Home security is important to all of us, but it can be all too easy to overlook areas of your property that are vulnerable. Have you ever considered: can burglars open garage doors?
It is possible for burglars to gain access to a home through most garage doors. In fact, statistics show that nearly 10% of all burglars use the garage door as their access point. There are ways to improve the security of your garage, including more secure locking and alarm systems, reducing visibility, and installing motion sensor lighting.
Read ahead in this article to find out all about the level of security that your garage door may be providing, and how to reduce the likelihood that it will be targeted for a break-in.
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Are Garage Doors Targeted by Burglars?
If you think about it, your garage door is probably one of the largest points of access in your home, so are they often specifically targeted by burglars? It’s certainly not uncommon. Statistics from the FBI, the Bureau of Justice, and Statista indicate that around 9% of burglars access a property via the garage door.
With that being said, it is not the most common place where criminals enter a home. When you look at the data, your front door is the most likely point of entry, by quite a large margin. According to those statistics:
- Front Door: 34% of break-ins
- Window: 23% of break-ins
- Back Door: 22% of break-ins
- Garage Door: 9% of break-ins
- Basement: 9% of break-ins
Of course, it’s important to remember that not every home even has a garage in the first place. When you take that fact into consideration, the 9% figure may start to look a little more worrying.
How Can Burglars Open Garage Doors?
It is possible for thieves to enter your home through the garage, but knowing how they might do so can give you a significant advantage when it comes to stopping them. If you know where the vulnerabilities might be, you can take action to reduce or remove them.
Depending on the type of lock that your garage door has, it can be quite easy for a burglar to gain entry. Many older locking systems with a pull cord can be manipulated to open from the outside in less than 6 seconds, using something as simple as a coat hanger. You can watch this video to see how it might be done.
Other ways that a home invader might open your garage doors include:
- Guessing a weak security code or padlock combination
- Finding a hidden remote
- Picking a lock
- Breaking an alternative access door or window
How Do You Prevent Burglars from Opening Your Garage Doors?
Knowing where the weaknesses are in your home security system is the first step. Fortunately, there are many things that you can do to improve security around your garage doors and reduce the likelihood that they will be targeted by criminals.
Although you will never be able to make it completely impossible for an intruder to break in, you can make it much harder. The more challenging and time-consuming it is to enter your home, the more likely it is that a burglar will give up or fail in their attempt.
Always Lock Your Garage Doors Safely
This may seem like a no-brainer, but a survey carried out by The Zebra in 2020 found that 17.2% of people don’t lock their front doors while they’re at home, despite this being the number one point of entry.
Even if you’re in the house, your garage door should be securely locked at all times. Make sure to check it as well – you can’t always rely on the press of a button to work every time.
If you are using a combination lock or keypad system, make sure to change it from the default settings. “1111” or “0000” is far too easy for a thief to guess. Additionally, you should never hide a spare garage door remote where a burglar can find it.
Improve The Locking Mechanism
If you have a roll-up garage door (that could be opened forcibly with a tool as was shown above) then you will want to add extra security. Deadbolts at the base of the door on either side will make it much harder for a burglar to force the door open.
You might even want to remove the pull-cord entirely, unless it is an important convenience for you. You can also lock the release lever in place by tying it to the carriage assembly with wire or a cable tie. Additionally, you can install a shield that will prevent tools from reaching the rope that would open the door from the outside.
Lock The Door Between Your Garage And Your Home
If a burglar does make it into your garage, you don’t want them to immediately have access to your possessions and the rest of your home. You can protect your valuables inside the garage within locked cabinets, and you should definitely make sure that the door to your house is well secured.
In simple terms: treat the door between the garage and the rest of the home as if it opened onto the street.
Use Security Alarms and Security Lighting
An alarm system and security lighting are both surprisingly easy to install, and they can make all of the difference. More often than not, just the sight of a visible external alarm sensor, or the sudden spotlight of motion sensor lighting, will be enough to discourage a would-be burglar.
Reduce Visibility
Having clear windows into your garage, or in the doors themselves, can act like an invitation to a burglar. You don’t want to encourage a thief by allowing them to see the valuables that you might have inside your garage, or give them better visibility of the locking mechanism for the door.
Covering or tinting any windows that might look into your garage is a good way to make your property look less inviting to thieves.
Summary: Can Burglars Open Garage Doors?
So, can burglars open garage doors? Depending on the locking mechanism and door that you have, they can. Almost 10% of burglars use the garage door as their point of entry.
Fortunately, there are many ways to improve the security of this area of your house. You can lock the door more securely, protect the mechanism from outside interference, take extra precautions internally, and add an alarm system or motion sensor lighting.
What you want to do is discourage a break-in attempt as much as possible. Don’t let your garage doors seem like an easy target.