10 Places to Hide a Spare Key

Intro: 10 Places to Hide a Spare Key

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10 Places to Hide a Spare Key

Have you ever been locked out of your house?

Have you ever needed to let a friend into your house while you were not at home?

Here are 10 great places to hide a spare key for future usage!

1. In your Vinyl Siding

2. Under the Dog house

3. On your Car

4. Under the Deck

5. On a Tree

6. In a Dryer Vent

7. Behind a Thermometer

8. In a Birdhouse

9. In the Power Meter Box

10. With a Neighbor

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Use of content for personal projects is at your own risk. Some hiding places can be dangerous.

STEP 1: In Your Vinyl Siding

Hide it in your Vinyl Siding

If you have vinyl siding on your house, you have many built in hiding places around your house.

First tie a small piece of fishing line on your spare key.

Then slide the key into one of the seems of you vinyl siding with just a little bit of the fishing line showing.

When needed, just carefully pull on the fishing line to get the key.

STEP 2: Under the Doghouse

Hide it Under the Doghouse

If you own a dog, then a great place to hide a key is within its territory.

To make this hiding spot even better, let’s hide the key under the dog house.

Because who wants to mess with a strange dog’s home.

When you hide it under the doghouse, make sure it is a little higher then the surrounding surface to keep it from getting wet and rusting.

In our case, we put it on a piece of wood.

STEP 3: On Your Car

Hide it on Your Car

If you have a car, then most of the time you should have access to your vehicle when you are outside of your house.

A great place to hide a spare key is behind your license plate.

Just take a spare key and wrap it in some tape to keep it from rusting and from scratching your paint.

Then remove one of the screws holding the plate.

Place the key behind the plate and aligned with the hole.

Reinstall the screw, and you have a great hiding spot.

This is a good spot for a spare car key too.

STEP 4: Under the Deck

Hide it Under the Deck

A deck or under the house is a great place to hide a spare key.

You can hide the key anywhere underneath this structure, but I would recommend a corner, so it is easier to find in the future.

You need to place a nail into the wood with an upward angle. This will use gravity to keep the key securely against the wood.

Also try to pick the driest location to prevent the key from rusting.

This is also a great location for children to have access.

STEP 5: On a Tree

Hide it on a Tree

If you live in a wooded area, then a tree can work for you.

You need to pick a tree that is a short distance from your house.

On the side of the tree facing away from your house, add a small nail with an upward angle.

The key can be hung on this nail.

I recommend covering the key in a light layer of paint or other product to keep it from rusting.

STEP 6: In a Dryer Vent

Hide it in a Dryer Vent

On the side of most houses, there is a dryer vent or fan vent.

Just on the inside of many of these vents, there is a small ledge.

This makes a great place to hide a spare key.

Do not slide the key in to far.

Be careful to watch out for wasp nests.

STEP 7: Behind a Thermometer

Hide it Behind a Thermometer

If you like to know the temperature at your house, then you should have thermometer.

These products make a great place to hide a spare key.

If you have the small variety, just tape a key to the back and hang it back up.

This is such easy access, that most people will not even realize how close they really are to you spare key.

STEP 8: In a Birdhouse

Hide it Inside of a Birdhouse

If you like birds, then a birdhouse makes for great entertainment and for hiding a spare key.

Just put your key in a small plastic capsule, and place it at the back of the birdhouse.

Then place some pine straw on top of it.

If you ever needed it, just watch out for birds nesting inside.

STEP 9: In the Power Meter Box

Hide it in the Power Meter Box

Most houses should have a power meter on the outside.

And in many cases, the meter is now read wirelessly, which means that the power company rarely comes to your house any more.

If this is your case, then this box makes a great place to hide a spare key.

I was able to hang our key, but you may have to tape your key.

Be very careful, thee could be exposed electrical wiring, which can be very dangerous.

