You’ve just blown a pile of money on a brand new set of tires, kept your servicing up to date, and your vehicle is purring like a kitten. Have you stopped to consider where exactly your vehicle spends the vast majority of its life, though? Chances are, the answer is parked in the garage.

A concern every person shares, by and large, is their vehicle when they are out and about, but what they don’t realise is that your home is the target that thieves aim to, and if you have an old or easily breakable garage door, you are making their job easier indeed.

The Weak Link in Home Security

In today’s world, home

I was talking to a neighbor last month, and they’d just been a victim of a car break-in, parked inside their garage. The scrotes didn’t break any windows or try to break into the house. They just lifted their bloody old up-and-over garage door, took ’em 30 seconds. Stole their tools, their bikes, and looked through their motors. A bloody good lock could have stopped all this.

The thing is, garages are the least secure areas around homes. We end up spending hundreds of dollars on alarm systems and CCTVs around the house, and we secure the garage with a door that hasn’t been changed since the 1980s.

Characteristics of a Secure Garage Door

It’s not all garage doors that are designed equally when it comes to security concerns. So if you’re really interested in securing your vehicle, as well as everything else you have inside, just consider the following:

Locking systems are light-years ahead when compared to old One Point Locking Systems. Multi-point locking systems lock various points, making it very difficult to break open.

Automatic garage doors that you can open with a remote are, all things considered, a secure option compared to manual garage doors. The point is that they are locked if they are closed – you will not have to remember to turn a key. Additionally, today you can check if your garage door is closed by using your mobile phone, if the system is modern enough.

By the way, the material counts, too. A solid steel or metal-lined door is much harder to breach than an aluminum or wooden door that may have warped with age. A weak door cries out, “Lay down your tools, and come on in!” to the potential thief.

Simple Upgrades Which Make a Difference

You may not necessarily have to replace the door altogether if you’re looking to enhance its security features:
• Upgrade the door hinges: Replacing the old hinges with modern ones will make the door significantly harder

Install a garage defender or secondary lock onto an existing door. They are fixed to the floor and offer a secondary securing system that is very hard to break through. They are relatively inexpensive, and you can install one by yourself in an hour.

If you have an up-over door, you should fit anti-lift brackets. They prevent people lifting a door from the bottom, as my neighbor so inconveniently discovered for my next tip:

Install a sensor light above the garage entrance. Burglars do not like operating under the bright lights, and a motion sensor light will deter most potential intruders before they even consider breaking in.

Is Your Garage Door Past Its Best?

Take a minute to really inspect your garage door. Does the door close correctly? Are there any gaps between the door and the frame or around the bottom of the door? Does the lock feel secure when you turn it?” If the answer to any of these is ‘no,’ a replacement may be due.

Modern garage doors are far more than just a secure entrance, either,” explains the article, adding, “They’re insulated, so this will matter if you have a room above the garage, or if you just want a more comfortable garage temperature, they’re quiet, and, frankly, they just work better.” Perhaps you’re experiencing a sticking door, or one that squeaks or must be wrestled with each time you open or close it. Maybe you’re just due for an upgrade

A decent garage door is a lot more than just a deterrent against burglars. It’s an insurance policy, a guarantee you’ll feel secure knowing your vehicle and your valuables are safe and sound. And, um, if you’re still operating the same garage door you’ve been operating since 1985, maybe you should just take a good hard look at that thing.