What to do if I have lost the keys to the apartment? This situation happens to every person at least once in a lifetime, and some people lose them constantly. And this is a huge stress, because our housing is the only place in the world where we can feel with maximum comfort. So what to do if you have lost the keys to the apartment?
How to search
First of all, you need to stop panicking. This condition makes it difficult to think and remember everything that happened during the day. Any person, if they concentrate, will be able to reproduce their entire current route, down to the smallest detail. This knowledge will help you understand when the keys might be lost. For example, you can recall how he took off his jacket in the car, which means that the bundle could fall out of his pocket, or as in a store, in search of a purse, he automatically put the keys near the cash register.
If you have some free time, you should go along the entire route. But this is not always possible. With active movement around the city, this is even worse than looking for a needle in a haystack.
Using duplicates
How to open an apartment if keys are lost? You need to prepare for such a situation in advance. Most people have duplicates - in kits 3-4 keys go to the lock, while only 1-2 are used constantly. The problem is that duplicates are often stored in that apartment, which is now inaccessible.
In order to avoid this situation, duplicates must be deposited with a close relative or friend, that is, a person with a large credit of trust. Most often, the role of such guardians are parents, grandparents, adult children living separately.
But not everyone has such a close person whom you trust 100%. And some may be driven crazy by the thought that someone else could freely enter their home. Therefore, spare keys can be stored at work - in a closed box or safe, or you can keep duplicates in the car.
Houseworkers from ZhEK
But it is not always possible to foresee everything. And then the question arises of what to do if you have lost the keys to the apartment. There are several solutions to this problem. And the simplest and most obvious is to contact your local housing office.
The services of locksmiths will cost inexpensively, but there is a nuance. It's still not about professional crackers, but about ordinary employees of the Housing Office. And they can both easily open the door (if you get an experienced locksmith who has already encountered this type of locks), and damage it. Moreover, the scale of the destruction cannot be predicted.
Ministry of Emergency Situations
If you lost the keys to the apartment, where to call? The first thing that comes to mind is to call the Ministry of Emergencies. The employees of this department respond immediately and solve the problem promptly. Unfortunately, only by radical methods. They worry little about the safety of property and therefore can provide access to the apartment by simply knocking out a window or breaking a door.
This method is good when it comes to immediate resolution of the situation, for example, when a child is locked in the house.
Industrial climbers
Industrial climbers can also help. They are able to easily open a window or balcony door left for ventilation and penetrate the dwelling from the building's facade. Even if all windows and doors are closed, climbers can cut or squeeze glass with virtually no damage. Unfortunately, this method is not suitable for those who do not open the lock from the inside, and there are a lot of such models.
Prices for industrial climbers are high due to the danger of working at altitude, in addition, it is necessary to use expensive equipment.
Can I open the lock myself?
If I lost the keys to the apartment, how to open the lock? Not everyone can cope with this problem on their own. But there is a chance, especially when it comes to locks of a simple design. For example, a locking device that opens with a flat or round key when pressed. To do this, you need to find a suitable auxiliary tool of the desired diameter - a wand, pencil, rod from the electrode or a screwdriver, insert it into the well and hit it with a stone.
The pin locks are also opened according to the “shock” method - they pick up a small master key and do not fully insert it, then pull it with one hand, and beat the master with a heavy object with the other. Such a technique requires either some skill or a fair amount of time. In addition, there is a chance to damage or jam the locking device.
You can try to open the lever lock with a credit card. It must be inserted into the slot, at the level of the lock, directed so that one side is at an acute angle to the door, and then pressed so that it begins to bend in the opposite direction. So you can remove the tongue - and the door will open. However, in modern apartments, the gap between the wall and the canvas is protected, and this method does not work.
Emergency Lock Opening Service
The most reliable way to solve the problem is to contact specialists in this matter. There is an emergency lock opening service in every city, and there are many of them in large megacities. You can find phones in newspapers for free ads, on the Internet, or on advertising stands.
The advantages of such companies is that they specialize in solving this particular problem and in their arsenal there are a lot of special master keys and devices. Accordingly, the risk of damage is minimal.
A specialist can open the lock in a couple of minutes. In difficult cases, this will take several hours.
When calling the emergency service, you must provide documents of ownership of the housing or a passport with a residence permit, otherwise you may be denied the provision of services. If all the documents are in the apartment, then in parallel with the call of a specialist, you need to invite the district police officer - he will guarantee that nothing illegal is being done.
Do I need to change the lock
What to do if I have lost the keys to the apartment? Do I need to change the lock after it has been opened. This question worries most people who have encountered this problem. In fact, there are several options for solving it:
- Change the lock. The radical method.
- Install a second locking device - mortise or overhead.
- If the lock is a cylinder type, then you can replace the cylinder.
- If the lock is a lever type, it must be recoded.
All these works can also be ordered from the emergency lock opening service.