Standing on your own porch with no way in is a bad feeling, but it is a small problem if you handle it calmly. The mistakes that turn a quick opening into a costly repair are all avoidable.
Before you call anyone, slow down for two minutes and rule out the easy way back in. Most lockouts have a back door, a slider, a garage keypad, or a spare with a neighbor that the panic of the moment makes you forget. A calm check of every entry point solves a real share of lockouts at no cost at all.
Run the list in order. Try every exterior door, not just the one you usually use. Check ground-floor windows you may have left unlatched. See whether the garage service door or keypad still works. Call anyone who holds a spare, a partner, a roommate, a trusted neighbor. If you rent, your property manager may keep a master key, and that is often the fastest fix of all.
Did all of that come up empty? Then it is time to call a locksmith, and the next sections cover how to do that without making the night worse or the bill bigger.
Because a lockout is cheap and a damaged house is not. A daytime opening usually runs $65 to $200, but a pried window can crack the sash or bend the frame, and a forced door can split the jamb or wreck the strike. Those repairs run into the hundreds and sometimes more, all to save a single service call you were going to make anyway.
The hardware-store pick set is the other trap. Modern deadbolts are built to resist exactly that, and an amateur attempt usually just jams the cylinder, which turns a quick non-destructive opening into a full lock replacement. We have arrived to plenty of jobs that were a simple pick when the call came in and a rekey by the time we got there. The DIY attempt did not save money, it added a line to the invoice.
So the honest move is the boring one. Call, confirm the price, and wait the arrival window out somewhere warm. On the Front Range that last part is not a small thing in winter.
A trained locksmith opens the large majority of residential locks without any damage at all. The lock works exactly the same afterward, and your existing key still fits. That non-destructive opening is the standard, not the exception, and it is the single biggest reason calling beats forcing your way in.
Here is the usual sequence at the door:
If your lock had been sticking or catching for weeks before this, mention it. That is a cylinder wearing out, and you are better off servicing or rekeying it now than getting locked out again on the next cold night. Our rekey cost guide covers when a rekey makes more sense than living with a failing lock.
A standard daytime home lockout usually runs $65 to $200, with a simple opening landing in the lower half of that. After-hours, overnight, weekend, and holiday calls usually run $150 to $300, because the premium covers a tech leaving home in the middle of the night to drive across the metro to you. Both numbers should be quoted in full before any work starts.
Get that total in writing first, every time. Colorado has no statewide locksmith license, so there is no regulator backstopping you if a company quotes $39 on the phone and presents $250 at the door. A real local shop states the full price up front, premium included, and sticks to it. If the number suddenly jumps once the tech arrives, that is the bait-and-switch the whole industry is known for, and you can read how it works in our emergency locksmith guide.
Before you book anyone, it is worth running through a short vetting list, since the price quote is only half the story. We cover exactly what to ask in 5 questions to ask before you book, and you can see full coverage on the Denver and Aurora service-area pages.
A standard daytime home lockout usually runs $65 to $200 once a tech reaches you, with most simple openings landing in the lower half. After-hours, overnight, weekend, and holiday calls usually run $150 to $300 because of the premium drive. Always get the total price in writing before the tech starts, since Colorado has no state license to fall back on.
No. A pried window or jimmied door usually costs far more to repair than the lockout would have, and a bent frame or cracked sash can run into the hundreds on top of the lock work. Cheap pick sets from a hardware store rarely open a modern deadbolt and often jam the cylinder, turning a quick opening into a full lock replacement.
Almost always, yes. A trained tech opens the vast majority of residential locks non-destructively, using picking or bypass tools that leave the lock fully usable afterward. Drilling is a last resort reserved for high-security or seized cylinders, and a reputable locksmith explains why before they ever reach for a drill, never the other way around.
Yes, and that is a good sign. A reputable locksmith asks for ID matching the address or some proof of residency before opening a home. It protects you from anyone using a locksmith to break into your place. If a company opens any door with no questions asked, that is a red flag, not a convenience.
Often, yes. A key that has been sticking, catching, or needing a jiggle is a cylinder wearing out, and Front Range freeze-thaw and grit accelerate it. If your lockout came after weeks of trouble, ask the tech to service or replace the cylinder while on site rather than waiting for it to fail again on a cold night.
We open almost every home without damage, verify you live there, and quote the full price before we start, premium and all. Local, insured, available around the clock across the Front Range.
Last updated: May 28, 2026.
