Is Your Garage A Weak Link, In Your Security Plan?

Is Your Garage A Weak Link, In Your Security Plan?

The modern garage is a two or three car parking space for your vehicles, and a repository for many a variety of sports equipment, tools, lawn mowers, snow blowers, other yard tools and overflow storage of household goods.

If attached to your home or stand alone, each could have many unique security issues, beginning with the modern and very handy overhead door.

Thieves are now circumventing the overhead door when shut, with a small wood or plastic wedge, to create a small space at the top center of the door, then using a bent coat hanger or other tool they fish for door release handle, pull it down and roll the door up by hand. The experienced ones can accomplish this feat in about 2 minutes.

Once inside they can close the door and inventory your possessions in privacy. If yours is an attached garage, they can use your tools to attack the door into your home, again in privacy.

So how do we defend against this kind of attack?

You could make a shield out a scrap of wood to fashion a shield to install in front of the release handle. You might find a premade plastic shield at a hardware store or online. Or just remove or cut the handle off.

If you need to disconnect the door you can always reach the release cable from the inside, a minimal inconvenience.

Back to the door into your house from the garage, this should be treated as an outside entry door and be secured with a good heavy-duty dead bolt lock.

Then there are sometimes other doors into the garage from outside, again a heavy-duty deadbolt is called for.

If the door into the garage from the outside has a window, it could be secured by attaching a heavy metal screen or nail a piece of plywood over the window.

As for other windows, a frosted plastic shield on the inside will still allow light to come in, but will add some strength to the glass, and prevent someone eyeing your possessions.

When you are home, unless you are working in your garage, keep you garage door closed, it only takes a few seconds for a thief to walk off with your new lawn mower, or snow blower!

View the following video for additional information:

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