 cities that were included.
But that doesn’t mean that the people of Austin don’t get stressed-out just like everyone else from time to time. It also doesn’t mean that the people of Austin don’t make silly mistakes—like locking themselves out of their homes—every now and then as a result of stress.
If you’ve ever locked yourself out of your Austin home, you know how frustrating it can be. It can make a day that’s already stressful even harder.
Fortunately, there are several steps that you can take after locking yourself out of your home to remedy the situation. They’ll help you get your day back on the right track and eliminate an unnecessary source of stress from your life.
Here is what you should do after realizing that you’ve locked yourself out of your Austin home.
Double-Check to Make Sure Your Front Door Is Locked
Before you begin panicking about how you’ve locked yourself out, it’s a good idea to make sure that your front door is locked and not just stuck or jammed in some way.
If you slammed your front door the last time you closed it or if the wind happened to slam it shut, you might not be locked out. You might just have to put a little bit of extra oomph into opening the door up.
Go back to your front door and try to open it and see what happens. With a little luck, you might be able to get right back in without a problem.
Just don’t go too crazy and break the front door or the lock that’s on it. Otherwise, you’re going to need to schedule more advanced residential locksmith services in the near future.
Walk Around and See If Any of Your Home’s Other Exterior Doors Are Unlocked
If your front door is, in fact, locked, you’re obviously not going to be able to get into your home through it. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t get back into your home through one of your home’s other exterior doors.
Walk around the perimeter of your home and try to get into the other exterior doors. From your back door to your sliding glass door to your garage door, there is a chance that one of your exterior doors will be open.
Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t be happy to find out that you or someone else who lives in your home forgot to lock one of the exterior doors. An unlocked door is an invitation for someone to come and break into your home.
But when you’ve locked yourself out of your home, you’ll be so happy to find an unlocked exterior door. It’ll help you get back into your home in no time and prevent you from having to take any further action.
Check If Any of Your Home’s First-Story Windows Are Open
In a perfect world, you’ll find that one of your home’s exterior doors is unlocked after you’ve locked yourself out and be able to walk right back into it. But more often than not, this isn’t going to be the case.
If you can’t find an unlocked exterior door, the next thing you should do is continue walking around your house and check to see if any of your first-story windows are open. You might be able to find one that wasn’t locked by you or someone else who lives in your home.
If you’re able to find an unlocked window, you can boost yourself up and climb right through it to get back into your home. This will prove to be the next best thing to walking back into your home through an open door.
You may, however, want to alert your neighbors as to what you’re doing when you’re walking around the outside your home and trying to get back into it through an unlocked window. They might get the wrong idea and think you’re someone trying to break into your home.
This could lead to a confusing situation if your neighbors happen to call the police on you. It’s why you should let them know that you’ve locked yourself out of your home and that you’re trying to find a way back inside.
Climb up to Your Home’s Second-Story Windows and Check If Any of Them Are Open
Does your home have a second story? If it does, that’s going to be the next place you’re going to want to look when searching for a way back into your home.
All of the windows on the first story of your home might be closed and locked. But that doesn’t mean that one of the windows on your second story isn’t open.
To get up to your second story, you’re going to need to either use a ladder that you own or ask a neighbor to borrow a ladder. From there, you can move the ladder around the outside of your home while you check to see if you have any windows open.
It’s going to take you some time to gain access to all the second-story windows in your home. But you’ll have a better chance of finding a second-story window unlocked as opposed to a first-story window.
Spend as much time as you need to trying to gain entry to your home through a second-story window. Just be sure that you let your neighbors know that you’re going to be trying to do this after coming up empty when checking your first-story windows.
Think About If You Have a Spare House Key Hidden Somewhere Outside
There are a lot of homeowners who hide house keys somewhere right outside their homes. They do it to provide themselves with a key if they ever happen to get locked out. They also do it so that there is always a key handy in case of an emergency when they’re not around.
Have you ever hidden a spare key somewhere outside your home? You should think long and hard about it and see if there might be somewhere you can look for a key.
