Locked out of your home in Halifax?

Most homes open without a mark

Most front doors here have a knob or lever lock with a deadbolt above it. A trained locksmith can usually pick or bypass both without touching the paint or the frame. We start with the gentlest method and only move up if we have to.

Drilling is the last step, kept for locks that are broken, badly corroded or designed to resist picking. If we get there, you hear why before we start, and you decide.

When the weather is the real problem

On the coast, a lock can turn into a lockout without anyone losing a key:

• Salt and damp. Sea air works into exterior cylinders over the years. The key goes in, the pins won't lift, and the lock that was stiff last week won't turn tonight.
• Ice in the keyway. Wet snow or rain melts into the lock, then freezes overnight. Warm the key in your hand and try once gently. Don't use hot water: it refreezes deeper.
• A door that has shifted. Freeze-thaw cycles can move a frame just enough that the deadbolt binds in the strike. Pushing or pulling the door while turning sometimes frees it. If not, stop before the key bends.

In all three, forcing is how keys snap. Call us before it gets there.

While you wait

• Keep dry and warm. A neighbour's place, your car if you have that key, or a café beats standing in the rain.
• Try every door you can reach safely. Back door, side door, the door from the garage, a patio slider. Don't climb in a window.
• Renters, call the building first. A superintendent or property manager can often let you in at no charge.
• Find your ID, or tell us on the phone it's inside. It saves time at the door.

If a child, a pet or anyone vulnerable is inside and can't get out, call 911 first.

Why we ask for ID

We check your photo ID before we open a home. If it's locked inside, we open the door and look at it before we pack up.

It takes a minute when you're tired and wet. It's also what stops anyone else from talking a locksmith into your house. See what we ask for.

Keys lost, not locked inside?

If your keys are missing, think about where they went. Keys lost near home, or on a ring with your address, are a good reason to rekey your locks so the old key no longer works. We can usually do it during the same visit, with the price agreed first.

The price before the door

You hear the price on the phone before anyone drives out, and we confirm it before we start. If something changes, such as a seized cylinder, we stop and ask. Our Price Promise.