So You Have A Nice Garage—Protect It!

Gone are the days when the home garage merely housed the family station wagon.  The modern man prides himself on his garage and has even made it his men-only safe haven, existing out of reach from the decorating-monopoly wielded by wives within the house proper.  A recent visit to my brother’s garage left me awestruck—plasma screens, neon signs and football memorabilia adorn every inch of the walls, a fully stocked bar stands alluringly near the back complete with stools, and even a urinal sits concealed and fully functional beside a jukebox!  Less a garage than a sports-bar, I felt transported from the quaint suburban setting of the neighborhood and found myself instantly craving a long-island… at 1 in the afternoon.

Someone who puts so much time, love and effort into a space like this will no doubt want to show it off, and my brother is no exception.  Spending hours of the day in this testosterone-Utopia, he frequently leaves his garage door open while cars and pedestrians pass by, often looking inquisitively inside to see, perhaps, where the loud music is coming from.

Unfortunately, drawing so much attention to his garage and home can’t be a good thing.

Most of us take the time to lock our doors and windows when we’re leaving our houses unattended.  What people tend to forget, however, is that about 9 percent of the estimated 2 million reported home burglaries a year in the US involve the intruder entering through the garage door. That amounts to nearly 180,000 garage-entry burglaries occurring every year! And if you’re housing your more expensive toys in your garage, then, to put it bluntly, you’re perhaps simply asking for it.

Don Weberg, editor and publisher of Garage Style Magazine, recently took the time to answer a few questions regarding garage security and the steps home owners should take to ensure that both their garage and homes remain secure from any would-be thieves or intruders.

You might just be surprised at how much common sense is involved in properly securing your garage, and how these measures are so often overlooked.

Men like to fix-up their garage to fit their personal style, but can a garage attract too much attention? What are some steps homeowners can take to avoid making their garage look too enticing for potential burglars?

Safety and privacy is a major concern with my magazine, which is why in our features we normally only use the owner’s first name and a state instead of city and state.  Most people with nice garages don’t want too many people to know about them, which is step one in keeping the garage unnoticed from prying eyes – keep it quiet, only share it with people you know and trust. Try not to leave the door open for longer periods of time, if it’s visible from the street. Sometimes it’s a good idea to leave the exterior non descript, void of decorations, loud paint schemes and so on.  Good lighting outside, usually a garage in a high-visibility area can prove diversions for burglars, as they normally like things nice and quiet.  Also, keep it clean—if it begins to look like no one cares about it, that too can attract unwanted attention.

Are there certain brands of garage door locks you prefer , and which do you find to be most effective? How easy would you say they are to break/bypass?

Garage doors, unless they’re manual opening and use pad locks, don’t normally have traditional locks.  Garage door openers are normally equipped with a locking mechanism that are controlled by the opener which uses a numeric code signal to trigger the opener to lift or lower the door.  There are devices out there that can trace and discern what the code is, thus compromising the door’s ability to remain closed, but more modern openers use a rolling code technology meaning each time the remote is used the door opener resets the codes and reprograms the door opener automatically.

What are your thoughts on surveillance systems?

I think they’re a good idea! A motion camera or time-lapse camera can serve well to record goings-on anywhere, including a garage. With digital technology too, it’s easy to store several hours without having to erase a given day. Yes, the set up is expensive for a real camera set up, but you can help offset the costs by alerting your home owners insurance carrier who might issue a savings on your monthly insurance costs.  Also, in the long run, just the presence of a camera can thwart would-be thieves.

What’s a cheap alternative?

A fake camera above the door with a few dummy wires for effect.  No one wants to be recorded doing something they know they shouldn’t be doing, and a fake camera is only a fake camera to the home owner—no one else knows.

What do you personally do to ensure your garage is secure and that your home remains secure from intruders who might find their way in through your garage?

Our garage is a nondescript two-car in an everyday housing tract.  No one pays it any attention, as from the outside it looks like most of the garages surrounding it.  We rarely have the main door up, there is an alarm and our “human door” boasts a significant locking knob and deadbolt.  As converse as this sounds to the advice of buying a modern door and opener, ours is about 25 years old, made of aluminum and the opener makes a ferocious noise when in use so getting into it isn’t a quiet operation.  As “Grapes of Wrath” as this might sound, hanging over the door, like in some old fashioned retail establishments, we have a series of antique bells—when the door opens, it hits the bells, which makes a terrific clanking noise…old fashioned tricks, but some work and are unavoidable. I’d like to have a door-open/close alert bell inside the house, but for now, we’re comfortable.

Have you experienced any garage break-ins since taking extra security precautions (installing equipment, etc), and if so, were the burglars successful?

At my old home the garage was broken into, to which we responded with an alarm connected to a motion sensor. The thieves returned (we were astonished) while we were asleep, and they set off the alarm and bolted.  Speaking of bolts, we installed a pad lock to the door.  This garage was built in 1920, so it wasn’t exactly a garage, more like a structure for stuff.

Do you find yourself being more afraid of your car getting stolen from your garage, or someone entering your home through your garage?  Do your cars have security systems installed?

I’m not worried about the cars being stolen from the garage because not only is the garage itself a bit noisy to get into, but there are always cars on the driveway, blocking the door to the garage.  A thief would need to move those cars first, then go into the garage etc. The newer cars have alarms and LoJack, the older cars are just fit with kill switches and The Club.

About Garage Style Magazine

Garage Style Magazine is what’s been missing. A publication devoted entirely to garages.  This magazine is on sale now at various Barnes & Noble, Borders, Hastings, and Autobooks-Aerobooks among other retail outlets.

Whether you enjoy the do-it-yourself lifestyle, museum style, eclectic collector style, or something in between, Garage Style Magazine is all about your style! Each issue will bring you amazing garages, tremendous resources, and a wealth of ideas.

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