I need to upgrade my garage, because there's been a break in and there sure as duck be another one soon (typo intended, no profanities here, even though I'm entitled to it as a victim of my bike being stolen twice this summer).
So, I'm thinking like this. The thieves will break the lock and manged to force the door and there's nothing I can do about that. What I can do, though, is a combination of two things.
- Slowing the stupid #ยค%&s down.
- Making noise and/or signaling the attempt silently to my phone.
I need suggestions on the setup of such thing so I can present it to my super. They've promised to fix it but I fear that it will be even better if I help them along.
We can't have just the alarm go off as the door opens, because I'd set it off myself too. And it's probably a good idea not to have external panels for blipping in because that might be vandalized.
The garage is a small, room for a single vehicle with walls and roof, so the only possible entry point is the door. If I can slow the thieves down by a few minutes, I'll hear the sound and/or be alarmed and can call the cops.
Best Answer
It's all about reinforcing the door and securing the content inside - much like a Russian doll or onion of security!
CCTV (mostly) will act as a deterrent but often the recording quality is poor and if the thief wears a hat or balaclava, gloves and dark clothes then it's usually impossible to catch them after the event...
Securing the door would be either get a stronger door with better locks that can withstand brute force or add extra locks to the existing door to slow the thief down so much that they give up.
Example solutions that will prevent the door opening without attacking the hinges include:
Securing the content inside the garage with wall-mounted locks and/or brackets/loops will make it harder, still, for the thief to remove the item if they get past the door.
Cabinets: Adding on to securing content inside the garage is the obvious steel lockable cabinets (these should also be secured to the wall/floor.