The most attractive door to an intruder is an "Out-Swinging Door" or a door that opens out and has the hinge pins exposed on the outside. With this kind of door, it doesn't matter what type of lock or how much you've spent on it, if the door can be simply removed, the lock is useless. One solution to this type of door is to install a steel door pin adjacent to each hinge, which prevents the door from being pried out even with the hinge pins removed. The pins are installed so that when the door is closed, the protruding pins mate into their own "strike plates" which prevents the door from being opened.
To thieves, garages are like candy stores with lots of enticing things. Garages are home to many items like tools and lawn equipment that can be easily carried off and sold. When people settle in for the evening, they tend to pay less attention to what is happening outside, and their television or radio may be on just loud enough to drown out the noise of an intruder in the garage. Not only can garages be easy to enter, a lot of times forgetful owners leave the electric garage door open, or thought that it closed all the way, when it didn't. There can be another potential problem if the garage is attached to the house with an adjoining door, which gives a concealed entry point into the house and the rest of your possessions.
§ Make sure that all the doors in the garage are in good working condition. § Repair any loose or damaged panels on electric doors. § Make sure the door leading from the garage into the house is solid and has a secure deadbolt lock. § After installing a garage door opener, reset the code, factory codes can be easily obtained for most brands of garage doors. A crafty thief can drive through neighborhoods with a garage door opener with a preset code and keep pressing the opener until a garage door opens, then he can gain entry and at that point or wait until a better opportunity knowing your door can be opened with this coded opener. |
