You knew that guy was a jerk but you let him move in regardless. Now that you’ve finally kicked him out, you find that the former roommate left the door to his room locked and took the key with him – yep, a real jerk!
Even if you don’t have the right key, you still may be able to use similar keys that you may have to get in – it works more often that you would expect. The first thing to do is just to see if any keys you have will go into the lock at all. Once you find a key that slides in, you have a couple of things to try. But be careful not to force the tryout key into the lock, you can break the key off inside the keyway and create an even bigger problem.
Fun note – the shape of the bows (handle of the key) are similar for compatible keyways. So once you find one key that slides into the lock, look for the same general shape for other keys to try out in this lock.
Now that you have a key that goes into the lock, it’s time for a little luck and moderate skill to jiggle the lock open.
The first method is to rapidly jiggle the key up and down as you slide it into the lock while at the same time you are keeping a little turning pressure on the key.
The second method is to rapidly rake the key in and out of the lock, again, keeping a little turning pressure on the key as you rake.
Grandpa TJ: I’ve located videos which deal with many of the types of lockouts you may run into at home. If you are handy with some simple tools and can get to a hardware store, these videos will give you enough information to get the job done for far less cost than a locksmith.
Remember, you can get personalized help including video chat during your repair if you need it. Visit Grandpa TJ’s Inner Circle for more information on how to schedule a live consultation.
This same basic jiggle method is shown in the video below where the only difference is that the author is using locksmith’s jiggle keys. See how the same rapid motions with the Jiggle Keys open the deadbolt locks in rapid order. Click on the play button to see how this works.
YouTube Video by Jolly Peanut
Thanks to Jolly Peanut for his YouTube video
It may take several try-out keys to find one that works. First off, you may not have any keys that fit that lock. For the ones that do fit, it may turn out that no amount of jiggling opens it up. Regardless, don’t spend too much time trying – no more than a minute per key. As seen in the video, it took only about 20-30 seconds each to get the two locks open.
Jiggling is a no cost method and is easy to try. It should be the first thing to do when you discover you are locked out – it is usually even easier than looking for open windows or doors!
Grandpa TJ: Even though I have Jiggler Keys, I still keep a big keyring of my old keys just for these types of try-outs because the Jiggler’s may not fit into the keyway or be too flimsy to turn the lock.