How to Better Protect Your Home by Securing Your Garage
The statistics surrounding home burglaries are alarming to say the least, with an intrusion and theft occurring as often as every 18 seconds in the U.S. meaning that there are approximately 4,800 burglaries every single day. While this is a frightening figure, there are plenty of things you can do to help protect your home and make it more secure, starting with your garage:
As the favorite entry point for many criminals, securing your garage is vital:
There are four main entry points for burglars, and these are the front door, back door, ground floor windows and the garage, and the garage is often favored due to the fact that many homeowners don’t invest enough in securing it, and entry is often obscured and secluded from the prying eyes of neighbors. Whether you store high-value items inside your garage, or burglars can gain access to your home through a connecting a door, making it more secure will always be worth the investment.
How should you secure your garage?
- Don’t leave it unlocked
First and foremost, never leave your garage door unlocked when you’re not in it, or not at home; this is an open invitation for burglars and a particularly opportunistic one will quickly discover your lax security and take advantage of it. It’s important to always lock the connecting door to your home, too. Even if you’re inside the home, a burglar desperate to get his hands on something that doesn’t belong to him, will gladly enter and help himself through a conveniently unlocked door. Adopting stealth tactics that come as second nature to criminals, they may enter and leave again with their swag bag brimming with stolen goods before you even realize what has happened.
- Make sure your locks are high-security
Secondly, it’s no good making sure your garage and the connecting door is always locked if the locks themselves are weak, damaged or not high-security. Upgrading your locks is a simple and affordable way of helping ensure that criminals can’t gain entry to your garage or home, and a quick assessment from a reputable locksmith will help you determine whether you need to replace or upgrade any of your existing locks.
- Upgrade your door opener
Automatic door openers are extremely convenient, but older models feature the same code that can easily be infiltrated by a burglar. If your garage door opener is an older model that doesn’t feature a rolling code that changes every time you open it with the remote, then it’s probably time to think about replacing it. Talk to your local locksmith about upgrading your garage door opener, and remember to never leave your keychain remote in your car for criminals to get their hands on.
It’s important not to overlook your garage when assessing the overall security level of your home, and as any good locksmith will tell you, preventing crime is far easier and less stressful than dealing with its repercussions.
