Garage security: advice needed!

[AWatson]

I have come home tonight to see what looks suspiciously like an X or some kind of mark painted on my faded black garage in a much fresher black paint.  I've not seen it in daylight yet so I cant really tell if I'm just being paranoid, but it stood out to me immediately under my car headlights. 

 

I suspect someone marked up as a target to rob. I stupidly left some tools on display in the house from DIY I was doing earlier. Not sure if that encouraged them. They are all cheap and second hand anyway mind (if my prospective burgler is reading this....)

 

Now the question is, how do I improve the security of the garage enough to make it too awkward to be worth their time? Ideally relatively inexpensively since I'm not exactly well off at the moment. I know whatever I do there would be a way in... Nothing too Kevin McAllister please. 

 

The front door is a classic steel up and over opening door with a single lock that probably wouldn't cause the lock picking lawyer to break a sweat, but I'd imagine they'd just try to force the door anyway.

 

The front is very visible from the street.  

 

The back garage door is a 5 point (I think, possibly more) locking composite door in a upvc frame. 

 

Out back isn't overlooked at all and you can climb a relatively small wall to get there. If I was a thief that's probably where I'd go. 

 

Any advice appreciated! 

[Rocketdog2112]

Both the front and rear doors of my house have double key deadbolt locks. In other words, there is no way to unlock the deadbolt from the inside without a key when i'm away. If someone comes in through a window, they can only carry items out the window which will likely draw more attention than someone walking out the front door with arm fulls of your stuff.

FYI: Double key deadbolts can be considered illegal in some jurisdictions as the can pose an escape hazard in an emergency. But if I'm inside the house, there's always a key inserted on the inside.

 

As for the garage. If you have a roll-up door, get a couple of padlocks and drill holes in the tracks for the padlocks just above the guide wheels. This will help prevent someone from easily opening your garage door.

 

Exterior lighting... Can't say enough about it. I'm not taking motion detection, but dusk to dawn lit up like the fourth of July. The new LED lights barely make a blip on the electric bill.

 

Cameras wouldn't hurt either. Just the sight of them is enough to make a potential thief move on to the next target. You can also monitor and get push alerts from your cameras. WIFI cameras are OK, but it just takes someone cutting your internet cable to disable them. Hard wired cameras are harder to disable especially if mounted high up. That and they are usually connected to a DVR which can be hid away from easy access and theft.

 

I've also got a exterior siren wired into a Wemo Bluetooth plug socket like the ones you can plug a house lamp into and turn on with an app on your cell phone. If I get a camera alert showing suspicious activity, I can remotely activate the outdoor siren. The siren required an external power supply which was easy enough to get.

 

The locks and lights are a cheap investment to protect your belongings. A camera system can also be had cheaply enough second hand.

[IRMacGuyver]

5 hours ago, Rocketdog2112 said:

Both the front and rear doors of my house have double key deadbolt locks. In other words, there is no way to unlock the deadbolt from the inside without a key. If someone comes in through a window, they can only carry items out the window which will likely draw more attention than someone walking out the front door with arm fulls of your stuff.

FYI: Double key deadbolts can be considered illegal in some jurisdictions as the can pose an escape hazard in an emergency. But if I'm inside the house, there's always a key inserted on the inside.

Deadbolts aren't that useful to prevent a targeted break in unless you reinforce the door frame.  You also need a strong door cause some doors are cheap and will break before the reinforced door frame.  Watch a SWAT team invade a home and understand that a robber that really wants in your house will use the same tools.  Really just a sledgehammer will work.  They'll just break down the door splintering the normal wooden door frames'.  Hell I heard about a gang that was going around my area using a battery powered circular saw to cut the doors.  Pros are not gonna be stopped by a deadbolt. 

[Rocketdog2112]

31 minutes ago, IRMacGuyver said:

Deadbolts aren't that useful to prevent a targeted break in unless you reinforce the door frame.  You also need a strong door cause some doors are cheap and will break before the reinforced door frame.  Watch a SWAT team invade a home and understand that a robber that really wants in your house will use the same tools.  Really just a sledgehammer will work.  They'll just break down the door splintering the normal wooden door frames'.  Hell I heard about a gang that was going around my area using a battery powered circular saw to cut the doors.  Pros are not gonna be stopped by a deadbolt. 

Most thieves are opportunist. They pick easy targets. They see a door without a deadbolt, that's an easy target.

Thieves hate making a scene. Going at a door with a sledge hammer or saw is going to attract attention.

 

As I stated,many other deterrents such as cameras and lighting also help prevent someone even trying the door.

[wseaton]

Caneras don't deter thieves. They know you likely aren't paying somebody to monitor your garage 24/7 and will just pull their hoody up. You will be the guy on Facebook saying "these two guys broke into my garage."

 

If your garage in a pain in the ass to get into and doesn't have a window with a convenient 55gallon drum next to it then its not an easy target. Walking through an alley with a pair of bolt cutters is rather obvious and suspicious.

 

Make friends with your neighbors. The guy next door with multiple NRA stickers on his pickup truck is a good ally to have and there's strength in numbers.

 

Good lighting is a must. LED floods will keep most cockroaches away.

[AWatson]

Just saw the responses to this as offline yesterday, thanks for the advice folks! 

 

I'm very much on board with the "make it inconvenient and noisy for them" approach to make it a less appealing target.

 

I live in a super quiet cul-de-sac with some lovely nosy neighbours who aren't away from home often (an advantage for things like this!) and I've already had a word with them.

 

The rear and front doors are already double-deadbolt. 

 

I'm going to add some cameras and lighting front and back. I will go for motion detectors though, don't want it to annoy the neighbours too much.

 

Will add some extra bolt locks to the outside of the garage as well, but I know they only go so far.

 

On 8/28/2022 at 5:33 PM, Rocketdog2112 said:

As for the garage. If you have a roll-up door, get a couple of padlocks and drill holes in the tracks for the padlocks just above the guide wheels. This will help prevent someone from easily opening your garage door.

 

This is an excellent idea though! 

 

When I was a kid our family garage had three bolts on the outside alongside its normal lock. It was still broken into 3 or 4 times. They just cut the locks.

 

Part of the reason I'll never buy an expensive bike and just ride cheap old steel frame ones. The only new one I got for my birthday once was stolen within two weeks.

 

On 8/29/2022 at 7:21 AM, wseaton said:

Make friends with your neighbors. The guy next door with multiple NRA stickers on his pickup truck is a good ally to have and there's strength in numbers.

 

I'm in the UK so no NRA, but this reminds me so much of my sisters incident a while back . Some kids had been fighting nearby and someone decided to take their rage out on her car with a golf club. Ended up writing it off. 

 

One of her neighbours is a local hard case. Told her to park in front of his house from now on and pass him a description of the person that did it if she had one... never any issues after that .

[Rocketdog2112]

On 8/29/2022 at 1:21 AM, wseaton said:

Caneras don't deter thieves. They know you likely aren't paying somebody to monitor your garage 24/7 and will just pull their hoody up. You will be the guy on Facebook saying "these two guys broke into my garage."

 

I don't need someone to monitor my cameras. The cameras I have, both hard wired and wifi send instant push alerts to my phone. If I am alerted to suspicious activity, I can remotely trigger an outside siren instantly with my phone.

 

And believe me, it's no radio shack siren. It actually a fire alert siren for industrial/commercial applications.

 

Sure, I can't be on top of all alerts 24 hours a day especially late night when I'm asleep, buts that's why I have a dog.