A garage is a helpful addition to any home. Homeowners across the country use their garage as the primary entry point into the house, a place to park their cars, a home gym, a workshop, and many other things. It’s a beneficial extra space where you may store many valuable belongings like tools, car parts, and other personal items.
While you want your garage to look flawless from the outside, it must also operate effectively and be secure. Installing a garage door that improves curb appeal and has a garage door opener and other security methods will help keep items inside your garage and home safe.
How Can I Secure My Garage Door?
Many homeowners never forget to lock their front door, back door and windows before leaving the house or going to bed. Your garage is an additional entry point to include in your lockdown. Adding more security measures to your garage will help make your home safer and help you feel more comfortable.
Learn all the ways to improve garage door security and help prevent burglaries, faulty garage doors and more.
15 Ways to Make Your Garage Safe
Like many local Ohio homeowners, you’ve likely never considered how secure your garage door is and whether a burglar could expose those weak entry points. With quality garage door improvements and security upgrades, you can quickly improve your door’s condition and prevent forced entry.
Are you ready to learn how to make your garage door more secure? Check out these helpful tips and methods to improve your home security and ensure your garage door opener is working efficiently and safely.
1. Make Sure Your Garage Door Closes
While this may seem obvious, it’s an essential part of ensuring your garage door is secure. Homeowners who use their garage daily may forget to check that all the operation features are in working order. Your garage door may look closed, but sometimes it won’t close all the way. By the time you leave, someone can readily enter your garage and possibly your home.
If your garage door isn’t shutting fully or it’s not closing at all, the problem may stem from your garage opener or sensor. Ensure the sensor is clear of any items that may prevent the door from closing before checking the garage door opener system. If your garage opener seems to be the issue, you can have a professional technician come out and diagnose the problem.
2. Put a Manual Lock on Your Garage Door
You might think your garage door opener system is sufficient to securely close your door, but you can feel extra safe with a manual lock on your garage door.
Installing a manual lock on your garage door can help when you’re securing your house at night before going to bed or if you’re leaving home for an extended period, like a work trip or family vacation. A manual lock will be inside your garage door toward the center. The lock makes home invasions through the garage challenging and is also helpful in case you experience a power outage.
You’ll want to keep the key somewhere safe, so you know where it is when you need it. Having your home garage locked while you’re away on vacation can help ease the stress of leaving home for a long time.
If you lock your manual lock for a trip or before bedtime, remember to unlock it before using your remote garage opener to avoid any trouble.
3. Keep All Garage Remotes Inside
Learn how to make your garage door opener more secure by keeping it inside your home. It’s common for households to own more than one vehicle and have a garage door opener remote for each car. If you park one car inside the garage and another one outside, always take the remote that’s outside the garage into your home. Leaving the remote outside makes it accessible to any person who breaks into your car. Experienced thieves will look for the remote clip on your visor. Try storing it inside a purse, bag or coat pocket to carry it inside your home, so no one has access to your garage.
Another way to learn how to secure your garage door from thieves is by using a key fob opener instead of a traditional remote. This method will ensure you don’t leave your garage door opener remote inside your car.
Many newer vehicle models have a garage door opener button on or near the rearview mirror. It’s much more challenging to steal this type of opener, making it ideal for those who want to keep a garage door opener in their car at all times.
Having a manual lock is an excellent backup security measure if you lose your garage door opener remote or someone stole it. The manual lock can suffice as your security while you wait for a replacement remote or garage door opener.
4. Regularly Change Opener Codes
Your garage door opener is as secure as you make it. If you have a keypad installed that allows you to open it with a PIN, only share your garage code with the people living in your household. If you give other family members, friends and your kids’ friends the code, it’s essential to change your PIN regularly to ensure your home is safe from intruders.
Changing your garage access code is an easy way to keep your home safe. You can also change your PIN if you notice unusual activity near your neighborhood or after you have someone housesit or petsit.
Always pick a unique number every time you change your PIN so others can’t easily guess it.
5. Take Good Care of Your Garage Door
People become set in their daily routines and get accustomed to opening and closing their roller garage door every day. You might not think to regularly check to make sure your door is operating correctly, but it’s essential to proactively maintain your garage door.
Your garage door might have a minor issue that goes unnoticed until it snowballs into a significant problem. Homeowners can learn how to make their garage door more secure, look out for various garage door problems and perform routine maintenance to ensure the door’s safety features, or you can schedule maintenance checks through local professionals.
Leaving garage door maintenance to the professionals helps make service checks more accurate and solve problems quicker.
6. Ensure the Emergency Release Cord Is Secure
The emergency release cord is an essential feature of your garage door opener. The emergency release cord is at the top of your garage and dangles from the ceiling, with the red handle close enough for some homeowners to reach. Pulling the cord causes the garage door motor to turn off, halting its operations. This innovation is beneficial when you lose power and need to open the garage door.
