One of the weakest points in your home is the garage door, which makes it an easy target for thieves. Often, the doors are easy to bypass, and the interior doors don’t have strong locks or reinforced doors and door frames. Every entrance to the home has some vulnerability, but the garage door seems deceptively secure compared to the windows and doors of the home itself.
How Thieves Can Break into Your Garage
Remote Technology
When remote garage door openers were first released into the market, they all had the same code, which was a bonanza for thieves. Subsequent generations of remotes have more complicated technology with the newest having a rolling-code, which means that every time your remote is pressed, it sends a different code to the door.
Thieves are hoping that you have an old remote and garage door opener, or that you left yours on the factory setting, so they can enter with their own remote. Make sure you are not making this costly mistake.
Garage Door Levers
There’s an emergency release lever located inside the garage, which allows the homeowner to pull the garage door in case power is lost. Thieves can use this same lever to pull open your garage door and gain entrance to your space. From inside the garage, they can easily have the cover they need to break down your interior door with no one witnessing the incident.
Thieves can use a wire coat hanger to open your garage door by slipping it through the upper lip of the door itself. They can see inside the garage and hook the string or release with the hanger. This gives them access to the rest of your home.
More Tips for Outsmarting Thieves
Cover the Windows
Don’t let thieves see into your garage. It’s tempting when they can see all the tools and equipment in there. They’ll also be able to see the string or the lever to perform the hanger trick on your garage door. Without visibility, they’re less likely to break in through the garage at all.
Secure the Interior Door
You would never leave a flimsy door to protect the front of your home. Make sure you’re securing that interior door with the same strong frame, deadbolt and solid-core wood.
Keep Your Remote on the Keychain
If you keep the remote for the garage on your visor, you risk someone breaking into your car to get access to your home. They’ll have violated two spaces that you own.
Secure the Lever
With a few zip ties, you can secure the lever for your garage door’s emergency release. It can still be used as intended, but thieves won’t be able to use a hanger on it.
Unplug the Motor
When you’ll be gone for long periods of time, you can unplug the motor so thieves can’t get into the garage at all. This removes one more access to the home.
While it might be inconvenient to have a deadbolt on your interior door, it’ll be more inconvenient if a thief breaks into your home. It’s important to keep your home and loved ones safe with these tips for securing the garage door from intruders.
G-Brothers Garage Doors is a Colorado based garage door repair and service company; they repair, install and replace garage doors – and everything in between. With thousands of satisfied customers, they can tailor our garage door installation and repair services to fit your individual situation and needs.