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Thread: Outside storage for spare house key?

  1. #1
    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    Outside storage for spare house key?

    Having moved into a new house, I am concerned about having a spare key stored outside somewhere inconspicuous.

    What has worked for you over the years? l have always had neighbours with whom I exchanged keys but did get locked the one holiday when all were away. Only time I locked myself out, of course.
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

  2. #2
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    We have the key in a little plastic box under a rock in nearby park. Additionally there couple of knick-knacks and copy of the official form stating that ... the box you have found is a Geo-cache ... blah blah ... of course it's not registered as a geo-cache but just in case someone would actually look under that rock for whatever reason ... . Fortunately we never needed the key from there.

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    They make fake things to store a key - my friend has hers in a sprinkler head. I have seen rocks, too. My only thought there is that if they make them for the public, then a thief would know about it and be looking for the hiding places.

    My dh has used a magnetic key box to put our spare house keys into the gutter of the garage (a separate building).

    My mom has an electronic keypad on her garage door, and then the house key is hidden on a shelf in the garage in a fake can of oil.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Miss Cellane's Avatar
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    One place I lived had an aluminum storm door. I used a piece of duct tape, which was the same color as the door, to stick a spare key on part of the closing mechanism for the door. Worked so well that several months later I went to check on the key and thought it and the duct tape were gone! Then I realized the duct tape was still there, it was just the same color as the metal piece it was on. And if anyone noticed it, it looked like a cheap repair job, not a key hiding place.

  5. #5
    Senior Member ctg492's Avatar
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    My son has a combo lock on his hitch with the key stored in it. I put one in a zip lock bag and bury it in the back yard.

  6. #6
    Senior Member awakenedsoul's Avatar
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    I usually climb through the front window. (They are the old schoolhouse windows from the 40's.) I can't tell you how many times I've done it...at least seven. (usually in my pajamas!) The boy across the street, (who has spent time in jail) has seen me do it, too. I figure with two German shepherds, no one else is going to try and break into my cottage.

    My parents used to keep a hide a key in their backyard. My brother's ex girlfriend knew about it, and one day she let herself into the home . She went upstairs to my dad's dresser, wrote herself a check for $2,000. and cashed it. She ended up going to jail. I'm very cautious about hide a keys.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Miss Cellane's Avatar
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    When I was in grad school, I housesat for a lot of professors as a way to save money. I also pet-sat on the weekends for still more professors. At one time, I realized I knew where the spare keys were for at least 10 professors at the university. And since many of them lived in small clusters around the campus, and were friends, and stored spare keys for still other professors who were their neighbors, I could have probably broken into the homes of 5-10 more.

    The hiding places I remember were:

    Hanging on a hook inside the wooden bin that held the trash cans next to the driveway
    Under an empty flower pot in the garage
    At the bottom of a box of ratty old towels used for the dogs, stored in the garage
    A front door key hanging on a hook inside the storm door of the back door
    In a fake rock, one of many rocks bordering the driveway
    Under the door mat of a neighbor's house. The neighbor's key was under the professor's door mat.
    Hanging on a hook inside the dog house. The dog was a huge Irish wolfhound--few people would mess with her.
    Underneath a garden gnome.

    It's a good thing I'm honest.

  8. #8
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    I have an electronic code to get in my front door so no key needed.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    You can get one of those key lock boxes.that realtors use. You just have to remember the combo. Put the lockbox somewhere hidden.

  10. #10
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    Ones I have known or done. Those plastic spare keys in the wallet. Spare key in the change carrier. On block walls in a crawl space (caveat make sure the wall is filled, those keys fell down in the wall and when the house is no more will eventually be found). Behind the mailbox (pull it off and remove the key). Left at a family members.

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