How to “lock” a bathroom door without drilling or spending too much money?

Question

I am currently renting an apartment with a few flatmates, but it seems that the keys to the bathroom door have been lost. The owner of the apartment is not open to modifications.

We are trying to find a way to prevent embarrassing accidents on opening the door when someone else is in the bathroom. We are not very concerned with the safety aspect of the locking mechanism or whether it actually even locks the door; a way to prevent such accidents would suffice.

I found Temporary lock for a door, but it seems that the use-case of the asker is different in that question. Also, the suggested solution, which is a door knob lock-out device, is not readily available where I live, and would be expensive to order from outside.

This is how the locking mechanism looks like:

I believe the lost key looks something like this:

Answer 1

I'd be inclined to replace the locking mechanism with a new similar one. Direct replacement. Always change back at end of lease. Who's to know? Not expensive.

Otherwise a notice outside the door - 'Do not disturb', or get used to whistling while engaged...

Or - a length of wood that spans from the door to the opposite wall, or some article of furniture closer

BUT - bear in mind it's not too clever to have a bathroom door that cannot be opened in an emegency, from outside. That's why a lot of folk use the sort of lock with a screwdriver hole on the outside of the door. As a landlord, it's his responsibilty to provide stuff like that - not ony probably fulfilling legal obligations, but sensible ones too.

Answer 2

How about something like this?

It's a door hanger that you could print yourself at home on some cardstock. When the bathroom is in use, you flip it over to indicate so.

I found the one linked above here, but I'm sure there are countless others out there, and probably some you could order online pre-made as well.

Answer 3

Install a "slide latch lock" on the bathroom side. It cost less than $10, and can be easily found in all hardware stores.

Other ideas - Door Hook, Door Stopper.

Answer 4

Unscrew and remove the entire lock set from the door, and take it to a locksmith.

They can rekey it for probably $50, but there is a very good chance that the key is a simple generic privacy key that they could sell you for $2.99. Either way you don't have to undo anything when you move out. Just throw away the key you made and voila, the apartment is how you found it. (Or, be nice and leave the key).

Answer 5

A slat of wood of the correct length with rubber wrapped around each end would do. You'd tuck it under the handle shaft or the escutcheon plate. A scrap of bike tire tube or similar, stapled or wired in place, would provide friction against the floor and dampen noise. It's a bit clumsy, but simple and reliable.

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This would prevent casual opening of the door, but in case of emergency could be forced open. Experiment to get the length right.

Answer 6

This is the absolute minimal way to do this. It requires two screws roughly the diameter of a nail, and installs in roughly one minute. The holes can be filled with wood filler when you leave, and most landlords won't care.

Alternatively, your doorknob comes apart with a screwdriver. You can get a new one sized identically, install it, and replace the original one

Answer 7

In the end, I will try to purchase skeleton keys, as suggested by Steve Sether in the comments.

This may not be easy to open from outside in case of an emergency if the key is already inserted from inside, but the bathroom is actually already kind of accessible from outside the house through the window.

I will purchase something like this: