How to get in a garage and How to prevent it

[DCP]

How to get in a garage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDw8DOblGB8

How to prevent it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSO_HTBHLFI

[Trey45]

All things considered, the method criminals use to gain entry is pretty smart, and method used to stop them is also pretty smart. I'll be zip tying my handle today!

If criminals used the same effort, intelligence and initiative to do honest work they could make a decent living and be on the right side of the law. Actually, it probably takes more effort to be a criminal than it does to be a law abiding citizen.

[leftiye]

All things considered, the method criminals use to gain entry is pretty smart, and method used to stop them is also pretty smart. I'll be zip tying my handle today!

If criminals used the same effort, intelligence and initiative to do honest work they could make a decent living and be on the right side of the law. Actually, it probably takes more effort to be a criminal than it does to be a law abiding citizen.

But being a criminal is more fun, cool, exciting.

[gbrown]

When I started out in LE, I was a corrections officer in the county jail. Had a lot of conversations with burglars. Their attitude was, "It's my occupation. I do burglaries and make lots of money. Live good for a couple of years, get caught, do a couple of years in prison, get out and start all over. The way I look at it is that the time in prison is like you going to work everyday." That's what one told me. Everyone in his family, parents and all kids, were lifetime thieves. I'll be zip-tying mine today. Thanks for sharing and the info.

[remy3424]

Good to know...I have no windows in my doors, but will still be zip tying today. Thieves are creative pricks.

[lancem]

The comments after that first one are hilarious. Looks to me like the easy out here is not to have an garage door opener, there are many ways you pay for convenience.

[dragon813gt]

Good thing I have a commercial size garage door that you aren't lifting by hand. The wire would have to be extremely long as well. I'm due for a new door and was thinking of putting windows in the top section. I will not be doing that now after watching it.

[Artful]

Dead bolt
Manual which requires you be in the garage to release it to use your opener
http://cloudfront.zorotools.com/product/full/5MVG8_AS01.JPG
good for vacation

or automated

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9hSp2FClIA

http://www.amazon.com/Gaplock-Automated-Security-Technologies-GDO/dp/B00CB9EFMC


Don’t leave the garage door remote in your vehicle – If a thief breaks in to your car and steal the remote he has a way into your home. If you have a GPS with home coordinates he now knows where to go.

Invest in a keychain remote opener – Stop using that remote you clip to your visor and get a keychain remote opener that you can leave on your keys.

Secure your garage door emergency release – Follow our article here and learn how easy it is throw some zip-ties on your emergency release and still retain it’s intended function. - just beware it's not foolproof.

Keep it locked – Put a deadbolt on the door between your house and garage; is it really that much of an inconvenience to have to use a key each time you come home?

Make sure the door from your garage into your house is as secure as your front door – Ensure you have a strong, sturdy door made out of solid-core wood or reinforced steel and install an Anti-Kick device like the Door Devil on it!

Don’t leave your garage door open – It amazes me how many people in my neighborhood just leave their garage door open all the time. It’s just inviting someone to pop their heads in and grab something. I don’t care how safe you think your neighborhood is, good neighborhoods are the first place criminals like to drive through to case houses. Just takes a second to hop out and grab that expensive bike or whatever throw it in the back of their pickup and drive off.

Install a wide-angle peephole in the door between your house and your garage – You’ll at least be able to see what’s going on if you hear a strange noise; rather than opening the door to find out.

Frost or cover your garage windows – butcher paper and tape - easy.
Don’t do thieves any favors by enabling them to see when your vehicle is gone, a better idea would be to replace the door panel with one that lacks windows.

Padlock the throw latch on your garage door when you’re out of town – If you don’t have a manual lock on your garage door, you can use a c-clamp tightened down on each side of the door track to effectively “lock” down the door. It’s similar to those small window track locks you can buy for your home interior windows. Or just a simple lag bolt thru a hole in the track above any roller.

Don’t neglect maintenance on the mechanical parts of your roll-up garage door and keep an eye out for corrosion. Don’t forget the door from your garage to your house; check the frame, locks, hinges and any replaceable items.

[MrWolf]

Thanks for the info. I have a bunch of zip ties I found another use for. Like others said, if these crooks would just channel their efforts...

[Artful]

I wouldn't put that much faith in a zip tie, if you use a stiff wire snake and sharpen the inside edge of the hook - well you get the idea.

And while windows make it easier, you will find they can do it without the windows just fine.

[DCP]

I wouldn't put that much faith in a zip tie

Power door lock only works on the LIftmaster 3800 garage door opener.

So why wouldn't you put that much faith in a Zip tie?

[Artful]

expanded above post and listed a better example of universal solenoid dead bolt lock for you. And the liftmaster can be used with other models - you just have to wire it into the light circuit - the jack shaft have a dedicated circuit but all you need to do is energize it.

[DCP]

expanded above post and listed a better example of universal solenoid dead bolt lock for you.

Thanks so much lots of good info there

[Artful]

two other thoughts

1) I have my opener wired into a wall switch - flip the switch and no power and opener is dead

2) put a motion sensor light in the garage - any movement will turn on the light so you can see what's happening in there.

[357maximum]

If you are gonna be gone a spell you can....

1. unhook/unplug the electricity to the overhead opener (very important to prevent utt ohs)
2. Drill a hole in the face of the track just above a wheel (do this on both sides is better) and install a padlock in the hole you just made in the track. Make the holes just big enough to accept the padlock and it will do no harm to normal operation. Install the padlock to that it will not allow the wheels to move any appreciable amount. They will have to tear the door down to get in....trust me I have had to defeat this situation in my work and it is a royal pain in the **** to defeat.

The knob/deadbolt are now your weak spots if you have them. Knobs and deadbolts are basically jewelry/visual deterrents and are very easily defeated in a few minutes with some simple tooling......In the end.....good neighbors are the only real security system that works when you are away.

[Artful]

It's so true that good neighbors are the only real security system that works when you are away or even when your at home.

[Charley]

Or, be like me, and DON'T have an automatic garage door opener. The standard latch for a garage door still has some weak points, but will take longer to defeat, and makes more noise. Door between house and garage is a solid core door, with deadbolt and reinforced strike plate. You don't need a fortress, just make it tougher to get into, and the bad guys will go somewhere else and use the coathanger trick.

[357maximum]

Charley

I bet I can defeat your "solid core door, with deadbolt and reinforced strike plate" in about 5-15 seconds without harming the door/casing. I get paid to "break into" foreclosed properties as part of what I do...... a good solid door with a good name deadbolt makes it easier than a cheap door and a cheap deadbolt...just saying....deadbolts/knobs are shiny jewelry in reality. A nosy, busy bodied, biddy living next door is the best security system ever devised....yes....I talk to law enforcement occassionally doing what I do......a bored busy body is normally responsible for that "chat".

[Finster101]

A quick and easy vacation lock, drill a hole in the track on one side just above a roller. Insert a padlock into the hole and lock it. That door ain't going no where. I you are leaving for an extended period you can unplug the operator as well. Use to use the padlocks on the bay doors of my service station back when I had one.

For me I would never have a residential garage door with windows. I do not even have a side exit door, told the builder to remove it from the plans. Even if you have dogs they are not in the garage when you are not home but a lot of expensive stuff is.

[buckwheatpaul]

DCP...thanks for the info....fixing the problem......

[dragon813gt]

Locks keep honest people honest. They just add time on the job foe thieves. If you really want to go down a YouTube rabbit hole. Start watching videos on lock picking. I switched out all my padlocks to Mul-T-Locks after watching them. They aren't unpickable but to do it in the field would take a very long time.

[willvabch]

When I go on vacation, I disconnect the garage door opener and put a padlock in a hole in the door track. Yes locks are for honest people, but the story is better with the insurance company.

[Charley]

Charley

I bet I can defeat your "solid core door, with deadbolt and reinforced strike plate" in about 5-15 seconds without harming the door/casing. I get paid to "break into" foreclosed properties as part of what I do...... a good solid door with a good name deadbolt makes it easier than a cheap door and a cheap deadbolt...just saying....deadbolts/knobs are shiny jewelry in reality. A nosy, busy bodied, biddy living next door is the best security system ever devised....yes....I talk to law enforcement occassionally doing what I do......a bored busy body is normally responsible for that "chat".
Don't doubt it, I can too. Just buying time and difficulty, make it easier to go somewhere else.

[MaryB]

Lock the garage? Don't even have a lock on it(well my shed, garage is one of those tent things and needs a new cover). Nobody in town locks much of anything. Strange car gets pinpointed instantly and phones ring as the warning goes out. Caught druggies from out of town that way 4 times. Old ladies in town are like watchdogs