In most developed cities of the world, a home invasion occurs approximately every 15 seconds, and in almost 50% of the time, someone is at home. In fact, US law enforcement statistics show that there are 1.5 million home invasions leading to a burglary in the country year.
In almost all these events, the common points of entry for burglars are the front and back door of the house. Incidentally, in most cases, the doors were actually left unlocked.
After the front and back door, the windows and the garage are the two next vulnerable points for burglars to gain access into a home. It is therefore very important that you take conscious steps to keep these areas as secure as possible.
This article contains top tips that will help you optimise the security of your garage.
Keep your garage door locked
Unless you are actually physically present in the garage, it goes without saying that your garage door should be locked at all time. Unfortunately, many people fail to do this, assuming that because they are somewhere inside the house, it is safe to leave the garage door unlocked.
If your garage door is the manual type, then make sure it is locked at all the right moments. As for an automatic garage door opener (which is a bit difficult, but not impossible for thieves to open), you can take the extra step of using a padlock on one of the door tracks to ensure the door stays closed, especially when you are going on a long trip.
For older door openers – those non-smart openers that cannot detect when the garage door is closed or open, disconnecting the automatic opener when you are going out for a long time is another smart option.
Additionally, be sure to check that any connecting doors that lead from the garage to the inside of the house are always securely locked, especially when no one is at home.
Use a Garage Door Shield
A burglar can very easily break into your home via the garage using an emergency release on the door opener. All a smart burglar has to do is force your door open a little, insert a hook, like one made from a wire hanger, and your door will be open in less than a minute. Fortunately, there is a way you can prevent this from happening.
These days, the best way to prevent someone from gaining access into your garage via the system explained above is by using a device specifically designed to protect the emergency release from such manipulations. This device is called a garage door shield.
There are many garage door shields in the market, but the popular options are Garage Door Armor, The Garage Shield, and Garage Protector, all of which can be gotten online and installed in less than 10 minutes. You can talk to a garage door expert if you are not sure of the one to go for.
Upgrade your garage door opener
If you have an older garage door opener, investing in a new and modern model will do a lot to keep your home safe and secure. This is because an older model automatic garage door opener has a lot of vulnerabilities which are constantly exploited by burglars.
For example, a burglar can gain access into your garage by using a scanner that can figure out the access codes of your garage door opener. It is also quite possible that a neighbour using the same access codes as you can accidentally open your garage door with the press of their remote, and not know.
Newer garage door opener comes with a rolling code technology that creates a new access code any time the remote is used, making it very difficult for someone to guess or stumble upon your access codes.
Invest in a garage door alarm
A home security system is the best way to keep your home safe from intruders. These devices will alert you, and possibly the nearest law enforcement officer should someone try to break into your house. Unfortunately, not many people see the significance of extending home security to their garages. Be sure to understand what attracts burglars to homes as well.
If you have a home security setup that does not extend to your garage, or if you don’t even have one at all, you should consider investing in at least a garage door alarm. If you’re not sure about the pricing of alarm systems, reach out to a residential estimating service for accurate pricing. This is important because should an intruder attempt to break into your garage, this device will alert you and possibly discourage the intruder.”
There are also models that can capture an image of the person that tampered with your garage door so that you can use it in aiding the police investigations. Also be sure to consider great options like vivint as well.
Install exterior lighting
For as long as can be remembered, criminals tend to work in the dark. They prefer to ply their trades when there is little or no illumination so that homeowners and sharp-eyed neighbours will not see them. But when an area is properly illuminated, it discourages the criminal.
Installing exterior lighting around your home and garage will do a lot to discourage intruders. You can also take things one step further by investing in timed exterior lights. This type of lights automatically come on at a specific time of the day, so that whether you are at home or not, your surroundings will be lighted enough to discourage burglars.
Final thoughts
There are just so many things that can be done to make your home a secure place, and hopefully, the few covered in this article will give you a good place to start from.