Need Doorknob Help - FAST!

[oliegirl]

OK, in our new house, there are 2 inside doors that have locks - Anthony's bedroom and playroom - and we don't have a key to fit the locks. He closed his bedroom door and of course, it locked, and of course, the screws to remove the doorknob are on the inside of the door, along with the hinges which would be used to take the door down to open it.

We are trying at this point to pry the doorknob off the base, but are not having any luck. We have also tried drilling into the inside of the doorknob, which didn't work, and using a credit card/drivers license/club card to slide in between the door and the frame to "break into" the room.

If anyone has any other ideas or ways to get the door open, please post them asap!

Thanks!!!!

[aran]

what type of lock is it?

if it's one of those that appears to be just a hole in the outward facing face of the doorknob, try jimmying it with a bent hanger.

[oliegirl]

Unfortunatlely, it's a regular keyed lock...none of the keys we have fits it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, first need to know what kind of lock is on there?

Push-the-knob-in-and-turn lock?
Turn-the-tab type lock?
Something else?

[oliegirl]

turn the tab kind of lock...

[JonInMiddleGA]

My wife says try an old-fashioned "bobbie pin" to basically pick the lock.

[cartman]

Can he open the window and one of y'all climb in from outside?

[BigJohn&TheLions]

If you are on the ground floor, is the window locked?

Also, you could try the old credit card to trip the part that goes into the jamb.

[oliegirl]

We have tried the credit card, no success

We are on the second floor, and the window is locked...

Any other ideas??? Radii is mangling the doorknob so now unless you pull on the doorknob while you turn, the whole thing just turns completely around

[aran]

i guess you can't take the door off of its hinges from the outside. If worse comes to worse you could cut through the hinges.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, turn-the-tab is a little harder (in my limited experience).
I'd say the best bet is the same principle behind the credit card trick ... you want to force open the little part that normally moves in/out when you turn the knob.

If the credit card didn't work, depending on the amount of space you have to work with, a bent coat-hanger formed into a hook (like the top part you hang it with) could work. If that's too wide to fit, even a pipe cleaner hook might do it (if the lock is really weak). I've people get these open with kitchen knives, penknives, screwdriver tips (a tiny PC screwdriver might work), basically anything small enough to fit the space but long enough to get behind that little tab & then sturdy enough to force it open.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

since the knob is already mangled... got a hammer? Knock it off and use a screwdriver to turn the inner door part.

[Loren]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I've people get these open with kitchen knives, penknives, screwdriver tips (a tiny PC screwdriver might work), basically anything small enough to fit the space but long enough to get behind that little tab & then sturdy enough to force it open.

i never could get the credit card to work because they can actually be too thick and not long enough to keep a good hold and or they scratch up, best thing is a bendy style BUTTER knife, not the ones that haveno give whatsoever, more the ones you might buy in the 4 dollar silverware set..if not, get a hammer and break the part of the doorknob on your side offf
heh, Jon beat me to the hammer

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I am to assume Anthony is unable to open the door by his bad self...

[oliegirl]

Originally Posted by BigJohn&TheLions

I am to assume Anthony is unable to open the door by his bad self...

he's not inside the room.

[oliegirl]

doorknob is now off! Just needed radii to wield the hammer (this is radii, now oliegirl is trying to get the rest of the job done since I couldn't figure out what to do once the knob came off).

Edit: radii spelled "wield" wrong and I had to fix it.

[oliegirl]

Radii: 7 people are viewing this thread.

followed by:

Oliegirl: We could make a doorknob dynasty.

[Loren]

welll thats why you all got the braun and we got the brains

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kid ... isn't ... in ... room

{I'd almost be aggravated for worrying about him if it weren't for being relieved that he wasn't in there}

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Loren

welll thats why you all got the braun and we got the brains

We got the small home appliances?

[Loren]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Kid ... isn't ... in ... room

{I'd almost be aggravated for worrying about him if it weren't for being relieved that he wasn't in there}

do you have kids? Right away youd know the kid wasnt in the room because if he was she'd have called 911 by now and would NEVER had the ability to type an ACTUAL post on an online board asking for help, well as long as she's not psychotic The kid locked her bedroom door recently and man the panic you feel just by that would have been a MILLION times worst if she had been in there(altough then she couldve just opened it )thankfully we just had to go through the one and hundred and ONE keys the past owner gave us for this house

[oliegirl]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Kid ... isn't ... in ... room

{I'd almost be aggravated for worrying about him if it weren't for being relieved that he wasn't in there}

(radii again) o shit! no, we had him close his door when he came down to eat so the cats wouldn't get at it. Somehow it was locked from the inside and still closed. Replacing the doorknobs w/ locks is on my list of stuff to do but it's a pretty damn big list and this just wasn't on the top of it since he could unlock it easily if he was inside! Sorry if anyone got the wrong impression, just trying to get him in there for bed at this point!

[Crapshoot]

I had the same impression Jon did, especially given the urgent nature stated in the title..

[Loren]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

We got the small home appliances?

dammnit i KNEW it was a W, i looked it up before i posted real quick and even the search had it with a u so i changed it, omg it reeeeally is retarded Friday for me thats it no more posting!

[cthomer5000]

if he wasn't in the room, what was the huge rush?

[oliegirl]

Of course what radii forgot to mention was that at this point Anthony has fallen asleep on the couch, curled up like a little angel...and angel who sleeps like the dead through us banging a doorknob off with a hammer, a tv going, and about every light in the house on.

