Garage And Pushbike Security Out The Back

I have had a lot of calls lately for providing extra security for garages. Sure, houses are where the wallets, smart-phones, laptops, and jewellery are… but garages are where the nice push-bike, mower, tools etc are. And there is usually no one living in the garage, so they are less well secured, and at night, are often likely to be empty of people.

People who always lock their bike up when they are out and about… fail to realise most bikes are stolen from homes so that’s where the most care needs to be taken.

Some tips for securing your garage and bikes in the back yard/garage:

1. Check how old your remote-controlled door is. Older versions have a traceable, wireless signal. Crooks can case your neighborhood looking for open garage door signals, then come back and rob you at their convenience. You’ll never know how they got in, as your door will be relocked when you come home.
2. Lock your bikes up at home if they are in the backyard or the garage. As a general rule? I recommend you spend up to 20% of the value of the bike on security for it. Seriously. Bikes are one of the most commonly stolen items. Your average U-Lock or combination lock is really only there to prevent joy riders… they won’t deter a determined thief. Some precautions you can take.
3. Get a boron steel chain. Yes, they are expensive. But they are also too hard to be cut by a pair of hand-wielded bolt cutters, whereas regular chains and wires are not.
4. Get a dog. Burglars hate dogs. Nasty barking animals that wake homeowners.
5. Consider a GPS tracking device. Or two. One for your dog, in case the burglar lets it out and it runs away, and another for your bike. You can now buy small ones with long-life batteries that can be fitted into the frame of your bike so you can track it.
6. Consider… an ugly bike? For example, one that is not the latest and greatest, maybe get one with mismatched colours etc, Ugly bikes are hard to sell and easy to recognise.
7. Install Motion Detector Lights. All the way down the driveway, and into the garage. One of my clients has a motion-detected light sensor set up in his driveway, that activates a timer that turns on the lights in his lounge room and family room 15 seconds later… so it looks like someone has been alerted by the outside lights turning on
8. Bar the windows. Cover them too. Garage windows are usually broken with little risk, as the noise won’t wake someone inside and an accomplished burglar can break a window with surprisingly little noise. Get bars or security windows. And make sure your garage windows are covered at all times. You don’t want crooks casing your garage for reasons to try and break in.
9. Shut the door! Add a timer. Seems like common sense right? Shut the door? You’d be surprised by the number of people who leave the garage door open because they are working on a project in the driveway and need to keep accessing the garage… then something distracts them, a phone call, a call to come and have lunch… and the garage door is left open for hours even overnight… Often with lights on inviting crooks to come on in… Don’t leave things to chance, add a timer that will auto close the door after a certain amount of time to ensure your garage door is not accidentally left open.
10. Don’t leave the garage remote in the car. Because then the thief only needs to break into your car, to have complete access to your garage, and sometimes also your house. If you are concerned about the security of your Gold Coast Garage, contact AllCoast Locksmiths today and we will come over and do a security audit for you and make some recommendations based on what we find.