Locked Out? 3 Very Good Reasons Why You Should Resist The Urge To Kick The Door In
Realizing that your child is locked behind a door that you don't have a key is never fun. Your first inclination may be to knock the door down and rescue them. However, you may do more harm than good. While kicking down the door might be slightly faster than waiting for a locksmith, you can do a lot of damage to yourself, your property and your child if you try to kick the door down. Following are three very good reasons why you should resist the urge.
Personal Injury
When you kick a door in, you're placing yourself at great risk for personal injury. This is especially true if the door swings outward or is made of some hard material, such as solid wood. In addition to spraining your ankle and/or getting cut by flying debris, you may even break a bone in your foot or ankle.
Property Damage
If you kick down your door, you will cause a great deal of damage to the door, the lock and the framing around the door. The cost for replacing a door averages approximately $866, with exterior doors being more expensive than interior doors. Keep in mind that this price only covers the door and installation. Additional damage to the framing and lock will cost extra to fix.
Traumatic Shock
If your child is not in any immediate danger, it's best to wait for help to arrive because you could cause both physical and psychological damage by kicking the door in. The loud bang and violent blast of the door crashing in is bound to startle any child, especially if they're too young to understand what's going on. If your child is crying or otherwise upset, try to sing to them or play games with them through the door until help arrives. If they continue to cry, don't worry too much about it. Simply continue to soothe them through the door.
When you can't get to your child because of a locked door that you can't find the key to, it's very tempting to kick down the door and be done with it. However, by doing so you could cause damage to yourself, your child and your door. Always call a locksmith (such as one from ND Security Company) to unlock the door for you, especially if your precious child is on the other side of the door. You never want to cause more damage by acting too rashly.