It’s a sad fact that there are many burglars out there that like to take their chances with a garage door.
That’s why it’s so important to ensure that your garage, and its contents, are secure. While we can’t offer you a cast iron guarantee that they won’t try and chance their luck with your garage, we can offer you some super top tips to help keep your garage secure from burglars, making it much harder for them to gain access.
Don’t Keep the Garage Opener in Your Car
How many of you do this? Are you nodding your head right now and already thinking perhaps you should head out the car and grab it? If your car gets broken into, a burglar can quite easily grab the remote control opener giving them easy access to your garage. You might think it’s not a problem if the break in takes place away from your house but the chances are you have documents in your glove compartment that will give away your address!
It’s time to the ditch the remote on your visor, or inside one of the interior pockets, and buy a keychain remote instead. You can attach it to a key fob on your car keys and take it with you everywhere. Just search online for the make of your opener and order one. It’s a great first step to making sure you don’t give thieves easy access to your garage.
Garage Defender
We have a whole page of information dedicated to the Garage Defender, a great security tool for protecting your garage from intruders. The Defender unit locks into a solid steel base with a padlock, preventing the tilt action of the door. This protects it against being prised open from the side or the bottom.
This type of device only works on up and over doors though and fits into place centrally, directly in front of where it will lift.
Motion Detector Lights
Thieves like to work under the cover of darkness, lurking in the shadows for opportune moments. If they creep up to a garage and a motion detector light switches on, they are going to think twice about taking their chances breaking into this particular garage. A motion sensor light is therefore a great deterrent for would be garage burglars.
Lock the Garage Door
We know this is an obvious one but it is surprising how many people forget to lock their garage doors. In addition to leaving them unlocked, some people will keep them open during the day when they are pottering about. While this isn’t so much of a security risk in itself, it does give drive by burglars, that might be casing the area, an insight into what you keep in the garage and whether it is worth having a crack at.
Hide Your Stuff
If you have windows or roof lights that show the contents of the garage, it is worth taking steps to cover them with a blind or a curtain. Don’t give thieves the opportunity to see what is in your garage. If you do have valuables in there, it’s worth covering them up too although this should be done in conjunction with window or door coverings as covering the items just indicates that it is something of value.
Secure the Service/Entry Doors
Many garages are served by an exterior service door on the side, or at the back, of the garage. These are often accessed through a garden or side path. It is important to keep this door locked at all times to ensure that you aren’t offering easy access to the garage. The same goes for an entry door from the garage to the house. If burglars do manage to gain access to the garage, you don’t want them to be able to get into the house!
Repair Weaknesses
If your garage is in a state of disrepair, it is important to get it fixed. Fixing any vulnerabilities will make it harder to break into. It may even be time to consider a new garage door that is more burglar proof than your existing one.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of garage door repairs, security or a replacement garage door, get in touch with us on 01793 393503 and we will be only too happy to help.