If we end up having to call a locksmith, he is going to LAUGH at us!!!!

I seriously think this was a doorknob meant to be on the OUTSIDE of a house, like a main entrance...not a bedroom door.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I thought with the urgency of the matter that the kid was locked inside the room and this was an initial attempt at help before freaking out...

[oliegirl]

if he wasn't in the room, what was the huge rush?

Well, at the time, Anthony was awake and we were trying to get him to bed...of course, after reading my earlier post, you know he is asleep on the couch...but now it's personal and we both just want the doorknob off and the door open!

[cthomer5000]

I think a little more persistence with the credit card probably would have worked. I had to break my ex-girlfrield into her old apartment about 50 times (she was an idiot, what can I say).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Radii & oliegirl -- no prob at all, just one of those parental paranoid moments on my part
I guess. My brain said something like "locked room ... child in house ... child _must_ be locked in room, since that'd be the scary thing to have happen".

Loren -- our son is 6 y/o, but we've gotten pretty good at the whole "don't panic" thing, at least with non-life-threatening stuff. In this case, I was having a little problem working out how he could lock himself in but not be able to unlock himself out.
With my ability to conjure difficult situations, I had worked out something along the lines of "he's probably just started toddling, door kinda swung closed behind him, no chance he's big enough to get himself unlocked".

[oliegirl]

THE DOOR IS OPEN!!!!

RADII IS MY HERO


Update: We cracked one of the pieces of the frame of the door so that is going to have to be fixed/replaced - luckily we know someone who is a carpenter and I know he'll help us out.

Olie, the cat and my namesake, was in the room, so in hindsight, it was important that we got the door open.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Kid ... isn't ... in ... room

{I'd almost be aggravated for worrying about him if it weren't for being relieved that he wasn't in there}

I'm very late to this thread, but this captures my thoughts exactly. With the frantic tone at the beginning of the thread, I was sure your child was trapped in the room. Then again, remembering his age, I shouldn't have been surprised that he wasn't in there.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

You have mentioned he was 7 before, right? Or is my memory failing me?

[oliegirl]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Dola -

You have mentioned he was 7 before, right? Or is my memory failing me?

very good memory - he is 7...

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by oliegirl

RADII IS MY HERO

Rich is obviously still posting for OG's account.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Or is my memory failing me?

You old fart.

[gstelmack]

If the kid wasn't in the room, I'd have been taking an axe to that door...

[Eaglesfan27]

Hey! My wife tells me I just started approaching the bottom of the hill.

By the way, I'm glad all is well in your house again Radii and Oliegirl.

[QuikSand]

My thoughts, in sequence:

#1 - this has to be a parody thread... wonder if the original was "Need Download Help" or something...

#2 - oh, good god the kid's trapped inside the room

#3 - it's probably better I missed all the fun here



Glad everything worked out for our heroes.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Parenting and home ownership are not just jobs ... they're adventures

[Radii]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Parenting and home ownership are not just jobs ... they're adventures

Luckily, we are renting, and this is practice for the real thing. But holy crap was I upset at myself when I discovered the damage we did to the frame in the doorway. Hopefully oliegirls' carpenter can help.

I know no one is pissed off or anything, but I am really, really sorry people got the impression the kid was locked in his room. Oliegirl thought she mentioned that in the initial post but I was doing something to the door and the kiddo was walking around offering suggestions such as "if you punch the doorknob real hard it will go right through and you can open the door" so she was admittedly distracted.

If this is renting a home, I can't wait to buy

[Franklinnoble]

Did you google "how to pick a lock?" or anything?

I would have let the cat chill for a while, and figured out a less destructive way to get in. But, hey, beating the crap out of something with a hammer is kind of cool, too.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

Did you google "how to pick a lock?" or anything?

I would have let the cat chill for a while, and figured out a less destructive way to get in. But, hey, beating the crap out of something with a hammer is kind of cool, too.

I googled how to pick a lock, how to break into a house, and a bunch of other things that left me with no new options than were suggested here.

Honestly, I didn't think abou the door frame at all, though it makes perfect sense that it got damaged. We were being careful to not damage the door, so when I saw that nothing was happening to the door while hammering away at the doorknob, I didn't think anything of it (we were going to replace the doorknobs anyway so destroying them didn't really matter).

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

My thoughts, in sequence:

#1 - this has to be a parody thread... wonder if the original was "Need Download Help" or something...

#2 - oh, good god the kid's trapped inside the room

#3 - it's probably better I missed all the fun here



Glad everything worked out for our heroes.

What QS said..plus one more

#4(actually chronologically #1.5) - with 42 posts this has to have gone sexual. Where is the doorknob.

[GoldenEagle]

We have the same exact locks in our house. The first time someone locked themselves out of the room, we discovered that they key was above the door, on the boarding that goes around that. Anyway the key is just a long, skinny pipe almost. You need something thick (thicker than a coat hanger but not too thick) and you can just "push" the lock open.

That, or go Texas Walker Ranger on the door.

[Easy Mac]

next time get a bowling ball an throw it at the door.

[oliegirl]

UPDATE: We purchased new doorknobs today and radii successfully installed one of them, we are waiting to get the door frame fixed before we replace the other one. After reading Golden Eagles reply, radii checked the top of the doors (because I am too short to reach up there) and thank god, there was nothing there. I think I would have slit my wrists had we found a key up there!!!