House lockout service in Rockville, MD
Key on the kitchen counter, key lost somewhere between here and the car park, or a lock that has simply stopped turning. We come out and get you back inside.
A house lockout is the most common call we take, and almost all of them end the same way: the door opens, the lock still works afterwards, and nobody has to replace a door.
What a house lockout call covers
The job is getting you back into your own home without wrecking the door on the way in. That covers the front door, back doors, patio sliders, garage side doors and the internal doors people manage to lock behind themselves. It also covers the cases where the key is in your hand and the lock is the problem — a seized cylinder, a snapped key, a latch that has dropped out of line with the strike plate.
If a key has broken off inside the barrel, that is an extraction rather than a straight lockout, and it is handled on the same visit.
How the visit goes
- You call and describe the door: which lock, which side of the house, and whether anyone or anything is shut inside.
- We tell you what the job involves and what it will cost before a locksmith sets off. Nothing starts until you have agreed the number.
- A locksmith comes to your address with cylinders, blanks and entry tools already in the van.
- The lock is opened without damage where the hardware allows it. If it does not, you hear about drilling before it happens, along with what replacing the lock involves.
- Before we leave, the lock is tested with the key so you know the door still works.
What we bring to a lockout
- Non-destructive entry tools for standard residential cylinders
- Replacement cylinders and deadbolts, so a damaged lock can be sorted the same visit
- Key blanks and a cutter, if you need a spare made while we are there
- Extraction tools for keys that have snapped inside the barrel
When to call straight away
Call rather than wait if a child or a pet is shut inside, if you are locked out at night, or if the weather makes standing outside a bad idea. Out of hours the same job is handled by the emergency side of the business, which runs 24/7.
It is also worth calling rather than forcing a window. A broken window costs more than the lockout, and a door that has been shouldered is a repair job on top of an opening job.
After the door is open
If the key was lost rather than left inside, think about a lock change or rekey — a lost house key is a key someone else may now be holding. If the lock was the reason you could not get in, a repair is often enough, and cheaper than replacing hardware that is otherwise sound.
Other things we handle on the same visit
One call usually covers more than one of these.
Tell us which door it is
One phone call, about a minute. You will know what the job involves and what it costs before a locksmith sets off.