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locked out of my own home!

14 years ago

The tilers came in the morning and my shift was only starting later in the day. Before i left I showed them how to lock the front door ( although i could not actually reach the door I pointed and demonstrated.

There is a language issue and obviously they partly understood but there was some miscommunication.

I had to leave via the patio & thru the garage so as not to step on the tiles. I had also been told I cannot walk on it until the morning so would coome back in the same way.

They,, on the other hand were working towards the front so would leave that way.

Well when i came home I just had to peek through the glass front to see what they had done and they had left the front door wide open. I had to think what I would do about that.

I made my way through the garage to the back and stepped up to the sliding door and .....it did not move.

Now sometimes when it has been VERY cold and snowy and blowy for days on end, the door does get a bit stuck. But it has been unseasonably warm, except of course for the previous 2 or 3 days. I tried again with 2 hands now and then realised it had been locked. A sliding pation door which does not have key access - can only be opened from inside

So now, what to do. The basement window is on that side behind a rose bush and of course low on the ground.

Having had hip surgery a couple of years ago and not being slim i looked and realised i could not get in that way.

Nothing for it but to go in very carefully through the front .

back thru the garage to the front and i turn the handle on the glass door of the enclosed patio (( i never know what to call that area) which has never had a key since we moved in ) and yes, you guessed it. That was the door they had locked.

I tried my front door key thinking vaguely that maybe it was the same key but of course no luck.

I went back to the back to reconsider the basement window but realised that was impossible.

Effectively I was locked out of my own house and of course I had left my cell in the house by mistake.

I was wondering if it was worth it to break the glass but decided against that.

it was almost 11pm & i could see no lights on in the nearby houses.

I went back to the car to get out of the -16 C with the wind chill weather while I thought about what to do

Imust have been more stressed than I thought as i just snapped and started really sobbing as i sat there trying to get my thoughts in order, and to compose myself before I drove off to find a phone.

Lucky for me my 2 doors down neighbour came out for a cigarette and saw me there and came to ask what was wrong.

One phone call and about 40 minutes and $160 dollars later I was back in the house. Thank goodness for emergency locksmiths

It does make a good story though

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Comments (3)

warmfridge
14 years ago
I'm glad you got back in, but that whole situation is inexcusable. Leaving the front door wide open exposed you to theft or vandalism. I would present the locksmith bill to the tilers (or your GC, if the tilers are subs).
cawfeegirl
14 years ago
Omigosh, that's ridiculous!! I agree with warmfridge...give them the bill!

Do I understand correctly that you could have gone in the front door but didnt because the of the tile job? I probably would have gone in the front door, walked on the tile as carefully as possible, and, if I had ruined something--TOO BAD--I would have made them re-do it. But that's just me. :)
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gillycat
Original Author
14 years ago
No no no no no ....no, I could not go in through the front because the door of the enclosure was locked which means neither I nor anyone could get to the front door without breaking the glass.

When i walked back to the door my intention was to open that door and just go on carefully. if they had to redo so be it.

A lot of people actually think that is the front door and knock on the glass when they come so that we have learned to tell people who are coming for the first time that they have to enter that "room" first

So it was not so much of a security thing as it sounds.

If it was I would have read them the riot act and not been as calm about it.
Of course once the locksmith opened the door I locked the real front door

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