The safety concern with emergency release cords is when intruders access the dangling cord with a method called “fishing.” They’ll feed a wire through a crack at the bottom of the garage door, hoping to hook the cord and open your garage door.
To prevent this from occurring, secure the emergency release cord with shields or zip ties. If it’s time to replace your garage door, many newer models have emergency release cords at an angle that makes fishing impossible.
7. Install a Home Security System
A home security system is ideal for your entire house. However, many homeowners install security cameras near their front door and backyard, but may forget to cover the garage door. Including your garage door is a beneficial addition to your home security camera lineup.
Newer camera security systems offer impressive technology features that allow you to have more control over your home security and immediate access to your cameras. Many new security systems connect through an app on your smartphone. Some allow you to integrate your garage door opener with your security system, giving you more peace of mind when you’re away from your home.
8. Protect All Garage Windows
It’s crucial to know how to secure a garage door from the inside and think about other entryways into the garage. Homeowners might overlook garage windows as an entry point. While these windows provide welcome natural lighting for your garage interior, they also allow a look into the items you store in your garage, which may entice someone to try and get inside.
You can protect your garage door windows with a couple of helpful methods.
- Window frost: Frosting your windows is an easy way to still allow all the natural light inside your garage while obscuring the view of anything that’s inside.
- Window treatments: Add window treatments like blinds or curtains to block the view of anyone trying to look inside your garage.
It’s also vital that you remember to lock your garage windows when you’re not home or before going to bed. Treat your garage windows like you would your other home windows.
9. Add Motion Sensor Lights Around Your Garage
Lighting is one of the best ways to deter any possible intruders. A helpful addition to your home’s lighting and security system is motion-sensor lights around your garage door. When a person or animal walks in front of these lights, they’ll shine brightly, ideally making strangers think twice about breaking into your house via your garage.
Another beneficial area to place these motion-sensor lights is inside your garage. You’ll always have a light on in your garage when you enter at night, which makes it safer for you and your family.
10. Always Lock the Interior Garage Door
Many use their garage as the primary entryway instead of the front door, and it’s crucial to treat your interior garage door just like your front door and lock it when you’re away and at night.
Though it’s technically not an exterior door, it’s always best to behave like it is in case someone gains access to your garage.
Another addition you can install on your interior garage door is a deadbolt for extra security.
11. Add a Security Timer on Your Garage Door
A garage door timer is an extra security feature that will automatically close your garage door when it’s open for a set period. You might want to invest in one if you often forget to close your garage door when you leave or come home. You’ll never have to wonder if you left the door wide open.
12. Install a Quality Garage Door
Do you remember the last time you updated your garage door? If not, you’re likely due for an upgrade. Thin steel overhead doors are standard options for many homes, but with today’s manufacturing improvements and access to the finest construction materials available, you can significantly improve your garage door’s quality. A modern garage door crafted from high-quality wood or steel is much more challenging to open, more durable, and won’t wear as rapidly, reducing repairs and maximizing its available lifespan.
13. Install an Improved Garage Door Lift Mechanism
Early garage door lift mechanisms added convenience to door operations, but people could readily copy the frequencies to other remote devices. With advancing technology, garage door opener manufacturers have developed rolling code technology that creates a new code every time someone uses the opener. Look into updating your garage door opener or installing a better garage door lift mechanism to prevent outsiders from duplicating the opener code.
14. Consider Your Landscaping Around the Garage
You may have a large tree or bush near a garage window that allows intruders to hide and try to break into your garage. Consider changing your landscaping, so you and your neighbors always have eyes on your home’s entry points.
15. Make Your Home Look Occupied at All Times
Burglars typically don’t want to enter a home when they know someone is there. A helpful way to prevent burglars from attempting to enter your home is to make it look like someone is always there. You can accomplish this by adding a timer to your inside lights when you are away.
CONTACT QUALITY OVERHEAD DOOR TO HELP SECURE YOUR GARAGE DOOR
Call the experienced professionals at Quality Overhead Door when you need reliable and trusted garage door services or need assistance securing your garage door. We happily provide garage door installation and repair services for homeowners throughout the Toledo, Ohio, area and its surrounding communities. For more than 35 years, our team of friendly, trained experts has prioritized offering personalized garage door solutions and quality products that improve the quality of your home’s security and performance.
Schedule garage door services today by completing our online contact form or call 419-578-8700 to learn more about our garage door security offerings.
Additional Resources on Garage Safety & Security Door Tips:
- How to Increase Garage Door Security
- Important Safety Features of Garage Doors and Openers
- How to Keep Children Safe Around Garage Doors
- Garage Doors and Pet Safety