Make Sure That Your Garage Door Is Keeping Your Home Secure
Posted on: 12 August 2015
Your home is your sanctuary, and it should stay that way. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people out there who would like things to be different. A common method of break in is through an improperly secured garage door. If you haven't taken any time to make sure your garage is secure, you should schedule an appointment with a garage door repair and installation professional. They can show you whether or not these aspects of your garage door have been properly secured.
Update Your Opener
Your garage door opener is only secure as the code that opens it. One option is to disable the automatic opener completely, and use good old muscles to get the door open and closed. The other is to make sure your opener is working on an encrypted frequency. Unfortunately, older openers don't have this option. They work on a limited number of frequencies and have a small number of codes. A potential thief can easily break this code, even if you take the time to set the opener to something other than default.
Unfortunately, there is no way to retrofit an older opener to make it secure-- you are just going to have to get a new one. While you are replacing your unit, make sure your new one uses an encrypted signal, and that it is easy to change the code. You will definitely want to change the code from the default setting, and it is a good idea to continue to change it every few months just in case. In the end, the opener still sends a signal, and that signal can be captured and duplicated.
Light the Area and Install a Camera
While not related to the door itself, adding proper security around the door is also an important step. A motion light and a camera or two will go a long way towards preventing the garage door from being a good point of entry. For most houses, the driveway is already exposed to the street, and adding a light will only draw attention to people who are up to no good around your home. Adding cameras only further detracts from the value of your garage door as an entryway. Rather than being able to make an easy entry, with little chance that anyone will notice, they will need to ensure that they disable the camera (if they are prepped enough to do so). While this can be done, it means that your home will no longer be the easiest target.
Check the Emergency Release
Have you ever thought about how to get into your garage door if the power goes out? Well, your garage door manufacturer has. There is an emergency release inside your garage that disengages the door from the motor. Once the motor is released, you are free to open the door manually and bring the car in. This is great for you when there is a problem, but it's not so good if it allows someone up to no good to access your garage. The target will be the rope that hangs down from the release. In many cases this rope can be grabbed on the outside by a determined person. The goal is to make the rope just long enough that you can reach it from the inside, but no one will have access from the outside. While it does mean that you would have to go through the house if the situation ever arises, it is a small price to pay for safety.
While there are plenty of other steps you can take to secure your garage, the door is a good place to start. Since making things difficult for people to break in is one of the best ways to prevent them from doing so, it is in your best interest to invest in proper safety measures. Anything less and you are simply playing a security lottery with some pretty serious consequences.
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