Not only does your garage contain one of your most expensive and essential possessions – your car – but it probably also has an interior door that connects to your house. Even if you keep a manual, up-and-over garage door locked, it’s not as secure as you think it is. Many people keep useful tools in the garage, too – the exact type of tools that can aid a break-in – so that’s a big problem.
If you have modern security everywhere but your garage door, you’re creating an easy access channel into your home for would-be thieves. It really is easy; thieves can open many garage doors in ten seconds or less just using a coat hanger.
Making your garage highly secure doesn’t mean it can’t fit in with the style of your home. You can add modern security to any type of garage, including the traditional-looking oak garages from Timberpride.
Modern security solutions
In theory, you can secure a manual garage door by putting a cable tie on the catch. The coat hanger trick won’t work, but you can still open the door quickly in an emergency. That’s putting a lot of faith in a tiny bit of plastic, however.
A motorised door is a better solution. The motor is usually bulky and makes it hard for thieves to open the door with a coat hanger. Motors also make doors open slowly, which can put thieves off and make them leave rather than wait to get inside. Motorised doors don’t have to be slow these days; there are plenty of fast, smooth choices if you can’t stand the thought of waiting too long for your own garage door to open up.
Ultra-modern solutions
There are some great 21st-century solutions on the market, and they can be fitted on just about any garage, including oak garages from Timberpride. You pre-program fingerprint sensors with the fingerprints of anyone who should regularly have access to the garage, such as family members, and you don’t have to worry about thieves getting the keys. Keypads with a passcode are useful when you need to share access with neighbours or tradespeople, and you can easily change the code afterward.
These solutions aren’t intrusive and won’t inconvenience you, but they will make your home that much more secure against thieves.