Guest Post-10 Point Security Checklist to Make Your Garage Safer

Many homeowners practice basic safety measures such as locking their doors and closing their windows but what often gets overlooked is just how vulnerable their garage could be to break-ins.  Following is a simple 10 point checklist you can implement today to make your home’s largest moving object more secure.

1. Remember the basics

That should seem obvious but ensure your garage door is closed at all times is essential to have a secure home.  One thing you can purchase to keep this under control would be an electronic garage door monitor.  These can alert you to potential unauthorized openings in your garage door.

2. Crooks Go Fishing Too

An often-overlooked vulnerability in your garage door is the emergency release on your garage door opener.  Inventive thieves can use wire coat hangers to ‘fish’ for the handle to open the door from outside.  The make and model of your opener can determine how easy it is for a criminal to access the latch, but you can secure your motor with something as simple as a zip tie looped around the release catch.

3. Keep the Area Well Lit

A simple deterrent from potential break-ins is a motion activated lighting system.  It illuminates any potential trespasser and is eco-friendly by only turning on when it detects movement.

4. Reinforce the Entry Door

If the garage is attached to your house, you’ll likely have another door that leads directly into your home.  Take some extra time to reinforce and lock this door whenever you’re away or asleep.

5. Take the Opener Out of Your Car

If you have a separate clicker for your garage door, you’ll want to remember to bring it in with you whenever you park.  You can usually attach them to a key ring so that you don’t forget.

6. High Tech Opener System

With the prevalence of smartphones today, garage door openers have advanced with the technology.  Using apps, you can remotely open and close your garage or have notifications sent to your phone whenever an unauthorized opening occurs.

7. Lock It Up

If you’re leaving on vacation or for the season, you can lock your garage door opener by simply unplugging it.  Another DIY trick you can do is to drill a hole into the tracks and install a padlock to prevent the door from opening.

8. Frost the Windows

Often burglars will decide which house to break into by sneaking a peek in your windows, so an easy trick is to frost your windows.  There are many kinds of tints and applications you buy for this and are usually quite inexpensive compared to the loss of your valuables.

9. Turn on a Radio or Television

Crooks often look the other way if they think a potential break-in spot is inhabited.  Leaving on a small radio or television can be enough of a method to sow doubt in the hearts of any particular burglar.

10. Materials Matter

That is more of a long-term approach, but deciding what material you want your garage door to can provide that extra layer of protection in addition to all the other steps outlined here.  Sold steel or wood paneling is extremely difficult to force open with any discretion and will certainly deter crooks once they realize the odds are against them.

Following these simple tips will help keep your home, and your family, secure from the one space that may be vulnerable when the rest of your house is secure.  It doesn’t take much to ensure you don’t lose what’s important to you.

Ran Kroynish has over ten years of experience as a garage door repair professional with Elite Garage Door & Gate Repair.  When he's not fixing garage doors, he likes to share his knowledge and tips with others with a DIY spirit.