Schoolboy error!

longdogs · 11 Jun 2015

I was sorting through some old keys this morning, trying to work out what locks they fitted. One of them was a mortice key with 'bathroom' marked on it so I decided to try it in the bathroom lock. The schoolboy error bit was that I went inside and shut the door before trying it.

The key obviously wasn't the current key but it somehow it locked it. But, it wouldn't unlock it. I think it probably tuned a couple of the discs but not all of them. I was then stuck in the bathroom.

After about half an hour of trying different keys, I came up with a plan:

My wife had to push some garden twine under the door, which I then tied to an old disposable razor and lowered out of the top opening window. She then had to sort through my tool box for a hammer and chisel (not an easy task), put them into a carrier bag and tie the end of the twine to it.

I then pulled the bag up so I could get to the tools.

Luckily I managed to knock the striker plate back enough to open the door. Pushed the lock back in and all was fine.

The annoying thing is that I know not to do that but I did it anyway.

footprints · 11 Jun 2015

Oh so easy to do!

Still at least you were not stuck in the bedroom bursting for the loo!

bernardgreen · 11 Jun 2015

footprints said:
Still at least you were not stuck in the bedroom bursting for the loo!

Unlike the chap I knew who when spreading floor varnish started at the bedroom door and trapped himself against the wall opposite the door until it dried.

No it was not me.

KenGMac · 12 Jun 2015

I heard of a chap who, when painting something like a Pylon, went out on one of the arms of the pylon, but as can be guessed, did it from the main body of the pylon outwards?

Absolutely no where to "GO" even if he had needed, and because all the metalwork was covered in wet paint, no safe way back?

Another one I actually saw was what was best termed brush hand, a man with a paint brush, who was detailed of to paint the trusses above a loading bay, fine so far, but he kitted himself out with a safety line that was about 10.M long, he was working 8.m off the ground. when we got him down it took about half an hour to get him to understand that his Safety line was not really much use to him?

Ken.

eveares · 18 Jun 2015

Nowhere near as bad, but indoors we have a shallow storage cupboard where the electricity meter and CU is also in. Well one day something fell down inside the cupboard and wedged it's self between the door handle and the shelf just below.

Took ages to get the door open, ended up removing the inside handle. Not to mention at the time it was a main storage area for tools.

longdogs · 18 Jun 2015

eveares said:
Nowhere near as bad, but indoors we have a shallow storage cupboard where the electricity meter and CU is also in. Well one day something fell down inside the cupboard and wedged it's self between the door handle and the shelf just below.

Took ages to get the door open, ended up removing the inside handle. Not to mention at the time it was a main storage area for tools.

My 'Man drawer' is like that. Stuff always getting stuck, preventing it from opening.

MysticalGandy · 13 Jul 2015

Is your mrs an expert burglar?.... HA?

sdavies21216 · 30 Nov 2015

When I was a boy, (I can't remember exactly how old) I found a key and decided it must be for the bathroom door. I went into the bathroom, tested it with the door still open, it worked fine. I then went out of the bathroom, closed the door behind me and locked it....ACH!!! Door wouldn't unlock!! I called my Mum who couldn't unlock it either and ended up snapping the key off in the lock (a mortice lock with one of those reverse "L" keys) It ended up that when my Dad came home from work he had to drill the door and pull the bit of wood off that is in front of the lock so that he could wiggle the lock out of the door. We ended up having to have a new door, when the man came to see the job he suggested a privacy set rather than a lock, which I think was a good idea!!

johnny_t · 11 Dec 2015

I did very similar once, when fitting a new door in our bedroom.

I had the door hung, fitted the new catch in the door and plate in the frame (though, critically, had not drilled the hole for the spindle). Went inside the bedroom and shut the door to make sure it fitted and, as I heard the click, realised I had absolutely no way of opening the door whatsoever.

In the end, I had to get someone to throw me a rope to the bedroom window and host me up a drill and all the handles...

eveares · 12 Dec 2015

johnny_t said:
In the end, I had to get someone to throw me a rope to the bedroom window and host me up a drill and all the handles...

Or if you had to, you could of kicked the door down.

gregers · 12 Dec 2015

or slip the latch

Brigadier · 14 Dec 2015

squeaky said:
My 'Man drawer' is like that. Stuff always getting stuck, preventing it from opening.

Take the drawer out. Under the worktop is probably a strip of mdf / furniture board, or similar.
If the cupboard will be strong enough without it, remove it. Nothing for drawer contents to snag on. Or,
Fit a wedge-shaped moulding to the square face of the strip, again reducing the likelihood of drawer contents snagging.

longdogs · 15 Dec 2015

A good idea! Makes you wonder why a wedge shaped strip is not standard. MDF! How very dare you!

SUNRAY · 5 Feb 2016

KenGMac said:
Another one I actually saw was what was best termed brush hand, a man with a paint brush, who was detailed of to paint the trusses above a loading bay, fine so far, but he kitted himself out with a safety line that was about 10.M long, he was working 8.m off the ground. when we got him down it took about half an hour to get him to understand that his Safety line was not really much use to him?

Ken.

I did a lot of work in Bush House in London, it used to have a lot of vertical ladders and some bright spark decided they all had to have a traveling ascender safety wire up the left hand side and it was obligitory to used the harness etc. The lanyard (correct term?) was 1.5m and the shock absorber 1m. the safety officer could not understand why this was useless on a ladder about 1.8m high.

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Schoolboy error!

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