Help!! I have an old exterior door that still has a skeleton key lock. It’s the type with two buttons in the latch to lock the door when you shut it. Somehow, when my daughter was letting the dogs in, the door got locked and shut. Now I wonder if I’m not SOL!
Anyone have an idea short of calling a locksmith. I don’t recall if ther ever was a key for the door, we moved in a year ago.
First time this door has ever been locked, as I recall.
ADH Carpentry & Woodwork
Quality, Craftsmanship, Detail
Replies
It's locked from the inside as well? My front door has a lock with the two little buttons on the jamb - they lock the door handle on the outside, but the handle on the inside will still work.
Could you lift the pins out of the hinges and gently ease the door out of the frame? Unscrew the hinges?
Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
Pebble, and Ralph and Stuart-
Thanks for the quick replies. Wouldn't ya know when the missus got home, the first thing she suggested was to pop the hinges. Problem solved! I unfortunately did a little damage to the old adjacent trim. I gues I was in too big a hurry!
Thanks again!!
Stuart-
These lock both the inside and out when engaged. The other interior doors need the key to lock, so we're safe there from the kids locking themselves in (or out) of their rooms!ADH Carpentry & Woodwork
Quality, Craftsmanship, Detail
Now put those buttons in the right place, and put some JBWeld on them so the kids can't do it again.
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Sometimes???? there is enough room between the strike and the door - from the inside - to insert an L shaped tool, like from a hook and pick set, which when turned against the offending push button, will unlock the door.
You could also take the pins out of the hinges and pop the door out of the jamb. Push the button. Put the door back on the hinges.
What you needed was a skeleton key. The term refers to an old style key that has been ground down in such a way that it will fit a lot of different locks. Most hardware stores in older neighborhoods will have 3-4 different keys that will, between them, fit about 95% of these locks.
Hook. Remove one handle and pull out the knob/spindle. For those locks, the spindle should be split, connected by a pin. The lock itself would have an insert that the spindle goes through that is split also. This allows you to turn the knob on the interior while the exterior remains fixed or locked. Sometimes when people remove or replace the spindle, they use a solid one. If it is solid, go to a good, old style hardware and purchase the split spindle. Installed correctly (centered) it should work as it's supposed to.
On occasion, all you need to do if you have the split spindle is adjust it (move in or out) so the split centers on the lock insert.
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