Locked out in Halifax? We answer at any hour

Which one is you?

Pick the closest match. Each page covers the next few minutes and what to expect once we're there.

• Shut out of your house or apartment
• Shut out of your car
• Keys inside a car that's still running, a regular one on wet-snow mornings
• Shut out of a shop, office or warehouse
• A key that snapped or jammed in a lock or ignition
• A garage door that won't lift with the car inside

Before you do anything else

If a child, a pet or someone vulnerable is locked inside a car or a home, call 911 first. On a hot day or a raw, wet night, that matters more than the lock. Emergency crews can get in quicker than anyone, and the lock can wait for us.

If everyone is safe:

1. Get out of the weather. Sleet off the harbour soaks you fast. A neighbour's porch, a lobby, a coffee shop or a warm car is better than standing at the door.
2. Try the other ways in. A back or side door, the garage door, a patio slider, a window you can open from the ground. No ladders, no forcing a frame.
3. Think about who has a spare. Family, a neighbour, your landlord or property manager, a lockbox you set up years ago. Many apartment buildings have someone on call who can let a tenant in.
4. Call or text us. Give the address and what's locked. For a car, add the year, make and model. You get the price before we set off.
5. Wait somewhere dry. We tell you who is coming and roughly when.

Storms, outages and lockouts

A lot of our night calls follow the weather. A power cut leaves a keypad or smart lock dead, or a garage opener with no way to lift. Freezing rain glazes a car door shut. Salt and damp leave a cylinder so stiff the key won't turn. Tell us what the weather has done when you call, because it changes which tools we bring.

When we get there

We ask for ID before we open anything. For a home, your photo ID. For a car, ID that matches the registration. If it's locked inside, we check it the moment the door is open. A locksmith who skips this would open your door for a stranger too. What we ask for, and why.

Then we pick or bypass the lock. Most lockouts end without drilling or a mark on the door. If drilling is needed, you hear it from us first. If your keys are lost rather than locked in, ask about a rekey on the same visit so the missing key stops working.

Car trapped behind the garage door

If the car is inside and the door won't go up, leave a broken spring alone and don't try to heave the door up yourself. A door with a failed spring can come down hard. After a storm, check whether the power is simply out first. We repair garage door springs, openers and cables at any hour. Car stuck behind the garage door: what to do.

Where we come

Across HRM: the peninsula, Dartmouth, Bedford, Clayton Park, Lower Sackville, Cole Harbour, Spryfield and further out. All the areas we cover.

The price comes before the drive

The usual lockout trap is a low figure on the phone and a much bigger one at the door. We work the other way: you hear the price first and agree to it before we touch the lock. If the job grows, we stop and ask. Our Price Promise.