Breaking and entering and re-securing again

I think I’ve mentioned this before but back in December we lost track of the key to get into the storage shed attached to the back of our house.  We only had the one key and somehow between getting the tree set up for Christmas and the next time we wanted to get into that closet, we lost the key.

We looked all over for that dang key.  We looked in ridiculous spots like in the dome light in the living room and above the TV armoire.  At this point, I don’t think it’s in the house.  It was attached to a foam key chain and I think someone or something picked it up and walked off with it.  Either way, we’ve been completely unable to get into that closet for months now and all the yard implements — rakes, big trash bags, work gloves — have all been locked up in there while leaves pile up and trees need trimming.  Something had to happen.

We called our landlady and asked if she had a spare key, but she didn’t.  Why on earth there was only one key in existence for this door is beyond me, but apparently there was only the one and we lost it.

I called a locksmith to find out how much it would cost to get into the closet.  He told me it would be $17 in parts and $65 in labor.  Justin did research and determined that he could break into it.  So yesterday, we broke into the closet.  Okay, JUSTIN broke into the closet.  I watched, sprayed WD-40 around and took a lot of pictures.

This door has been mocking me for months…

 Not shown is the titanium drill bit set that we picked up on Thursday.  Also, please note the presence of eye protection.  I forgot to bring a proper pair of safety glasses home from work, but it’s important to have proper eye protection in this situation, so swimming goggles will work in an pinch!

Justin gets started drilling through the lock.  It went surprisingly easy for this part.  Lots of lubrication and a steady hand.  It did get hot enough that smoke/steam started coming up from the lock sometimes.

 Here’s what it looked like halfway through the process.

We used a 1/4″ drill bit, but it turns out, none of our screwdrivers are quite that small.  So he had to go back and make this hole bigger.

 The intent is to drill through all the pins, stick a screwdriver into the back, and turn the latch that’s in the back.

One tip broken off a titanium drill bit later, and we’re IN!

Not quite so pretty as the previous picture but I DON’T CARE BECAUSE THE DOOR IS OPEN!!!!

Now, after all that work, we’ve got to put a new lock on the door.

This part was so much easier than taking the previous lock off the door.   Also, just look at all the stuff in that closet that I haven’t been able to reach!

My husband is awesome.  🙂

After getting this on yesterday, we went out to Lowe’s and made more copies of the keys.  We have FOUR keys to this door now.

In the end, the cost was:  $12 for a drill bit set and $30 for a new lock and $4 for 2 more keys.  SO MUCH cheaper than getting a locksmith to do it.  PLUS, a great sense of empowerment thrown in there to boot!