STEP 10: With a Neighbor

Hide a Key with a Neighbor

Last but not least, if you have trustworthy neighbor in your area, then they are a great source for holding a spare key.

Also you could ask them if you could hide a key on their property.

That way if someone found it, they would not know which house it went to.

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Comments

[Tumunga]

I don't get the license plate hiding spot. If you've been driving your car, aren't most of all people who have a car key on their key ring are going to have a house key on there as well?

Nice hiding places!

[bound4all]

I keep my car key/fob and house key on two different key rings. It's not so bulky in my purse.

[LiamJG77]

It wasn't a question. We were taught as kids not to keep the keys with anything that can ID where you live, if you lose your purse or someone steals it they then know where you live and have your keys as well

[jaydeedoubleyou]

So as a woman you would keep your keys where? In another purse? Sarcasm aside, there are some glaring practicality issues associated with that logic.

[dragon flyer]

It's also more secure - if you lose one key you haven't lost both...

[LiamJG77]

Don't you have ID with your address in your purse?

[bound4all]

I don't understand your question. What does my having an ID have to do with having separate key rings?

[erwin]

That was my first thought too :)

[BeenThereDoneIt]

Ummm, I don't think hiding a key in your electric panel box next to your electric meter is too good an idea. That can be a go to area for thieves wanting to turn your electricity off via the main breaker or other breakers, to disable any alarm before they "break" into the house. Also electric utility workers will access that panel to turn off the main breaker if they need to pull the meter for some reason. All the rest are really good, esp. the car license plate screw. I am going for that now instead of a hide key box.

[jaydeedoubleyou]

If a thief is going to that extent to break in then they will likely find a way into your home no matter where you hide a spare key.

[sheilav13]

All you need to do is use a bolt lock that needs the key to lock or unlock. Problem solved, you can't leave home without the keys.

[jaydeedoubleyou]

Yeah but some people don't have that option so that's a kind of a nonsuggestion...

[niterayz]

A lot of good that will do if you loose the key.

[niterayz]

A lot of good that will do if you loose the key.

[JohnD316]

This is an interesting article, but, criminals also read from this site as well. Now they know of more places to look for keys. Hiding places for any item keys or weapons etc. should only be handed down person to person and not broadcast over the internet. Ask your local police agencies about other hiding spots for any items needing security.

[jaydeedoubleyou]

To your point, criminals could ask local police the same thing so that suggestion based on that opinion is moot along with the rest of them. Let's be real about this, aside from divulging specific information about your precise location and personal hiding place of a spare key, making suggestions on the internet is NOT going to increase a criminals chances of accessing your home. It's not like you're going to find some amazing revelation in this forum or anywhere else of the internet that a thief hasn't already thought of. Furthermore, if someone is really that intent on gaining access to your home it's quite likely they will find a way to do so and there is little you can do to prevent it. The best thing you can do to protect yourself, your family, and your possessions is to USE COMMON SENSE and make the prospects of breaking into your apartment, house, garage, car, tool shed, office, storage locker, mailbox, chastity belt, etc. as difficult, time-consuming, and exposed as possible for any would-be thief that comes along to decide it's not worth their time so they move onto the next one. Criminals, for the most part, are looking for the quick, easy score. They're NOT in it for the challenge like the romanticized jewel thieves in the movies, so the longer it takes to break into somewhere or something the less likely they will make the attempt.

[DarrelO1]

What I did was I bought a real estate lock box and I have it locked around my metal water pipe. It has a 4-digit combination on it, so if I don't have my keys, I just unlock the lock box with the combination and there's a key inside there. I don't trust hiding places.

[YvetteD1]

Now that's the smartest idea yet.

[DarrelO1]

Thanks! :-)

[dianad1]

That's one that I like. Someone breaking in is more likely to break a window or pick a door lock than to get into one of those combo locks. There is nothing to cut open with a bolt cutter. The combo lock doesn't have to be anywhere obvious, so this is an ideal way to keep a key handy if you lock yourself out.