You got the spivvy new garage door so now your space is protected. Take that, criminal-scum! You can’t get into my garage anymore, you silly burglar! Go rob a bank, it’ll be easier to get into! Right?
Well, not necessarily. Installing a garage door into your space isn’t a fool proof way to protect your space. It’s actually quite easy for criminals to break into a garage if they know how to do it.
So what’s the point of a garage if it can’t even keep the criminals out? The thing is, it can! Are garages easy to break into? No, you just have to secure your garage properly. If you’re asking “how do i protect my garage door from break ins?” and “how can i make my garage door more secure?”, do not worry! In this article, we will discuss 8 ways you can secure your garage to prevent criminals from breaking into your home! So keep reading below.
How Do Criminals Break Into The Garage?
Are garage doors easy to break in? Are these criminals ghosts or something? Do they manage to phase-shift beyond the corporeal plane and walk through your closed garage door? Or do some criminals have the strength of the Hulk, and manage to rip your door off into outer space? Not at all!
Can someone break in through a garage door? Criminals will always find sneaky new ways to break into anywhere, so you need to be sure to protect your home. An interesting way criminals were breaking into garages a few years ago involved a coat hanger and less than 6 seconds!
8 Ways To Secure and Protect Your Garage
Now, you might be asking yourself how do I keep thieves out of my garage, and how can I make my garage more secure? Well lucky for you we have 8 preventative methods you can use to protect your space! These methods include:
- Light Up The Runway
If we’ve learnt anything, it’s that criminals, thieves, and burglars HATE to be watched. They operate under the veil of night to sneak around for a booty. So what do we do? Well, we blast them with lights! You might think that criminals are worse than cockroaches, and they absolutely scatter like roaches when the lights come on. Floodlights with a sensor are a great way to deter criminals as they approach your garage.
Additionally, security cameras at the front of your home can deter criminals because they think they are being watched. Also, if your home does get broken into, the footage can be sent to authorities.
- Keep The Surrounding Area Clear and Exposed
Following on from the point that I made above, when criminals feel like they’re being watched, they’re far less likely to steal. One way to shine a light on the issue is to do exactly that. Another way to make them feel like they are being watched is to keep the area surrounding the garage nice and exposed.
By removing large hedges and walls that a criminal could use to hide behind while breaking into your garage, will reduce your chances of getting broken into. If they feel they are being watched by you from within your home, or by neighbours and foot traffic on the street, they won’t feel like they are able to conduct a successful break in
- Keep The Door Closed At All Times
Wait a minute, keeping the door closed means that criminals are less likely to break into your garage? Impossible! Those pesky criminals should have the courtesy to stay out of my garage, even when the door is wide open!
We understand, telling you to keep your door shut at all times might seem like a no-brainer. But let us also tell you that people leaving their garage doors open as a loot-buffet for criminals is more common than you think. Don’t be rest assured thinking that it’ll be fine because you’re just nipping down to the shops and will be right back in a few minutes. It only takes a second for a criminal to strike!
Innovative ideas like smart garage door openers and closers make sure your garage stays secure by automatically closing itself.
- Don’t Display Your Stuff!
Ever been to or walked past a buffet that is open, but the food looks horrible, so you go elsewhere? Well the same analogy can be used for your garage door.
Criminals will walk along a street picking a target for their break in. Even if you leave your garage door wide open, if the criminal perceives your garage to not be worthwhile, they will go to another house. Even though they are criminals, they still weigh up the risk vs reward of their crimes. They won’t break into a home if they think the reward will be some cockroaches and a Ripstik.
- Don’t Be Obvious
Oh my gosh put the spare key under the front door mat no one is going to look there! We are so super sneaky. Welcome to Fort Knox!
Everyone does the same thing. Garage door remotes are commonly left on sun visors in cars and in drink holders, and spare keys are often kept under the front door mat. If you try hiding it in another spot, a criminal is less likely to find these things, making it harder to break into. Leaving a key or remote in a common hiding spot is as obvious and easy for a criminal as leaving the door unlocked.
- Protect Your Garage Doors Emergency Release Cord
Criminals have coined a new trick to get into a garage by pulling on an emergency release cord with a coat hanger while a garage is shut. Using this method, people can get into your garage in just 6 seconds! So what do you do?
You have to make sure your emergency release cord is nice and protected. Some people have used zip ties to make sure it cannot be opened without reasonable force, and some people have cut off the cord all together!
Some sectional garage doors and roller garage doors have the emergency release cord put in different locations which means this break in can’t happen, so maybe this is something you’d want to consider.
- Tint Your Windows
Following on from the point about hiding your things in your garage because if criminals can’t see anything valuable, they’re less likely to break in. If your garage has windows, you should get them tinted so criminals can’t see in as easy.
- Lock The Door Going Into Your Home
Alright, let’s assume a criminal does manage to break into your garage. We need to think of ways to minimise damage from here. If you keep the door from your garage into your house unlocked, instead of having access to just the garage, the criminal has free reign to your entire house.
Additionally, the expensive items in your garage you can keep in locked cabinets and boxes. That way if a criminal breaks in, they won’t run away with anything of significance.
How Can I Lock My Garage Door With No Power?
Wondering can you put a lock on a garage door? Or if you can lock a garage door when the power is out? Well you can do both! If the power goes out and you have an electric garage door, you can simply use the emergency release cord to both open and close the door manually. If the garage door has a manual lock, you will also be able to lock the garage door!
However, if the garage door does not have a manual lock, you may be better to leave the garage door down and don’t use the emergency release cord. Additionally, you can buy manual locks to put on your door. If you are unsure how to do this, you can get an expert to help secure your door.
Where To Get A Reliable and Safe Garage Door?
Gryphon Garage Doors is one of the best garage door companies in Perth, and have been helping Australians protect their homes and commercial spaces in stylish ways for over 25 years. Why is this important? Well it means we’ve come across countless different jobs, and have had to overcome each one. So no matter your situation, you gotta get a Gryphon. We have:
- Finger proof safety
- Quietest motors on the market
- Trained professionals
- Customised products
- Warranty up to 7 years!
- After sales service
Your garage broke down and you need it ASAP? Not a problem! Give us a call and we will try our best to get to you today and open your space!
