12 November 2006
Getting Locked out when you have the keys/Why do all home repairs cost the same?
Posted by Brian under: Home Ownership .
Who would’ve thought that you could get locked out of your house, even when you have the keys in your hand. I’m here to tell you that you can, and also that it is suprisingly easy to break into a house; especially if it’s yours. Val and I were out to eat dinner with a friend who was in town for just one day. When we left we locked the door just like we always do. Upon our return, we went to open the door and……..nothing. The key would go into the lock, it just wouldn’t turn at all. After all three of us gave it a try, we began to realize that either the key or the lock was broken. My friend left and wished us luck. We drove over to another friends house to get our spare key and see if it would work. He wasn’t home or answering the phone, so we were stuck sleeping in the car overnight or finding a way into our home. Seeing as we only have one door that needs a key, and a sliding glass door on the back deck that is bolted closed when not in use, it was looking like there was no way in. But luckily I remembered that there was one window that wasn’t locked. After carefully removing the screen and a little bit of climbing and twisting, I had broken into my own house. The part that seemed strange is right before I went through the window, I looked around to see if anyone was watching. I should’ve have felt guilty breaking into my own house, but I wanted to make sure no one called the cops on me. So we were in the house, and tragedy was averted. Now on to the second part of the story:
Why is it that all home repairs cost $100 no matter what the repair is. Change Locks: $100. Install Faucet: $100. It doesn’t really matter what the project is, the reality is that it will cost you $100 and several dozen trips to Home Depot to complete the project. After the front door fiasco we realized that it was not the key, and we needed to replace the locks on our front door. Seemed like a simple enough project: Go to Home Depot, but(thanks alicia) buy locks, remove old locks, install new locks. A quick trip to Home Depot and we had the new locks. Taking off the old locks was the easy part. Once we realized that the new locks wouldn’t fit into the hole for the old locks thats where it started to become a pain. Another trip to the store resulted in an attachment for the drill to create the correct size hole. Unfortunately that tool is best used when there is no hole already drilled in the door. So I had to improvise. I broke out the Dremel tool and started to increase the diameter of the hole with the sandpaper attachment. About an hour and a half later I finally had the new locks installed. Now I just have to figure out what the next $100 home improvement task I’ll take on next.
One Comment so far...
Alicia Says:
12 November 2006 at 8:58 pm.
you might want to proofread ur articles haha “but locks” mom had a good laugh at that one. other than that they were pretty amusing.