Keeping your home secure is a no-brainer. Most of us lock our doors and windows without evening thinking about it. But all too often, the garage is overlooked when considering how to keep our home secure. Unfortunately, thieves are aware of this as well, and may try to leverage your garage’s lack of security to break into your home. Let’s go through some helpful tips to keep your garage, and home, safe from burglars.
Don’t let burglars see what’s in your garage:
While the garage can be a great place to store items you’d rather not keep in your house, doing so can make you a target for thieves looking for an easy grab. The first thing you can do is remove those items from your garage that might make your home look more desirable to potential burglars. Can those golf clubs go in the attic? Can those power tools be locked in a shed? These are the first questions to consider when thinking about garage security.
While this might be a great place to start, you may be thinking to yourself “there is just no way I can fit my life-sized Shaquille O’Neal mannequin anywhere else but the garage.” Fret not! We’ve got you covered.
Our next step is to ensure that the garage door remains closed as much as possible. In an ideal world, we would simply make sure we close the door after each use. However, life happens! Garage door operators (sometimes referred to as openers) such as the Liftmaster 87504 contain features such as “auto-close,” which will ensure your garage door always returns to the closed position minutes after use.
Congratulations! You’ve got your door closed most of the time. There could still be one problem remaining. Fortunately, it’s an easy one to fix. Do you have windows on your garage door? This can be an easy way for thieves to scope out your garage, even with your door closed. To avoid this, simply purchase window frosting or film, cut the material to fit (if necessary), stick it to your windows, and you’re good to go!
Now that we’ve got the fundamentals of garage security down, let’s move into some more helpful tips to keep your garage, home, and family safe.
Make sure the burglar can’t be sneaky:
Much like an overworked parent, burglars love two things: darkness and isolation. And much like the persistent 3 year-old banging on the door, we’re not going to allow that.
One of the easiest things we can do is provide ample lighting for the front of your garage.
-If there aren’t lighting fixtures already in front of your garage, consider having at least one installed on each side of the door’s exterior.
-If there are already lighting fixtures in front of your garage, consider replacing your old light bulbs for newer, brighter LED bulbs.
Now that we’ve ridden the outside of the garage of darkness, we’re going to ensure the thief is never alone in, or near your garage. The easiest way to accomplish this is through security cameras. Operators such as the Liftmaster 87504 come with a built-in camera, eliminating the need to go buy an entire new security system.
Ensure Your Garage Is Sealed:
A good Seal can do more than drop the hit song “Kiss from a Rose” featured in the 1995 Hollywood blockbuster film, Batman Forever. It can also make sure burglars can’t fit fingers, hangers, and hooks into your garage that will enable their break-in.
The seals we’re looking at specifically are on the sides and bottom of the garage door.
-On the sides, trim creates the seal between the wall of your garage, and the garage door itself. Inspect this area for tearing, fraying, or gaps in the trim.
-On the base of the garage door, bottom rubber creates the seal between the floor, and the door itself. First, check to make sure the bottom rubber is reaching all the way to the ground. If your door is stopping before reaching the floor, you may need to adjust the limits on your operator. Also inspect this area for tearing, fraying, or gaps in the rubber.
If you find any issues with your seal or bottom rubber, or need help adjusting your operator’s limits, give us a call and we’ll get you sorted!
Make the garage harder to get into:
Sometimes, merely closing the door won’t get the job done. For example, non-insulated doors are much easier to bend and break than a triple insulated steel-back door. While this may be great information if you’re already considering buying a brand new garage door, it may not be practical to replace your entire door.
For those looking to solidify their door without entirely replacing their door, struts can be a great solution. Struts are metal bars that run across your garage door, providing extra structural support to prevent bending and breaking.
Thieves may look to trigger your emergency release lever by sliding hangers or hooks between the panels of your garage. Hardware like the Garage Door Shield prevents this by blocking your emergency release in a shield like structure, indicated by the name.
Lock It Down:
Just about all of us lock our front and back doors, as well as our windows. The garage, however, is often overlooked when considering what to lock up to keep your home safe. The simplest solution is to lock the door from your garage to your home. It’s easiest to do this right before bed, or even as you’re walking in the door when you’ve returned home. While this is a great solution to prevent thieves from entering your home, there’s also a few types of garage door locks that will keep unwanted visitors out of your garage:
- T-Lock: This lock has cords in the middle of your garage, attaching to locks on the side of your door. The key access on the outside lets your manually access your lock from the outside.
- Vault Lock: Usually for detached and manual garages, this lock has a key access on the outside, with a cord running to your emergency release.
- Auto-Lock: Typically connected to a jack shaft, this lock will automatically secure your garage once it’s closed.
- Slide Lock: Sitting on the side of your garage door, this lock can slide into your track manually, to keep your door closed. Careful though! This lock can only be accessed from within your garage.
If you follow these tips, your garage will be more impenetrable than the 1985 Chicago Bears defense. Of course, if you have any questions or assistance, you can give us a call at A1 Garage!