You have been planning a home security installation for quite a while. You’ve looked at cameras and door sensors. You have investigated the feasibility of smart locks. You’ve even gone to great lengths to determine whether you want to pay for remote monitoring. But have you considered the garage?
Surprisingly, homeowners do not tend to think about the garage door when planning for security. They do not realize that the garage is often a weak point burglars can exploit fairly easily. For example, criminologists say that is not unusual for homeowners to fail to secure the door leading from the garage into the home with anything more than a stock handle lock.
Homeowners also fail to secure garage windows. The flimsy glass and panes installed by the builder remain decade after decade. All in all, the garage is pretty vulnerable. And if a burglar can break into the garage undetected, he has virtually guaranteed access to the rest of the house.
The Garage Is Like a Candy Store
In addition to not securing garage doors and windows, homeowners make another potentially costly mistake: leaving overhead doors open for extended periods of time. Giving a burglar clear view of the inside of the garage is like giving a child an unhindered view of the inside of a candy store.
If burglars can see into a garage, here’s what they will look for:
- Long-care equipment and power tools
- Bicycles, skis, and other sporting equipment
- Workbenches and expensive hand tools
- Motorcycles, ATVs, and other recreational vehicles
What they see in the garage may or may not be of interest to them for purposes of theft. More importantly, what is found in the garage gives burglars an inkling of what might be in the house. More expensive toys in the garage suggest plenty of attractive valuables inside.
When burglars do steal items directly from the garage, they are looking at things that can be quickly and easily sold on the street. Bicycles are pretty popular in some cities, while lawn care equipment is popular in others. Really, nothing is safe to an enterprising burglar with a steady list of customers willing to buy.
Make Sure the Garage Is Secure
The best way to ensure that your garage does not encourage burglary is to make sure it’s secure. For starters, never leave the overhead door open. Open the garage only when you need access to it. Then close the door behind you and leave it closed. In addition:
- Beef Up the Windows – Replace flimsy, single-pane windows with more secure double-paned alternatives. If you do not care about a clear view, block glass would be an even better option.
- Beef Up the Back Door – Your garage might have a back door leading to the rear of your property. Make sure it’s secured with a heavy-duty dead bolt lock. If the door has a pane of glass, make sure it is tough enough.
- Beef Up the Entry Door – The entry door between garage and home is your last line of defense against burglary. Make sure it’s a heavy-duty door as strong as your front and back doors. Also secure it with a deadbolt.
Vivint Home Security recommends a smart garage door controller as part of an overall home security system. But what is this device, and what does it do? Let’s take a look in more detail.
The Smart Garage Door Controller
A smart garage door controller combines the fundamentals of an automatic garage door opener with modern smart technology. Of course, you get the motorized device that automatically opens and closes the overhead door via your smartphone or a button mounted on the wall. But that is not the end of it.
A smart controller is also equipped with a sensor capable of distinguishing between an open and closed door. It sends data related to the garage door’s status to your home’s security hub. How does this help? Consider the following:
- Alerts – You can set up your system to send an alert to your phone if you inadvertently leave the garage door open for too long a time. Your home security app allows you to close the door with the tap of a finger.
- Automatic Closing – You can also set up your system to automatically close the garage door after a specified amount of time. That way, the door will never be left open for too long.
Note that there are ways to get around any kind of garage door controller. So depending exclusively on a smart controller to secure your garage makes little sense. Instead, the controller should be just one part of a much broader strategy for keeping burglars out.
Preventing Package Theft: A Bonus
Securing your garage with a smart garage door controller presents a bonus of sort: giving you an effective means to prevent package theft. You can arrange for packages to be left in the garage, out of the reach of your average porch pirate.
You would arrange with package delivery companies to send you a text when they arrive. With your phone, you open the garage door long enough for packages to be left inside. Then you close the door right away. Mission accomplished. Packages kept safe.
The only caveat here is that you need to be available when delivery drivers arrive. So that means making the effort to track deliveries. If you are unable to do so, you might be better off making other arrangements to prevent package theft.
Strengthen the Weak Link
In so many homes, the garage is the home security weak link. Your security system should not have any weak links at all. If your garage is one of them, it is time to beef things up. It’s time to strengthen that link so it is no longer weak.
Beef up your garage doors and consider adding a smart garage door controller to your security system. Doing so could be the best security move you have made in a long time.