While your garage does a great job of keeping your car safe, it often jeopardizes your home. Many thieves target the garage door because they view it as the best way to gain unauthorized entry into your home. Fortunately, these quick tips can help you protect your garage. Mix and match these suggestions to arrive at a garage security plan that works for you and your home.
Watch your garage door opener
Your garage door opener is an easy way for burglars to target your home. If you leave your car unlocked, an experienced thief might snatch your opener out of your car. You wouldn’t even realize it, if that’s all they took. Then, when the time is right, they use it to gain access to your home. Another way thieves get a hold of your garage opener, is when you leave it under a “clever” fake rock. If possible, keep your garage door opener on a key chain instead of in your vehicle or under a rock. You can still use it easily, but it will be much harder to lose!
Always lock your garage door
This tip seems so simple. Most importantly, it’s the most effective. Most burglaries are crimes of opportunity. Leaving your garage door open, even when you’re home, is simply inviting a thief to come in. The more inconvenient you make it to break in, the more likely a burglar will become discouraged or afraid before they make it inside. Lock up and you’ve added one more layer of difficulty to breaking into your house.
Bar your garage windows
Large windows are part of some garage designs. They can look beautiful and provide some light into a traditional, gloomy space. However, large windows can be broken into easily. You don’t have to sacrifice style for safety. Find some window bars that fit the style of your garage and paint them to match. You get the bonus of beauty without sacrificing safety.
Install a security camera
You don’t have to pay through the nose for a fancy system. Garage security is as much about the look as the end result. The presence of a camera is a deterrent. Plus, anyone who tries to remove it will more than likely end up giving it a close up in the process.
Lock your inner door
Locking the door from your home to your garage may be annoying, but it’s a small price to pay for a safe home garage. Adding a deadbolt to your inner door presents would-be thieves with another, even more difficult obstacle before they can get to the good stuff. Since most thieves who target garages are hoping not to pick or break locks, you could stop them in their tracks.
A safe home garage is a garage with visible security deterrents like barred windows and a security camera. Garage security includes keeping your garage door opener on you, and putting a deadbolt on your interior garage door. It may be a hassle to lock it every time, but it definitely helps keep your home secure.