What to Do When You Lose Your House Keys

You know how it
always seems you can’t get a hold of your keys? Somehow they just find their
way out of your pocket or your wallet or you just can’t recall where you left
them. If they were smart or connected to your phone in any way, it’d be easy to
have it beep or track it to somewhere in your house or outside where the
garbage can is. However, your keys are still just items that need tending to
else you’d be locked out of your house on a Friday night by 2 am because you
just returned from the club and can’t seem to recall anything amidst the hype.
So if you ever lose your keys, all hope isn’t lost, at least not yet. You’d be
frustrated for a bit but there are ways to get around it and we’re about to
find out.

First of all, losing
your house keys isn’t something anyone wants. Usually, it is better to prevent
some ills rather than look for reactive measures once something happens so here
are ways to make sure you are never locked out of your house.

    •   
Make a spare and keep them either at home or at your office. You can
never be too safe. If you’re prone or given to losing keys, it is advisable to
make as many possible spare keys as possible. You know all the flower pots and
thick lawns you have outside your house? Use them. Better still put a spare key
in your mailbox outside your home. This way you’d never get locked out.

    •   
You could give a spare to your spouse or your neighbor. Some people are
usually skeptical about this because they don’t really trust their neighbors.
You’d have to make sure though that they are not the type to go snooping around
your house when you’re not in just because they have a key.

    •   
You could move past the age of the key and get a combination lock so
you’d not have to worry about keeping keys safe. This could come in handy where
you have a nick for misplacing keys. This is probably the safest bet
considering you wouldn’t have to worry about keys. You could also resort to
smart locks where you could use your phone to open your house, this is way
cooler and also helps you to ditch keys.

    •   
Use smart trackers. These usually look like a Keychain and can be
connected with your smartphone. This will tell you when your keyset is far away
from you and will give you GPS as to its location. This is for the people who
seem to have a tough time keeping keys together.

    •   
Insurance. You could include lost keys in your insurance policy for your
house so you don’t get to pay a locksmith to change your locks or have them
rekeyed when you lose your keys. This will take the monetary burden off you.

These are all
preventive measures but where all of these do not come into play and you have
lost the only keys to your house, here are some options that may be available
to you.

Find Alternate
options

When you’re in front
of your house in the middle of the night and can’t seem to find your keys, the
first point of call is to find alternate means to enter your house. Yes, it
will probably seem like you’re snooping around and you’ll look like you want to
break into someone’s home but you need to find alternatives. If you can’t seem
to locate another means into the house and all the doors and windows are locked
as they should be, then you probably should look for spare keys. Usually,
people leave outlets for spare keys in places like under the flower pot in
front of the house or under a slab. If you still can’t find a way in, then
you’d resort to calling in the cavalry and this means the locksmiths.

Call your insurance
company

Sometimes replacing
your locks can be very expensive when you lose your keys especially for some
kind of locks that would require a signature before installation. If you have
an insurance cover on the house, you could call up your insurance company and
have them cover for the replacements. This would take the burden off you. Where
you don’t have such insurance cover, try exploring other means.

Replace

Sometimes it’s better
new right? Some broken things are better off replaced than repaired. So you
could have the lock picked and opened by a locksmith but if you’re feeling that
it would grant them undue access to your home, you could just have the lock
replaced. Usually, locksmiths who have emergency services work around the clock
and can show up under the specified time so you would not have to wait so long.
Like every other art, the locksmiths would explain to you if you need to change
the locks completely or just tweak the cylinders so another set of keys could
open it. You’d have a range of options from lock repairs to lock installations
to replacements or tweaking the cylinders which are also known as rekeying. All
these will be properly explained so you’d choose which best suits you.
Sometimes a very skilled locksmith can even make you a fresh set of keys
without a sample as some of them have perfected the art of cutting keys by hand
and not necessarily waiting for samples. All they’d need are their tools as
some keys that are easily replaceable while some others need way more than a
locksmith.

    •   
Where they are cylinder locks either for the front door or the back,
those are easily replaceable. These usually seem very frequent hence it’s much
easier to bypass.

    •   
Whether it is the patio lock or the garage lock that has missing keys,
they are relatively easy to replace.

