Care to take part in a "locked" room mystery?
This morning, I took a shower as usual, turned the fan on and the light out when I left and closed the door.
Now we can’t open the bathroom door. I did not push the lock button. (I know this, because when these doors are locked, the handle won’t turn.)
The handle turns on the bathroom door, but nothing happens. My husband put his shoulder to the door, but nothing happened then either.
The hinges are on the inside of the door.
I am crossing my tentacles. How do we get this open?
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27 Answers
Do you know the credit card trick? Slide it in at the strike plate.
You might have to take a screwdriver or putty knife to make some room if the doorframe gets in the way. Pry it up to let the card in.
Rats! Since the door is set into the doorframe from the inside, the credit card would have to bend 90 degrees to get to the mechanism.
Does the door knob have a little hole in the middle of it. It’s (we) call it a lock override, used in case a child accidentally locks the door. Anyway, stick a long skinny something (it has to be something strong) in it to disengage the lock. Good luck!
Look on the door handle on the hall and see if there is a little hole somewhere on there. If there is, try inserting a nail in there. It should pop the inside lock.
@AmWiser, jinx!
The door isn’t locked, it sounds like the latch broke.
OK, I do see the little hole. I will try it.
This is one of the reasons I love Fluther…real time mysteries and solutions!...I hope…
The overring could also have a notch for a flathead screwdriver, I know ours does. If all this fails, take the door nob out and manually open it after knocking out the other side.
OK, the lock is not locked (like I thought) so the skewer in the hole didn’t work.
@XOIIO Thanks, that’s a good idea. The maintenance guy just tried that (the screwdriver), but the one he had didn’t work.
I am not sure how he will take the doorknob off because there is no hardware on the outside of the door (no screws, etc.).
I have nothing to add except that I hope you have two bathrooms.
@chyna We don’t. That’s why I said crossing my tentacles. I went out to use the one at the Rec Center. Now, if the maintenance man doesn’t come back soon, I I will have to go use the one in the office.
Did you understand @Adirondackwannabe‘s suggestion in this quip?
Your door should close against a small piece of wood (I can’t for the life of me remember what it’s called) that you can pry away from the door frame. Look at this picture. You see the strip of wood that’s a couple inches wide and runs approximately through the middle of the door frame? That’s what I’m talking about. You should be able to take a flat head screwdriver and wedge it between the strip of wood and the rest of the door frame. If you pull this strip away from the frame, you will have a clear shot at the latch. Then you will be able to do the credit card trick (though, at that point, you might as well just use the screwdriver instead of a card). When you’re done, hammer that little piece of wood back into place and it will be good as new.
There’s always the sledgehammer way…
Maybe the lock is stuck/broken off the handle? Being able to move it may not mean that it is unlocked.
Locksmith? Sounds like a trip to Lowe’s for a new knob is in order.
OK, the maintenance man opened it using a screwdriver, but he damaged the door frame and the door doing it. (We have sent pictures to management for our file.)
He then fixed the loose screw on the inside of the door hadle that had caused the problem.
@bobbinhood No, I did not understand @Adirondackwannabe ‘s suggestions correctly or I could have tried that or suggested the maintenance man try that.
Thanks to all who attempted to help out.
@marinelife I’m glad you finally got in! Too bad it ended up damaged, though.
Ahh, the whole loose screw in the doorknob situation. Shucks, how could I miss that one.
What a predicament! I’m glad you got it solved.
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