Garage Security: Tips to Prevent Garage Break-Ins

Your garage is a vulnerable space.  It’s comprised of a wall-sized door that’s meant to open and close with relative ease, which makes it one of the least secure parts of your home.  In 2017, the FBI reported 1,401,840 burglaries in the United States with 57.5% of these burglaries involving forcible entries.  Victims of these burglary offenses suffered a reported $3.4 billion in property losses.  The bottom line is—you don’t want to end up as one of these statistics.  Garage security is inexpensive and can save you from becoming a victim of crime.

Stash the Remote

It might be convenient for you to keep your garage opener remote on hand in your car, but if its visible when your car is parked outside in the driveway or in the street, someone casing the joint will make a note of this. A thief just needs that garage opener to get into your garage with ease and suddenly, you’ll find yourself a victim of a break-in where the burglar didn’t even need to break in.  Make the effort to hide your remote opener, keeping with your set of keys in the house.

Smart Door

Better yet, if your someone who loses the garage door remote opener, consider getting a smart garage door.  Everything is connected to your smart phone these days, so why not your garage door?  This way, you’ll be absolutely certain that you’ve closed your garage door once you’ve left the house and you won’t need an extra remote to carry around either.  MyQ makes a popular remote opener that connects your garage to your phone via an app

Motion-Activated Lights

Don’t turn your nose up at the idea of a motion-activated flood light because you don’t think this security addition will scare off someone from trying to break in.  Here’s the endgame of a burglar: get away with the goods and don’t get caught doing it.  Shedding some light on the subject defeats their very purpose and even if you aren’t home when it’s dark outside, a motion-activated flood light will alert your neighbors.

Ring Cameras

Better yet, take it the 21^st century and upgrade your motion-sensor lights to one with a camera.  Ring first made a name for itself with the popular doorbell cameras, but now they’re making waves with motion-sensor floodlights that hang above your garage.  Not only will you be able to illuminate your garage to prevent break-ins, but you’ll also be able to catch everything on camera.

Make the Windows Private

Transparency is a good thing for things like business practices or public figures, but not so much for your garage security.  Garages with windows offer up a good look at the goodies kept inside—an expensive grill, bikes, cars, and other equipment, or a way into your house. Don’t give criminals this intel and instead, use a privacy film to block the inside of your garage door’s windows.  It doesn’t hinder the look of your garage door, and most privacy films will allow for plenty of natural light to still be filtered through, it just prevents unwanted persons from snooping around your property.

A Well-Placed Padlock

You don’t want to make it easy to break into your garage because that means it’s easy to break into your main house.  If you don’t feel like springing for an expensive security system, then entertain some good old-fashioned padlocks. Protect your man door that leads into your main house with this easy, inexpensive addition.  It might not keep thieves out completely (although if you combine a padlock with other security measures, it could certainly deter a lazy thief), but it will undoubtedly slow them down.

Block Your Garage Cord

Garage cords are there for you when the power goes out and you need to manually access your garage, allowing you to lift the door easily by disconnecting the segmented door from the chain or belt.  For a break-in, this is a quick way in and out of the house (and allows for burglars to carry bulky objects out of an expansive door without a struggle) once the garage has been accessed from a man door. Again, don’t make it easy for burglars here, and take precautions by blocking the cord.  Products like Garage Shield can do this job professionally.  You can completely cover your garage door’s emergency release cord which prevents a thief from using it to break inside.  It’s a preventative measure that won’t break the bank.

Organize and Store

There’s a reason why people organize and store things in their garage in tidy bins.  Not only does it look better than having your garage in disarray, but neatly storing items in protected bins deters thieves from going for high-ticket items.  This way, even if you can’t block the windows from unwanted stares, potential burglars won’t be able to see what you store in your garage and thus curbing their intent to steal.

Protect Your Garage

Yes, it is true that criminals are developing new ways to break into a home. Some of these new measures are related to electronic hacks. The good news is there are some cheap and simple solutions to prevent garage door hacks from occurring. There are also some more expensive yet extremely secured methods if you really want to guarantee the protection of your family and the personal property you have inside. Detached garages are great for security measures since they are not connected to a house. Additionally, garage construction companies can stretch the dimensions of a custom size garage since they are detached from the house. At Danley’s, we have gable, reverse gable and hip roof garages that can be one car, two car or even a three car garage. Altogether, a detached  garage will improve your curb appeal and add more space and security. Speak to a specialist and get a free quote online today.