    •   
Where the keys lost are for a safe lock or one that is restricted, it
would need an expert cutter.

When replacing locks,
you’d need to upgrade them so they’re different from the ones you’re replacing
and you’d also need to check the new ones with your insurance company to be
sure it meets up with the requirements. Something to note would be to try to
make the keys identical so one key could open most or all of the locks.

Changing the locks in
your house should depend on some factors. Seeing how easy it was to lose your keys,
a lock replacement would depend on the reasons and mode of losing the previous
set of keys. You’d need to ask yourself some questions.

How did the previous set of keys get lost?

Your decision to
change your locks should depend on how your previous keys were lost. If they
were stolen, you probably need to change the locks as your safety should be
your priority but if you misplaced them, then there are very slim chances that
someone will see your lost keys and somehow trace it to your home unless of
course, you have an identifier on them. Where there is an identifier maybe like
a tag with your name and address, you would need to change the locks and
replace them with new and different ones.

Did you lose the master key to your home?

Losing the master key
to your home could be a major determinant of changing or replacing your locks.
Usually, master keys aren’t exactly one size fits all but they can be modified
to open all the locks in your home. Every lock would have its key which is peculiar
to that lock but a master key opens them all. Losing your master key would mean
that you need to change all the locks in your home or all the locks that can be
opened by the master key. You cannot, however, ignore this option because
anyone who has access to your master key invariably has access to your home.

How much would it cost to replace the locks?

This is a major
factor to consider when deciding whether to replace the locks or just rekey the
cylinders. Where you are restricted by a budget, it is advisable to rekey the
locks but where you are not, you should take the time out to change and upgrade
the locks. The cost of completely changing the locks would, of course, be more
expensive than rekeying the cylinders. Where your locks already need an
upgrade, it is better to change the locks completely. The cost of replacing
locks could also depend on the location of your house, the time of the day that
you need the locks changed and the type of lock that needs to be changed. If
you’re stuck in the middle of the night outside your home, be rest assured
you’d be charged for the time it took them to come to you. Where the locks are
kind of more sophisticated say like safe keys, you’d be charged higher
according to the amount of work to be done to the locks.

What kind of locks are currently installed in your home?

Where you need to
change locks in your home if the ones already installed are high-security locks
and can afford you the maximum levels of security needed, it is advisable you
keep it and have it rekeyed so the keys you lost cannot open them. Where there
aren’t, you could use the opportunity to upgrade your locks and keep up your
security uptight. This would help you to kill two birds with one stone.

Have you misplaced your house keys before?

Where there seems to
be a pattern in losing your house keys, it is advisable to change the locks
completely. This would mean you have a knack for losing things especially keys.
It would also mean that you should explore other options when it comes to
locks. So if you constantly have the problem of a lost key, try installing
smart locks that do not need keys for entry. This would save you the struggle
with keeping keys safe and is also more reliable. Where you want to change to smart
locks, have a locksmith walk you through the process and requirements needed
for a smart lock. On the other hand, if you are ultimately careless with keys,
you could have a lot of spare keys made and kept with most of the people you
know, your friends, parents, lovers or spouses.

Do you have spare keys?

Losing your house
keys could be easier when you have spare keys with your neighbor or spouse as
the keys would help you gain access into your home. However, the problem with
using spare keys is the fact that they cannot guarantee your safety. Yes, you
now have access to your home but you can’t live with the thought of not knowing
what exactly happened to the missing ones. So when deciding whether to change
your locks, you’d need to consider if using your spare keys is good enough or
if you need to change them. Be sure to pick the option that makes you sleep
well at night.

From the above
factors already listed out, it is safe to say that it isn’t a one-way trip.
Changing your locks solely depends on the circumstances with which you find
yourself. You would need to consider a lot of things and weigh their importance
before making a decision.

You could say that
the chances of having a burglar in your home as a result of your lost keys are
minute but it is better to be safe and have your locks changed than be sorry
you didn’t. Sometimes losing your keys could be a blessing in disguise and at
other times it could just be plain frustrating. Either way, be sure to put your
safety and security first amidst other factors.

Contact us today if you have any question: 

SOS Locksmith

(469) 342-3354

2302B Myrtle Springs Ave, Dallas, TX 75220