I actually have a garage keypad and we use it all the time instead of carrying the house key with us but have learned the hard way to have a key somewhere as we lose power a lot and then get locked out.
I thought the front door ones might be different but I guess not.
There are also those magnetic key boxes you can attach to a car, grill, or something else metal in an out of the way spot.
We live in the woods, so DH pounded a nail in a tree in the backyard and we hang the nail on that. We just have to remember which tree if we get locked out!
@mainelonghorn:
Only problem with that is I wouldn’t trust the squirrels, they are crafty devils and it wouldn’t surprise me if they figured out how to get the key and use it lol.
^Ha! I don’t think our squirrels are very smart. They haven’t figured out the bird feeder! Very odd.
The Master Lock key storage box can be picked. There are videos on YouTube. I mounted mine low on the house behind a bush. I think if someone wanted to break in my house for nefarious reasons it would be easier to kick in the door or break a window than pick a lock that is hard to get to.
My keypad is from the garage into the kitchen entry, not wired. It uses 4 AA batteries and gives a warning when they are getting low. It can still be opened with a key.
I am much more likely to lock my house when leaving now. You can also set up one time use codes to let in repairmen.
We used to leave a spare key in the shed. Probably was H is prone to lock the shed. Plan b was always crawling through the little window into the shed.
I keep a house key in my car’s center console. I enter via the mudroom door, which is never locked b/c the garage door is closed, but as pointed out above, if the power to the house goes out, I cannot get into my garage. Learned that the hard way many years ago when out walking with the jog stroller, so I started carrying a house key in the stroller.
I have a fake rock. It’s very realistic but I only put it somewhere where it doesn’t stand out. You want to choose a color that blends with the real rocks and dirt in your yard. I don’t have a manicured lawn, so I can always find a good spot to put it.
However, because we now live on a corner lot with lots of auto and foot traffic, our current setup is keypad to open garage door, key hidden in garage. I tell D to wait till the garage door shuts before she retrieves key from its hiding place, because of our high-visibility location.
We don’t get enough power outages to worry about having an outage and getting in without a key at the same time. In a pinch, anyone locked out could walk to library or coffee shop (since unfortunately we are not on dropped-in-because-I’m-locked-out terms with our neighbors).
I have a spare key in my flower box. Then, I planted new flowers so I don’t even know which box it’s in and it’s totally buried!
If I ever get locked out there will be dirt flying around while I look for that key.
I have a Schlage programmable lock on my side porch door which is the most frequented door in my house. I paid less than $100 for it and I’m not sure what I spent for installation. It is battery powered and I’ve only had to replace the battery once since it was installed in 2009. Some of the best money I’ve ever spent as it gives me peace of mind about being able to get into the house if I’m accidentally without a key and I can program special codes for people I trust to enter the house when I’m not there (like my house painters who have painted for me since 1987) and then delete those codes when the job is done.
we have a keypad for our garage door.
but there’s been a handful of times in the last 14 years where the battery died on the keypad, or the garage door actually was broken, or inside door was accidentally locked so we had to . . .
find our key hidden outside on our patio. It’s well hidden, hanging on a nail and you have to get flat on your stomach to get it; but it’s very very handy to have!
I installed the old fashioned push button kind. Its’s the exact same one my mailbox rental place uses for their front door that allows me access 24/7. I thought if it was good enough for them, it should be good enough for me.
https://www.amazon.com/Kidde-AccessPoint-001414-Combination-Permanent/dp/B000PQY1I6
Aren’t the key lock boxes easy for criminals to access?
All of our doors are deadbolts so it isn’t possible to lock ourselves out. I’d never leave a key outside. Our securit company recommended against that and advised that there might be insurance issues if someone ever found it and committed a burglary.
Two of our Ds have those keypad locks on their homes and like them. Never had an issue with power outages affecting the keypad. They like that they can have a separate code for workmen, cleaning lady, dog-walker, etc.
Don’t any of you have neighbors you know well?? Three extra keys…one with each of three neighbors. Someone is usually home at one place or another.
My brother has a spare key and he didn’t answer the door when I walked the two blocks to his house this morning. I don’t know if I can rely on human beings.
My girlfriend and her neighbor 2 doors down swapped extra keys and hid them in the back yard. If someone found the key, they couldn’t get into the house that the key was hidden at. It would work well to hide the key in your brother’s yard because it would be highly unlikely that someone would try all of the houses close by to try to get in.
Lots of commercial places have keypads, realtors use keypad lockboxes to hold keys for houses for sale, etc. That seems to indicate they’re secure.
On the lo-tech end, I love the idea of swapping key with neighbor and hiding other person’s house key in yard.
As far as neighbors, my neighborhood is unfortunately very transient, also lots of people work and are gone all day, your neighbor might be on vacation right when you need them, etc. But if your neighbor has hidden your key outside, voila! all is well.
We have battery keypads on our doors now, but I used to have duplicate house and car keys in a pocket of my purse in case I ever lost my key ring or locked it in my car. One of these days, I’ll get a car with a keypad, but I was never without my purse.
We have a hidden key in our detached garage. The garage is filled with junk, so is not locked. (And by junk I mean rakes and flower pots and our lawn mower, etc.) There is a nail that we hang the key on. You really have to know where it is to find it because you cannot see it when you walk in the garage. And every one in the family has needed to use it at one time or another!