Garage door security
There has been an increase in burglaries where garage doors are targeted as a point of entry.
Rotherham garage door security
Garage Door Target
Garage are now integral to the home with homeowners storing power tools, bikes, lawnmowers and fishing tackle in garages as they believe the garage to be more secure.
The garage is a desirable area of the home to target for high-value items. A criminal can quickly establish if the Rotherham garage door is a potential point of entry.
Up and over garage doors
Up and over garage doors offer easy access from a central lock. They can be locked from the inside with the flick of a convenient switch.
If you are concerned about your car being stolen off your drive, following a site visit, Locksmith Rotherham can also install driveway bollards.
New home garage doors
The up and over garage door are installed in new build type housing developments.
A turn of the key and a door, twist of the handle unlocks the grage door with a pull on the handle towards you for gravity to help lift the door. The garage door slides along the inner roller mechanism before pushing it inwards for the door to be concealed neatly inside the garage space.
The weaknesses
The traditional and still widely used method of entry utilised by burglars is to lever either side of these doors as it provides enough leverage to peel the door open and gain access.
Hole Cutting
Another emerging technique, which Locksmith Rotherham have personally seen during our duties as emergency locksmiths in the last few years, is to punch a hole next to the garage centre console locking mechanism.
The hole created is then big enough to be able to reach in and unlock the garage door lock by flicking the inner switch:
How to protect against these methods
Locksmith Rotherham specialise in burglary prevention without having to make your home look like a prison.
Enfield Garage door locks
These security garage locks come in a pair with the locks keyed alike for convenience.
They are deep inserting sliding bolts that should be installed in the lower corners of the garage door either side to withstand levering attempts as mentioned earlier in this article.
Enfield Lock Installation
They offer fantastic value for money but need to be installed correctly by a professional as any errors can damage your garage door and make engaging/ locking the garage door security bolts more of an inconvenience if they do not slide into the keep area correctly and smoothly.
Supply & Fit Locks
To create metal security garage doors Locksmith Rotherham offer some simple price plans.
If you purchase these locks from someone else and get stuck fitting them give us a call for a fit only service. Locksmith Rotherham fit these locks routinely and have come across most of the issues when installing them.
Supplied & fitted cost from SheffLOCK £180 inc Vat (Only available for South Yorkshire residents).
*Please enquire with the team for supply only prices.*
Garage door defender
Garage door defenders are essentially a T-Bar type product that can either be installed centrally (which is often the case) or ideally in the two corners of the lower area of the garage. This product also needs a padlock to be installed and Locksmith Rotherham always advise if this is the case to ensure the Padlock is CEN rated.
Our personal opinion is that the garage door defender is no where near as cost effective as the Enfield garage door locks for domestic garage doors and can be quite inconvenient (especially if you have two installed) having to remove the padlocks and then put them back on etc.
Ideally also, Locksmith Rotherham would suggest that to offer maximum prevention from garage door levering burglary that two garage door defenders are to be installed either side of the door to mimic the Enfield garage door lock set up.
* THE CEN grade of a padlock stands for Central European Norm - it is a testing standard for padlocks. This is not simply a rating individual manufacturers given their own padlocks it is an independent testing body. In order for the padlock to achieve a certain CEN grade it must pass through a number of intensive tests*
Roller shutter doors
Roller shutters doors are still not as common as the up and over tilt type garage door with regards to domestic properties but the same concept applies for criminals when trying to gain entry. Burglars target either corner of the garage door so please ensure any side locking mechanisms (if they are installed) are to a sufficient sold secure standard which means they have been intensely tested against methods of entry via Police and Insurance approved testing conditions.
There are however products available to greatly enhance roller shutter doors security which Locksmith Rotherham will outline below.
How to protect against these methods
Roller shutter doors, as mentioned above are less common in domestic properties however a great security garage door lock for these type of doors for domestic use are anchor type garage locks that are easy to use and less intrusive.
Locksmith Rotherham would suggest these type of locks be installed either side of the roller shutter door to again combat any levering attempts at the side of the garage door.
Commercial roller shutter doors
SheffLOCK currently only supply and fit garage door locks domestically however as Ex-Police officers Locksmith Rotherham have a wealth of experience and advice to offer any business premise owners who have a roller shutter type door and are concerned about security.
Ram Raid
The main concern for the commercial garage door owner is undoubtedly the ram raid type technique. Installing good quality, ideally Police and Insurance approved products that are pictured above, will provide your business with excellent prevention against ram raid type attempts to gain entry.
Locksmith Rotherham
Overall, garage doors can be a complex area of security to approach however it is an absolute mistake in our professional opinion to overlook this area of home security. as the statistics year on year are displaying a marked increase in this area of crime.
Our new staff have a wealth of experience repairing and installing new garage doors. Call now to arrange an appointment.
