Lock picking advice anyone?

[Nick]

We have a door in the house which is locked. It has a three lever mortice lock. Mrs Nick locked it (with the ONLY key), put they key in "a safe place"  ::)and now has no idea where it is.

We need to open the door.

We can't.

Any suggestions? I imagine a  locksmith would happily come out to fix it and charge us a small fortune. Any DIY alternatives?

[Snoopy]

It largely depends how much you want to get through that door today, how much damage and resultant cost you are prepared to face and whether those costs would be greater or less than getting a locksmith out tomorrow. Personally I'd put my size 10 boot to it, just by the lock but that stands a good chance of hurting your back. You could, of course, forget about it and the key will turn up one day. Before I had all new doors fitted we had locks on all internal doors. I kept a spare for each one in my office for just this eventuality because it was so foretellable.

[Nick]

Anyone got any other ideas(not involving explosives)?

[Pastis]

A carefully aimed sledgehammer. It'll probably splinter the frame as well, but if access if that urgent... 

I witnessed a gruesome incident a couple of years ago where the police used that tactic with success. What they found behind the door was not for the fainthearted... 

I don't think there's anyway you'll pick the lock; can we assume you've tried every key in the house?

[Snoopy]

Assuming you have tried all other keys to similar locks in your house and those of your neighbours (Presumably they will also have doors/locks dating from the conversion work). If it is an internal door it is unusual to have all internal door locks different for cost reasons alone it is cheaper to buy the same locks for all doors. When we moved here 12 internal doors all had locks but we found that keys for one would open others .... not all but some of the others. I sorted it out so that I had two labelled keys per door (had to get a couple cut). Anyway you may find that other keys from around the building will fit or at least turn perhaps halfway, maybe a little further. Application of some chalk to the key will show you at what point you are meeting resistance and a file will take care of that.
I'm afraid that wriggling a hairpin around in a lock is pure Hollywood fiction.
If you can take the damage to the door or door surround it will cause then brute force is the only quick answer.
A locksmith will prolly be able to work out a close fit from his sets of blanks and then it will be a bit of work with a file as suggested above. There is a company who operate a mobile service via a chain of franchises (like DynoRod) but you'll need to look in the Yellow Pages to find them. Get a quote first then decide whether to pay them or kick the lock out and pay a carpenter to replace it.
I know I worked in security for years but I am no expert breaker-in. All the above methods have been used by me with varying degrees of expense. It depends on the circumstances, risk to life and limb etc, which one I used. I did. on one occasion, put my company Ford through a hospital's double doors but that was because there was a nutter barricaded inside trying to torch the place (Barnet General since you ask ~ can't think now why I stopped him)

[Snoopy]

PS I do have a "jemmy" but by the time I get round there with it and we talk Mrs Nick into accepting the damage it will do to the door/door frame you could buy one at your local hardware shop in the morning.
I know SWMBO wants it opened and she wants it opened NOW! but since she lost the f'ing key 

[Pastis]

I did. on one occasion, put my company Ford through a hospital's double doors but that was because there was a nutter barricaded inside trying to torch the place (Barnet General since you ask ~ can't think now why I stopped him)

Our postboxes, several dozen with keys like a piggy bank  are prone to a bit of wriggling    I've done it a few times, purely to help a damsel in distress you understand 

[Snoopy]

Oh Post Boxes are like filing cabinets and the MD's desk drawers .... we never bothered 'cos the cleaner used to do it and tell us what she found. 







She also used to check out his wastebasket and photocopy anything she felt the staff ought to know about.

[Nick]

Oh dear. It's an exterior door and the effing thing has to be opened by Thursday.

I may try a few keys when SWMBO has gone out for a bit.

[Snoopy]

Locksmith then
Just up the road from you.
Not an emergency so will not be so expensive.
http://www.timpsonlocksmiths.co.uk/index.htm

You have three days in which to get it open FFS Tony Robinson can solve the mysteries of the ancient world in that time.

[Nick]

Ta.I should point out that it is an exterior door, um, 20 feet off the ground.

[Snoopy]

Best perhaps to let the locksmith find that out once he gets there.

[Pastis]

Thursday!  Loads o' time. A locksmith with a spare hour, i.e. non urgent, and the french chalk trick if you can't find the key before then. Bob is your uncle, right?

Oh. And tell him to bring stilts!

[Nick]

Why is nothing ever straightforward?

[Snoopy]

Why is nothing ever straightforward?

Strange you should ask ~ some of us have been wondering that as well