Tips to Securing a Garage Door Against Burglary

Manage the Remote

Where do you keep your garage door opener remote? It is most likely clipped to the sun-visor near the front seat in your car. This is most easy part! Thieves know this also and they can easily gain access to your garage if they have the remote. So, when you park the car, take the garage remote with you.

​You can also use the small key chain versions of the remote. Program it follow your commands only. If the remote is lost, immediately reset the garage code and disable the remote.

Fortify the Garage Service Door
There are many ways you can fortify the service door in your garage.

Reinforce Lock
Use a lock reinforcer to prevent the garage door from uneven splitting. A metal lock reinforcer can be installed in the wedge between the doors. Make sure that the metal reinforcer is flush with the edge of the door otherwise the door will not lock.

Heavy-duty Strike Plate
Service doors can be strengthened further using a heavy duty strike plate. Use extra long screws that reach deep into the door frame providing improved strength.

Integrate Hinges to Frame
The hinge side of the garage door can be strengthened by replacing normal screws with longer 3 inch screws. This will penetrate deeper into the frame providing extra stability and brute force attack.

​Dead bolts can also be installed onto service doors. Use a ANSI Grade 1 rating dead bolt to experience better security. But the dead bolt would not serve any purpose if the door and doorjamb are not reinforced properly.

Entry Door Reinforcement
The door leading in your garage that leads to your home must also be secured properly. Wimpy 3/4 inch screws can be kicked easily and allow entry. Use longer screws and bolt them perfectly into the frame. Also, keep the door locked at all times to restrict entry from the garage side.

Motion Detector Lights
Technology has taken over the home security realm. Install a good quality motion detector in your garage. Install new lights for the motion detector system that are separate from the garage lighting. In case you live in cold environment, do not choose CFL for lighting as they take longer to light and render motion detector useless.

Cover Windows
Do not let prying eyes peep a vision into your garage. Cover all the windows properly so that no one can look inside. Use paint, blinds, shades or even curtains. You can also choose to apply translucent glass that blurs the vision of the onlooker.

Bar the Windows
Burglars are most likely to barge in through a window. They are relatively easy to break and enter. Install window bars in cross shape so that even if thief breaks the window, he won't be able to get in. Ready made bars can be purchased from hardware stores. Normally, 1/2 inch steel bars will do the job. Keep the spacing between bars at a constant 6 to 8 inches. Attach the bars to the frame using screws and check for strength.

Disable the Overhead Door
If you have to leave for a vacation, disable the garage door by unplugging the garage door opener. Or if you do not have a door opener, install a bolt in between the metal tracks. This will restrict the entry through the garage. Metal tracks can also be bended a little so that the garage door movement is somewhat inhibited.

A Timer Never Forgets

Leaving the garage door open is practically an invitation to burglars, not to mention that you’re really presenting a storefront window display of your possessions to anyone driving by. But if you’re like a lot of other people and tend to forget to close the door, or have kids who forget, there’s an easy solution.

​Install a device that signals your garage door opener to close the door after a predetermined amount of time. You can set the amount of time that elapses before the door closes, or override the control if you want the door to remain open. It takes about an hour to install the sensors on the garage door track and the keypad that connects to the opener control.

​Another point to consider is when you are leaving for work, do not simply  hit the remote button to close the door and then leave the house. Wait a minute until the door is closed and make sure that it does not reopen.