Your garage door is a point of relatively lower security than the rest of your home. People usually leave their garage doors open during the day and have minimal garage door security even at night.

A garage does not just house your car. If you are like most people, you probably use the garage as a workshop where all your tools are on display to everyone who passes by, or as a store-room where you stash things of sentimental value. Since garages usually face the street, anyone passing by can be a potential burglar who is checking the lay of the land. Vandalism also commonly occurs in residential garages.

But that does not mean you should keep the garage door shut all the time. It simply means that you should take certain measures to ensure that an intruder cannot gain access into your garage when you are not around.

Let’s take a look at some things you can do to add to the security of your garage.

Garage Door Security Tips

1. If you have a roller garage door, make sure that the opener is unplugged when you go on vacation. Some roller door openers will give you the option of installing an accessory called the vacation security switch. This will basically disable the remote of the opener, which will be unusable until you reverse the switch.

 

2. If your garage door uses a track to lift, then you can tighten a C-clamp on the track that is near the roller. The door cannot be opened until you take off the C-clamp.

 

3. Although convenient, automatic garage door openers are not very effective in keeping an intruder out. The idea of an automatic door lulls you into a false sense of security when in fact it is a weak link.
   In fact, if you are locked outside the house, you can use a coat hanger to pull out the manual lever of the opener and thus open the garage door manually. Since most garages have a door into the house as well, this could pose a threat to your home security as well. But if you do have an automatic door, disable the emergency release switch and the coat hanger trick won’t work.

 

4. One of the silliest things you can do is to leave the garage door remote in your car. Cars are relatively easy to break into and if someone steals the remote, they gain access to your garage and perhaps your home.

 

Safety Precautions

Make sure the control button that opens the garage door is out of reach of children. Kids are notorious for pushing buttons and they may, in play, open your garage doors without you realizing it and leave it open. Inspect the door from time to time to check for wear and tear of the pulleys, cables, rollers and springs. Call a repairman if you think something needs to be changed.

These simple tips will help you increase the efficiency of garage door security.