Is your garage secure enough? Can you be sure that your car is still in its place when you are going to the garage in the morning? Your car, and other property you are keeping there, is hidden from the eyes of strangers. This, however, does not mean that thieves are not gasping for those things. Burglars are not stupid – if breaking the door seems difficult, they choose some weaker spots in the garage.
Therefore, you should pay attention to the entire garage. Focusing on the lock is not enough.
AZGaragePros.com recommends that you concentrate on creating an elaborated security level. Investments are not high, but the benefits will continue for decades.
1. Strengthen wall constructions
If your garage is more than 20 years old, you should definitely look over garage wall constructions.
Buildings from this era have generally single brick walls, and the mixture between the bricks may have lost its effectiveness.
Whenever possible, that kind of walls should be secured from the outside. Cover your garage external walls with steel corrugated sheet or façade board. This may not be the most secure solution, but it keeps the walls together and makes penetration more difficult.
2. Secure the front door
In general, old door frames are loosely attached to the wall constructions. In earlier times, wooden door frames were attached to wooden tiles, which in turn were draped between the bricks. For today, such kinds of tiles are loose, and do not keep the door frame firmly in place.
You will surely have a question about how to strengthen the door frame then. We recommend you to make some reinforcements made of angle iron in the corners of the doorpost. You weld some long iron bars across the angle iron, so that one of the ends is around the corner of the pole, and the other is firmly attached to the door frame. In this way you move the door frames fastener around the corner. Now pulling the door is almost impossible.
3. Strengthen the hinge side of the door
Secure door lock is an essential aspect of security, but it is also important that a burglar has no other options for entering the building.
In particular, old doors have hinges, which are attached to the door surface. The worst option is that they are simply attached with screws that are easy to remove. A way better version is that hinges are bolted through the door. You should take care that nuts of door hinge bolts are on the inside and inaccessible.
Other crucial aspect of the garage doors security is that a burglar cannot lift it off the hinges while being locked. If the door can move upwards, you should install a wooden beam on the top edge of the doorframe.
4. Locks and latches
Garage doors are usually two-sided. One of the sides is active and other is passive one. Nevertheless, both sides are equally important. You should examine the latches of the passive side of the door, and if necessary, strengthen the assurances. Look over the part of striking places, also. These may need some strengthening as well. Locking place of the latches is rather often worn-out, or the striking plate is not good enough. Keep in mind that burglars do not care, which side of the door is weaker.
5. Scare burglars
Burglars intend to accomplish a theft quietly and inconspicuously. You can always organize a surprise. If the burglars hear a loud alarm, they will immediately think of leaving. Firstly, the audio signal itself is disturbing, and secondly, it attracts attention.
In your garage, you should use any simple signalization. A motion sensor or a door sensor is sufficient to fix the invasion and activate the alarm. Install the alarm so that the thief is not able to cut the wires. GSM security system will not make any noise. It calls quietly to your mobile which you can answer, and decide whether it is necessary to call the police before you reach the place yourself. Thanks to the built-in microphone, you can hear what is happening in your garage.
6. When the garage door surprises
While you enter or exit the car to the garage, the doors should remain in the open position. You can use some barriers, like rocks or a broomstick, but is it fixed enough?
A convenient solution is to use a door stop. Once it is installed, you do not have to worry about the wind hitting the garage door against your car. If you do not want to spend a lot of money, you can use the door stop, which has a rubber band that holds itself on the ground. While being on a resting position, it keeps itself up against the door. That kind of door stop prevents usual movement of the door. However, with a strong wind, it may remain weak.