Theft and burglaries are on the increase across the country. Some criminals are prepared to go to great lengths to enter a home or a garage, but many of these crimes happen more opportunistically. When it comes to protecting your belongings in a garage, the most common reason that a home is targeted is that there is easy access, so taking the steps to ensure that your property is secure is vital.
Get a robust doors
Having a high quality front door garage door in your home is the most effective method of ensuring that you don’t fall prey to thieves. One of the best solutions is a roller garage door.
Quality roller garage doors are not only aesthetically pleasing and available in a wide variety of colours, but they are primarily automatic and if you choose a reputable company who work with the highest quality materials and adhere to the UK safety guidelines, then your home will be very well protected. A roller garage door is an investment for your home and the right company will offer warranty for your peace of mind.
Locking your garage door
If you have a roller garage door, this system is automatic and will lock, but as an added security measure, lock any other doors that either lead outside or into the home. Getting a secure and robust lock in place is best, especially on doors that lead internally. Giving your home the most protection possible.
A lot of garages in the UK are connected to the home and unsurprisingly, this is often the first step for someone that is trying to break into your home. Often, the garage door is not treated in the same way that actual doors of the home are. Garages are a haven for tools that could be utilised to gain access to your home, but also are a treasure trove of easily sellable items that they are likely to help themselves to.
Install a security system
Installing a security system in your garage that links with your internal home security system is a great way to be alerted if there is any attempt to gain access to your home. If you are one of the thousands in the UK that forget to set their security system when leaving, the visual of a security system is often enough to deter thieves.
While not our recommendation, you can get fake security systems if you are on a budget and popping that up will at the very least have your home presented as a risk to enter.
Install lights that detect motion.
Motion detection is a sure fire way to deter unauthorised entry in the dark of night. They work exactly as the name suggests, in sensing motion and triggering a light to turn on. Once no motion is detected, they will turn straight back off. This might seem fool proof, but it is worth bearing in mind that a lot of break ins actually take place during the day.
Time is of the essence
The automation of garage doors is revolutionary of course. They are a dream, but factor in human error and you can leave your home open to break-ins. Heading out on the school run and distracted, the garage door could be left open. Just to be prepared, you should set a timer on your garage door that it closes after a certain amount of time. You can of course override this if you want the garage door to remain open while you are there.
Key chains for security
If you are parking your car in the garage or even in the driveway, leaving the remote access to your garage is not a great security tactic. Investing in a keychain is the right course of action. This way, you have the remote access in your car to gain access to your property, but don’t leave the remote operation in a place where it could fall into the wrong hands.
Lock the door and throw away the key
If you are going on holiday for a couple of weeks and the garage door is not going to be in use, then a great way to ensure that it is secure is to unplug the system. If you want to go one step better, you could drill a hole above the tracks and put in a padlock in place that stops the function, so even if someone was to gain access through a window or another entry point, there is no way to open the garage door.
Even while you’re at home, keep the garage door closed
You would be shocked at the number of robberies that happen when people are in their homes. Keeping the garage door closed at all times is good practice, having your children learn to put their bikes away and close the doors will just have that added security factor that will keep your possessions, your home and you secure.
Following these steps will keep your home protected and secure. If you fail to secure your home, you are essentially inviting criminals to help themselves to your hard earned possessions. Protect your home, protect your possessions and protect yourself by ensuring that your garage is secure at all times. Don’t become a statistic – just lock up.
