Door Locks

gampiano

Help!

The door to our basement has only knobs, no locking system. My DH somehow managed to go down there and dismantle the dryer vent. I spent last night down there with step stools and heavy duty tape putting it back together, it took me 2 hours, and i was finished by midnight. I'm hesitant to install a keyless entry as i live in an area with a lot of stormy weather and power outages. Im thinking of getting a door knob set with keys, but really have no clue if this is the right solution. Any tips on what would work? Ive got to keep him out of there.

Jeanne C.

I'd go with the keyed doorknob. Seems like an easy fix.

harshedbuzz

A keyed knob would be my suggestion so long as he has no access to the keys and you never go down there without a charged cell phone.

Caro_Lynne

I installed these slide locks on all the doors that have access to the outside. He doesn't realize they are there (because he doesn't look up) so does not try to open them. So far between the slides and the door alarms, I don't have to worry 'as much' about him wandering out of the house. Hope this helps.

housefinch

There’s another kind of high placed lock similar to that pictured above that a locksmith can install (no sliding piece with handle so harder for PWD to figure out). Our locksmith showed it to me because someday our daughter with intellectual disability and autism will learn how to open our exterior door deadbolts! We will install those to keep her inside then. I’m sorry I don’t have a photo. He said they were incredibly strong and pretty much guaranteed she wouldn’t get out. We also have Ring alarms on all exterior doors and downstairs windows.

Ed1937

I used a sliding lock, much like Caro Lynne, but I mounted it horizontally, which I think is better. My wife never looked up either, until she did. She was able to unlock the door (one time), but the next day she forgot all about it, and couldn't get out again. PWD are known for not looking up very often, probably because they're afraid of falling. Caro Lynne also used a door alarm, shown on the right side of the photo. That's added protection.

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Rozieglow

FWIW, the keyless entry we have also has a battery for backup. My guess is that most, if not all, do. So if that is your preference, you don't need to worry about power outages. Just check the battery now and then, maybe the same time as checking smoke alarms.

loveskitties

Just to add that my keyless entry...on exterior door...has a keypad and batteries which power the lock. It also has a "just in case" key if the batteries should fail.