About A Safer Garage
The garage is an easy place for criminals to target. The garage normally houses expensive tools and other expensive equipment and boxes of keepsakes. The garage is usually far from the part of the home where the family can hear what's going on in there. Plus, there is generally a door that goes straight from the garage right into the living area of the home. This means once a criminal has loaded up all they want from the garage, they can enter the home to see if they can get away with stealing even more items, especially if you aren't home at the time. This article will educate you on better securing your garage to protect it and the rest of your home from those looking to rob you.
- Don't leave the garage door open longer than needed or you are allowing people to see inside when they don't need to.
- Don't leave the garage door open when you aren't in the garage.
- Have a garage door screen installed if you want to be able to leave the garage door open while blocking people's views of what's inside.
- Have yard sales where the items are in the yard, instead of garage sales which invite people to snoop around at everything in the garage.
Secure side doors
If your garage has a side door entrance, that door should be solid, have no windows in it and have a regular locking door knob, plus a high-quality deadbolt. Keep that exterior garage door free from foliage that someone can hide beside while they try to break into it.
Secure the entrance door
Make sure the door that leads from the garage into the home is also a very strong door with a regular doorknob and a high-quality deadbolt on it. This door needs to always be locked when you aren't going in and out of the garage. Check it each night before bedtime to make sure someone didn't forget to lock it when they last came in.
Secure the windows
Have good locks installed and keep them locked at all times of the day and night. Have window guards put on all of the windows in the garage and keep heavy blinds over the windows that remain shut, this prevents people from seeing what you have inside of your garage that they may want to steal.
Secure the garage door
If you have a wood garage door, make sure the wood is in good shape and free of rotting due to weather exposure. If you have a manual opening door, have a lock put on both sides of the garage door, so someone can't pry one corner of the garage up to squeeze through.
If you have an automatic garage door, be sure you have a newer system that someone won't be able to hack into. The system should rotate codes automatically, so they can't figure out your code and break in when you are away from home.
Make sure the windows in your garage door are so small that no one would be able to fit through them. Also, keep them covered so someone can't pull a car up to the garage door, stand on the hood and see what is in the garage. Contact a garage door service for more help.