General Chat

Someone just tried to get in my front door. I locked the door when Mr Owl left for work at 10pm but now I’m slightly on edge. I live in a cottage flat also known as a four in a block and if I don’t close my bedroom door I can see my outside light come on. The light came on and then I heard the handle being rattled.

The doors round here can be opened unless you remember to lock them with a key. I suspect it was a chancer seeing if anyone had forgotten to lock their door but still on edge.

Oh Tawny how worrying. Can you put all the lights on and leave them on and then message mr owl?

Try not to worry, just keep the door locked. have you got a safety chain on?
Florence in the hebrides

Are you friendly with your neighbour? If so message them and tell them what happened. Leave your bedroom light on all night as well to reassure you.

i,m just off to bed now but I hope you will be ok.

Florence in the hebrides

Thank you Florence. My bedroom light is on and I have messaged Mr Owl but he won’t see it till he reaches Birch Services Southbound just outside Manchester at 4am.

Hopefully I can sleep shortly. The only good thing about round here with these flats is they don’t get broken into. They try the door and if it doesn’t open they leave. They won’t break in and risk waking the household as there is only one door in and out and they might get cornered.

Just read your Post, Tawny <3. Hope everything is ok and you were able to get some sleep <3

Tawny,
Sorry to read about your worry...so horrible especially with Mr Owl far away.

Please let us know you are OK now.

Very unsettling for you Tawny, I hope you were able to get some sleep.
It might have been a drunk trying the wrong door at that hour? No nice even so.
As Florence says, have you got a door chain?

Only just read this Tawny. Hope the rest of the night was uneventful. <3

Thank you Belle, Gwyn, Island and Ann I’m alright. Last night wasn’t great but it was Mr Owls last shift till January 3rd so at I won’t be alone for a week. He was back around 10.30am. I have now let my neighbours all know so they will be extra careful for the next month or so just incase.

Mr Owl has applied for several construction related jobs so hopefully he gets one of them and can start working day shift again. It has to be the right job for him though so I would never push him to make me feel safer.

Glad you are ok. A timely reminder to people to lock their doors at night.

There was an entry near here a few months ago. The home owner thought the door was locked by pulling the handle up. Too many people seem to believe that.

Tawny, that sounds awful.

Names, lifting the handle locks my front door, but not the back door.
I also found out, by accident, that even if the key is in the lock inside the back door, another key can be used to get in from outside.

I got home early once, put the key in the door, ready to go and tell my neighbour I was home (she was feeding the cat), got distracted, and my neighbour used her key to unlock the door!

Maggie, unless you use a key someone can still get in the front door. Depending on where the letter box is, the scoundrels can reach through, with their arm or metal bar, and release the handle. I know several neighbours who got robbed that way,

I would have thought it unusual to use a key when one is in the other side. When I moved in to a row of tied houses I was told keys would open all the front doors, didn’t check it but we did eventually change the lock.

Here lifting the handle moves the lock but the door can still be opened from either side without a key unless you also use the key to lock the door.

We then leave the key at the top of our internal staircase incase of fire. The previous owners of this flat had a laptop stolen when they forgot to lock the door.

Names, I always lock the front door - I had to check, because, as I'm in the middle of a small terrace, when I go out to cut the front garden grass, I had to see if, when the door shut, I could open it again!
I couldn't, so it is locked, though, as you say, not secure. :-(

As for being able to use the key when another one is already in the lock - as both my neighbour and I live alone, this could be quite handy if one of us has a fall.

An ex policeman friend of ours said to find out how easy it is for someone to break into your house is to lock yourself out.

Just seen this post glad your ok I live on my own has I lost my husband although this night I had my daughter staying with me but she was no good middle of summer very hot and I had the bedroom window oper woke to hear women taking about 4am outside light had come on so I looked out of window and ther was a policeman walking up the garden with his dog ran into the room load of police cars outside daughter sleep through it but you can never be to careful

If there is a key in the lock inside, using a key to unlock from outside, as used to happen before my OH died can jam the lock. I had locked the door as we always have done even when in, oH came home and was not able to,open the door. I always remove the key at night in case of an emergency and having to matpybe call my neighbour. She has a key but would not be able to get in if the key inside was in the lock. I have to push the handle up before locking with the key to set the lock.