Often times, homeowners will hide keys under doormats, flowerpots, rocks, grills, and other items located on the exterior of their houses. You might be able to find a key for your home and get back into it by looking in these general areas.
Moving forward, you should also consider hiding a key somewhere outside your home if you haven’t done it already. It’ll ensure you have one the next time you realize you’ve locked yourself out.
Most experts will tell you that you shouldn’t hide house keys under doormats, flowerpots, and the other items we just mentioned. It could compromise the safety and security of your home.
Instead, you should hide a house key outside by:
- Putting it inside of a birdhouse that’s up in a tree
- Nailing it to a tree located near the back of your property
- Sticking it into the middle of a brick that’s been hollowed out
These are all great hiding places for a house key where would-be burglars would never think to look. They’ll make it simple for you to give yourself easy access to a spare key when you need it most.
Ask Your Neighbors If They Happen to Have a Key to Your Home
Earlier, we talked about how important it is for you to talk to your neighbors about what you’re doing before you begin walking around the outside of your home and trying to get into it through unlocked doors or windows. It’ll stop them from calling the cops on you.
It’ll also give you an opportunity to ask your neighbor if they might happen to have a spare key for your home. There is a chance that they could pull out a key for your home and help you get back outside.
Maybe you gave your neighbor a key to your home five years ago so that they could let your dog out one day and you never got around to retrieving it. Or maybe your spouse gave your neighbor a key to your home last summer so that they could look over it while you were away on vacation.
Regardless, it never hurts to ask your neighbors if they might have a spare key to your home. You or someone else who lives in your home may have handed over a key at some point in time.
Call a Locksmith and Have Them Take a Trip out to Your Home
If you’ve tried everything else that we’ve talked about here, after realizing you’ve locked yourself out and come up empty, you might not know what else to do. How in the world are you going to get back into your home?!
It’ll be time to call on the professionals for help. A professional locksmith can come out to your home and get you back into it in no time when you’re locked out.
But you shouldn’t call on just any old locksmith to lend a hand. With more than 22,000 locksmiths in the U.S. right now, you have plenty of options. You should call on one that you know you can trust to get the job done from start to finish.
The locksmith that you contact for help should be located in Austin. They should also be able to offer you:
- A wealth of experience when it comes to providing residential locksmith services
- A reliable team of locksmiths who know how to help with home lockouts
- A friendly customer service department that can help you track down a locksmith that’s available to visit your home right away
- A fair and affordable pricing system that doesn’t include any hidden charges
- A reputation for providing the very best locksmith services in the Austin, TX area
That last thing, in particular, is important. You should read through a few online reviews for a locksmith before inviting them to come out to your home.
If a locksmith has nothing but bad reviews, they might not provide you with a great experience overall. It could make locking yourself out an even worse situation than it already is.
Call 911 If Your Home Lockout Could Result in an Emergency
Just so that we’re 100% clear and on the same page as you: you should not call 911 just because you locked yourself out of your home and can’t get back in. The 911 operator who answers your call is going to tell you to call a locksmith and hang up so that they can get back to addressing real emergencies.
But you should at least consider calling 911 if you’ve locked yourself out of your home and suspect that it could lead to a real emergency. For example, you should call 911 if you locked yourself out of your home and:
- Left an infant or a small child locked in the house all alone
- Forgot to turn off the stove or another gas appliance before leaving
- Can’t get to an elderly family member or someone who has a disability inside
The police can advise you as far as what you should do next if you ever find yourself in any of these potentially dangerous situations.
Locked Yourself out of Your Home? Call Us to Help You Today
Nothing will ruin your day quite like locking yourself out of your home. It can prevent you from getting somewhere you need to be and throw a monkey wrench into all your plans.
You can limit the impact that getting locked out of your house has by trying the different things we spoke about here. The second you see that you’ve locked yourself out, spring into action and look for the easiest way to get back inside.
If you need a professional locksmith to help you, we would be happy to send someone out to get you back into your home. Our skilled locksmiths specialize in providing home lockout services.
Request service from the best Austin locksmith today, and we’ll help you get things back to normal again.