Pro Handyman Blog

Bedroom or Bathroom Door Got You Locked Out?

 Email Article  

Tweet  

  

 delicious  

  

A customer called and said her son locked himself out of his bedroom. The thing that really bothered her was that he left his television on full-blast. That’s when she called. She told me she tried sticking a nail in the small hole in the handle, but it wouldn’t open. Not bad.

This is one of those quick fixes that it is tough to charge anyone for. It’s going to take under 15 seconds to get the door open.

Interior door locks will have either a button to push or a knob to turn to lock the door from inside the room. However, if you accidentally lock the door and you are outside the room, you can start to panic. That is, until you see the small hole at the door knob.

You can unlock the door in one of two ways. Look for a small hole either in the door knob itself, or on the escutcheon around the door knob. You can try to push a nail in the small hole to unlock the door (this style is typically found for the push-button locks). More common though is the slotted mechanism. This style of door lock comes with a little tool exactly for this purpose. If you don’t have the small tool, you can use a small standard screwdriver that fits into the hole. By the way, look on top of the door trim for the tool as many installers will place it here after the door knob has been installed.

Stick the tool or screwdriver into the hole and feel for the slot. When the tool engages the slot, just turn the tool until the door unlocks. It’s that easy.