Garage broken into, bikes gone...how do you keep yours safe?

[yogabird]

Woke up to find garage door open, padlock cut off and bikes, golf clubs and who knows what else gone. Feel shaken. Police were fantastic though. Anyone recommend a garage alarm? Something else?

From what I have researched, an automatic door is safer. Or if you aren't bothered by the inconvenience, then a padlock from within.

I've just had a new garage door fitted and it's an electronic shutter one. It has an inbuilt alarm which sounds if anyone tries to force it up.

Me and my boys love it. We call the garage the bat cave as it's darkish in there. We pile in the car and open the door with the fob.

side door of garage was the point of access. The up and over door seems quite secure. We can't fit the car in - too much stuff! But when we do replace the bikes...expensive bikes :-( I want them to be safe. Are alarms any good, saw some on Amazon?

That's horrible! You have my sympathy. Such a damn nuisance. The best way to make the garage personnel access door secure is with a conventional doorlock like a house - the kind you pull up to activate the lock then use a key to lock it fully. Then that door is as secure as your house.

If your garage has a window, get some anti-smash film put on the glass - it's not expensive and you can't see it.

For the roller shutter, a huge padlock that is almost circular (not a loop shank which can be reached with bolt cutters but where most of the shank is covered by the body of the padlock) is the best method, fastened into a special pin which is in turn concreted into the ground; that too will deter thieves. If your garage is harder to break into that others, well ... they'll go for the others.

Sorry the description of the padlock is so inarticulate. We got in a security company to sort all this out for us and I don't have the name of the lock style or brand, sorry.

We did have a monitored alarm on the house and the garage as well (this was when we lived abroad, in a country with a high crime rate, can you tell?) but honestly it was a PITA. False alarms drive neighbours mad, if you want it monitored it is expensive and you have to provide key holders etc etc. A real hassle. When we moved here we expected to have to install all that stuff again and were pleasantly surprised when it wasn't needed, good locks and good lighting did the trick.

Good luck with re-securing. If you let your insurance company know about the upgraded security measures you've taken, they might not be quite so horrid about increasing your premium next time around (because it will surely increase, alas).

ADT will fit a monitored alarm and charge about £20 per month - you could have a couple of sensors in your house and one in the garage. You can have a partial set option - off in the house and on in the garage.

The alarm goes off inside the house and the monitoring company are alerted, no noisy bell outside - but the thieves and you would know the alarm had been triggered. We have had no false alarms with ours.

nasty. Don't replace the stolen items until the security is thoroughly upgraded. Because they will be back. If they can't get in the second time they will give up.

been there.

thanks so much all

Insurance and police have been good so far. Need to replace garage windows I think - very old and insecure. Door not a shutter but 'up-and-over' - how secure are they? Can I add anything to that to help?
Really want to get out and cycle in the sunshine now that I can't - at least the drill wasn't taken so all of the DIY that needs doing can be done this weekend - nothing else to do with no bikes or golf clubs!

yogabird the up and over ones are quite bad. It's easy to lever it up. The typical police advice is to fit a hasp and staple and a padlock at the bottom of the garage door

www.cambs.police.uk/crimeprevention/advice/advice.asp?ID=169

A bit of googling should should you where you need to add the locks.

We always park the car right up to the garage door, wouldn't have helped in this situation but makes the door a little trickier/impossible to open.

if you have a side garage door, fit a strong, panelled wooden door like a house door, with a BS mortice lock on it. have at least one big strong hasp and padlock on the garage door, locking into the concrete floor on the inside. This will inconvenience anyone wishing to take large things outside quickly. Garage doors are very weak and easy to force or trick open. Glass windows or panels in the door should be avoided.

if you have a burglar alarm on the house, you could have it extended to include the garage. if not, you can get a simple low-cost DIY Yale wireless alarm (type HSA6400) from Ironmongery Direct at a good price, it will sound inside the house if you want, not just in the garage. The control panel hoots, as well as the outdoor siren, and it can phone your home and/or mobile. It is not as good as a professional alarm at ten times the price.

I have a house alarm, but the sensors on the garage doors make the house panel bleep every time the door is opened, even if the alarm is not set, since it is out of sight. You can make the yale do that.

Chains and padlocks are not much good inside the garage, where the thief can work out of sight, probably using your own tools. You need to stop them outside.

Yes, it is true that the burglars will probably come back in a month or two when you have bought new bikes.

I second what specialsubject and PigletJohn said - remember they might come back in a while to steal your lovely new bikes. I've had similar happen to me .

Garage on my old house had a front door as the pedestrian access door, complete with a Chubb bolt and Yale lock.