how do you pick an old door lock without damaging the door?

[help railey]

my housemates went away for the weekend and accidentally locked my cat in their bedroom.
Its an old house with the normal kind of old lock and its been three days so i really want him out.
(i slide him food and water under the door so hes not suffering)
any help would really be appreciated.

[femurat]

That poor cat should be hungry, how do you manage to slip food under the door?
Post a picture of the whole door and a close up of the lock, so we can see what you're talking about.
A picture of you with the cat is welcome!

Cheers

[help railey]

Thankyou for the kind reply! Here are some pictures of a different but identical door in the same house:

[help railey]

here are some pictures of my kitty







thankyou for helping him

[EmCee]

Ah come on! Your cat's been locked in a room for three days and your solution is to wait that amount of time and then ask a hobby forum what to do?

The lock on the door is a lever lock, a simple one to open for a locksmith but not easy for someone who's never practised on lever locks and doesn't have the right tools.

Call your landlord to see if a spare key is held, or call a locksmith to open the door (which will cost but the cost will be less than breaking the door down and repairing the damage), or call the RSPCA. Then call a carpenter because it must be a very badly fitted door it there's enough room to slip food and water under it.

Cheers...

[femurat]

Very nice cat, I already love it!
As EmCee said, you should call a locksmith.
You can't remove the door without damaging it. A locksmith will open it in less than 10 minutes for a small fee, and your kitty will be free and happy.

Let us know how this story ends.

Cheers

[help railey]

doing it myself is my final resort before i can afford the cost of a locksmith (weekends cost more than i have) and ive been trying to get hold of my housemate to no avail.i appreciate the concern though.
Thanks.

[EmCee]

Whoa..hold fire there. Doing it yourself is not an option, last resort or otherwise. You don't own that lock, and now you say you haven't been able to get hold of the person whose room it is so you don't even have their permission to break into their room.

Don't do it. It probably wouldn't come to it if you're mates with the person whose room it is, but what you're now talking about is illegal entry. Again, don't do it.

You said the room occupant went away for the weekend, but that the cat's been locked in there for three days. That means when they left it was still a weekday and lower locksmith rates would have applied. Not being able to afford the weekend rate doesn't wash, therefore. Then again, even a locksmith would need some sort of authorisation to enter a room, and as it isn't your room they are not going to just open it on your say-so.

If there is an emergency, call the landlord, the police (not the emergency services because it's not that much of an emergency) or the RSPCA and ask them what your options are. Although I doubt they'll be too impressed that you've left it three days before doing anything about it.

If there's such a massive gap under the door that the cat can be fed and watered, might as well leave it there since it's only one more day until the occupant returns, and it's already been there three days. When the occupant returns, they're going to need to arm themselves with air freshener, shovel, cloths, mops and plastic bags too, as there's going to be a lot of mess in there.

Perhaps you are on the level, but the story as you've outlined it so far has too many holes in it.

Cheers...

[help railey]

its really not as big an issue as you seem to think.i just meant i thought id try the internet because i dont use these forum things just to see what happened.
Dont stress buddy.the cats fine.

[MBI]

Don't listen to these guys. They get their panties in a wad every time a "picking locks in use" situation comes up. What you're asking to do is actually pretty simple, IF you do it right.

First thing you want to do is pre-warm the lock with a hair dryer. Just hold the hair dryer and blow it right through the keyhole. Be careful not to contact the door with it or get it too hot, you don't want to start a fire or start peeling paint. You want it warm, but still cool enough that you can place your hand on the heated area without getting burned.

Once the lock is properly pre-warmed, things will move a lot more smoothly inside. You need to use a .42 half diamond pick. Insert it and try turning it as though it was the key. Keep doing this, slightly increasing the angle each time so the pick tip reaches further into the lock channel on each turn. Be very gentle. It should take no more effort than turning a regular key, so if you meet much resistance, back up a little bit and try it again. If you're doing it right, it should take no more than 30 or 40 revolutions to open the lock. If it doesn't open after that long, you need to insert the pick about 1/8" further, then try again, slightly increasing the angle with each turn, and make another 30 or 40 revolutions. Remember to periodically feel the front of the lock and re-warm it if it has started to cool off too much.

Good luck, I hope your kitty is fine.

[maintenanceguy]

You said you can slide food and water under the door. The cat's going to be fine.

It's already crapped and pee'd all over your roommates room so it's too late to solve that problem. Plus, it will help them to remember not to lock him in there again.

I'd just enjoy the weekend without having to deal with the cat.

[femurat]

If I'm not mistaken, the .42 half diamond pick is advanced material, so we are not allowed to openly mention it. Only a qualified locksmith is supposed to use it.
I hope you'll keep this in mind next time MBI!

Cheers

[Doctor Hexagon]

I know this thread is 6 days old now, so I hope that the situation has been resolved and that the cat is well (and that the owner of the cat has learned a lesson).

I'm not convinced that this is a lever lock. The style and age of the lock, keyway suggests to me that it is a warded lock, and thus much easier to open, with the proper tools, than a lever lock would be.

That being said I have to side with the other members in that you do not attempt to open, or tamper with, that lock. It isn't yours, and should not be opened without the expressed permission of the person who's room that door leads too. As long as the animal is not in any danger, you ought to continue to feed and water it, but not open the lock. If you believe the animal is in danger or this situation is an emergency you should phone the police, or a locksmith to open the door (the police would be my first choice as they can also provide legal advice regarding the matter and take action as they are legally permitted to do).

If your housemate really did mistakenly lock the cat in the room, I hope by now they've learned not to repeat this accident and save themselves a lot of cleaning, and/or destruction of their property.

[globallockytoo]

Such an old thread.....chiming in here.

Get an old coat hanger and bed it into the shape of the key type and use it like a key. Works easily on 2 & 3 lever bit key mortise locks. No difficulty there.

(.42 diamond pick - what a load of garbage)