How do I open these privacy locks?

January 19, 2023 7:14 PM

I'm living in a new place, and I want to make sure I can bypass interior privacy locks if I ever need to, but I'm baffled by what seem like they should be the pinhole interior push-button ones.

The doors handles are the elongated ones, not the round ones. The doors lock by depressing a button until it clicks. From that side of the door, turning the handle pops the lock.

In any case, on the hallway-side knobs that don't have the lock, there's a little hole. When I stick the ink barrel of a pen through the hole, I can easily find what I think should be a flat push-button. But the push-button absolutely won't depress and so the lock won't pop.

The pen ink barrel bends and slides past the flat plate that should be the push-button if I push too hard. I figured maybe it was really stiff, so I found a piece of metal that would fit through the little privacy lock pinhole, and the inner thing still won't give no matter how hard I push. I tried multiple locks.

Then I bought one of those little privacy-lock screwdriver things because apparently some privacy locks require you to turn something? But the screwdriver thing wouldn't fit through the privacy lock pinhole.

I'm completely stumped at this point. I tried several locks in the place and they all do the same thing.

What should I try next?

posted by zeek321 to Home & Garden (15 answers total)

Can you post any pictures or links to the kind of handle?
posted by rustcellar at 7:21 PM on January 19, 2023

I’ve had some that you needed to catch a little lever and twist to pop out the button. Rather than just a poke. I used a key ring I opened up so it had a hooked end. YouTube should have a tutorial. (That was fun to figure out on a bathroom door that slammed against a wall and locked itself before shutting from the wind.)

I also have some now that when pressed you can turn the knob to get in, but it won’t unlock except from the inside.
posted by Crystalinne at 7:26 PM on January 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Is there a brand name visible, and if so would it be possible to work out approximately what model? If you can do that, you can then find the owners manual which would have instructions.

One other thought is that sometimes you not only have to poke in a stiff piece of metal, but do so at just the right angle. It can take some poking around to make it work.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:26 PM on January 19, 2023

Response by poster: It's a bit like this. It was weirdly hard to find, given that I feel like I've seen these elsewhere in the wild. The difference is that, for me, the push button and hole are in the axel of the doorknob instead of the doorknob "plate."

https://www.amazon.com/Kwikset-91550-003-Contemporary-Bedroom-Bathroom/dp/B00F8MSUC0/
posted by zeek321 at 7:34 PM on January 19, 2023

We had one door knob in my house growing up where you had to both push the hidden button and twist the knob at the same time to unlock it. Have you tried pressing the button while putting some tension (try up and down) on the lever?
posted by phunniemee at 7:36 PM on January 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

The house I grew up in had knobs similar to this, but on the knob with the little hole, it wasn't just poking something in there that released the lock, you needed a smallish flat-blade screwdriver, stick it in and give it about a quarter turn. That released the lock.
posted by xedrik at 7:42 PM on January 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Also, is it possible to undo the screws and remove one of the knobs? Examining what lies beneath the knob with the pokey-hole might reveal what is necessary to unlatch it.
posted by xedrik at 7:43 PM on January 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Our privacy locks require a small flat screw driver that fits a slit behind the hole. The lock is released when the slot is turned. The locks came with "key" that is about the size and shape of keys that come with canned ham. We stored the keys on top of the door trim molding.
posted by Mitheral at 8:22 PM on January 19, 2023 [6 favorites]

yep, a small flathead screwdriver (generally used for eye glasses or small toys) or use the opener locks that come with them. it's not that intuitive, since you don't do it often, but if you have to, you'll open them in a few minutes.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:17 AM on January 20, 2023

We have these, and yeah, they come with a sort of 7-shaped thing that is essentially a screwdriver. They're hard to open because there is some space around the "screw head" inside the lock so if you don't put the unlocker in perfectly straight you can end up next to the screw head rather than on top of it, and even if you're straight-on you have to rotate the screwdriver while pushing gently until you feel it slip into the groove, and then you turn it slightly. But it's doable, there are videos on youtube explaining how to do it if this isn't sufficient.
posted by inkyz at 12:13 PM on January 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I'm almost positive that it's not a flathead/twist unlock because the pinhole is so small. And, I don't think there's any groove on the "plate"; the plate seems completely flat inside, and I can feel all around, and I'm pretty sure I'm pushing dead-center on the plate and I haven't slid off anywhere inside the knob. I guess I'll start watching youtube videos, and maybe something will click, no pun intended. At very worst, maybe I'll take apart one of the doorknobs.
posted by zeek321 at 1:12 PM on January 20, 2023

Response by poster: Got it! I did have to go off at a very counterintuitive angle and push very hard.
posted by zeek321 at 1:27 PM on January 20, 2023

Sounds like you solved the problem, but there may be a more elegant solution. The Amazon page you linked to has a link to the product installation manual which shows a small Allen key (J) that's used both to reorient the handle direction depending on which side of the door it's installed and as an emergency unlock tool. If you know the name of the knob manufacturer, Google it and "emergency unlock tool" to see if you can find out what they used. Or check under the sink etc. to see if there's a random Allen key left behind. :-)
posted by brianogilvie at 2:47 PM on January 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

One thing to consider is that the mechanism may be broken or damaged.
posted by fake at 8:57 PM on January 20, 2023

"We stored the keys on top of the door trim molding."

Genius!
posted by Marky at 10:57 PM on January 20, 2023