What To Do To Prevent Lockouts

Ok, so you know that you have great locks at your property and you trust them to help you prevent anyone from being able to break in. You had brand new locks installed on your front door, and you even have locks on your windows, garage door and patio. Surely, there is no point of your property that is unlocked. But herein comes a problem.

• Have a spare key. This might seem simple, but many people fail to make copies of their office keys and residential property keys. You could leave a copy with a neighbor that you know you can count on, or even with a family member who lives in the area. Leave one with your best friend. This isn’t a bad idea for a person who travels often and wants to have a companion drop by to check in on their pet or to water their plants. So, having a spare key can serve a multitude of purposes.
• Invest in a hide a key device. This is a place in which you can store your spare key so that it is on your property but out of plain sight. You won’t have to wait for a neighbor or friend if you ever get locked out. Some hide a keys look like a rock, for instance, and it could be placed in your backyard by the pool. It could even be placed right in your front lawn. It should be a device that just looks like something natural, or that doesn’t have the appearance of a box that is hiding a key. People tend to be impressed with how good these solutions actually look, as they expect them to sort of stand out as obvious.
• Switch out your locks with a keyless lock. If you have a keyless device at your home, office or for your vehicle, then you can rest assured that you won’t get locked out because you are missing a key, because you won’t have a key that can get lost. Of course, you could end up forgetting your lock code, but this is an entirely different problem. Some keyless devices allow you to gain entry using fingerprint recognition, so if you have a difficult time keeping track of codes, you might want to opt for a fingerprint reader. This is yet another way to prevent a lockout from happening.
• Get rid of self-locking door knobs. Some people really like door knobs that lock on their own, but other people can’t stand them because they know that they will end up getting locked out. When your door automatically locks after you walk out, there is bound to be a problem which comes up eventually. It might be a wise idea to replace these locks with ones that have to physically be locked using a key.
• Make sure that if you have a keyless device, you don’t have it set up so that it automatically locks you out completely and becomes disabled after a certain amount of incorrect passcode attempts. Of course, you might want to have it set up so that this is the case, but consider then telling a trusted friend or family member what the code is, so if you ever happen to forget, you can just call them and they will be able to provide you with the accurate passcode. With all of the passwords that we need to remember today, it can be difficult to get confused, especially if we aren’t using the same one for everything. You likely have a passcode for your phone, your laptop, your cell phone account, your energy company account, and any other account you have. It can definitely be easy to get numbers confused. So share this information with someone you can count on, and you can avoid having to call in a locksmith for help, which will certainly save some cash.
• If you think you are locked out of your vehicle, check the back doors to make sure none of them are unlocked before you call yourself “locked out.” Locksmiths get a lot of calls from people who think they are locked out, but there is another door that is open. If you are at your home, check the patio door or back door.

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