If you’ve been considering adding additional security to your garage door, this post may be just what you’re looking for! Our Park Pro Locksmith technicians are often asked by locals what they can do to increase the overall protection of their house and garage. Using garage door locks is one smart way to do just that! Whether you live here in College Park, Georgia or anywhere else in the world, as long as you have a garage door, you can implement these measures. Our garage locking methods work for you whether your garage is attached, detached, or not even on your residential property (off site), so be sure and look these ideas over and call our shop or that of your favorite locksmiths for more ideas and implementation.

Why break into any garage?

Modern day garages are much like the attics and basements of old; they store items that we no longer use, are storing for safekeeping, or that simply don’t belong in the house, proper. These items are in addition to our usual automotive and recreational vehicles and devices like cars, motorcycles, skateboards, power lawn mowers, trucks, vans, SUVs, bicycles and the like.

Add to this assorted garden tools, rakes, shovels, hoes, work benches, power drills, saws, sacks of fertilizer, bags of cement, lumber, cinderblocks, rolls of tape and other home improvement, gardening and outdoor activity items like folding umbrellas, tents, lawn furniture and awnings.
Furniture, storage, and appliance related items can include water softeners, water heater, garden hoses, tables, chairs, book shelves, old cabinets and storage bins of books, papers, old records, clothing, donation items, toys, etc.  In a nutshell, your garage can be a veritable treasure trove of valuable items not only for you but for thieves, too.

Worth locking

Your garage is worth locking for the obvious reasons that your belongings are just that; yours! These things are not for others to steal or to sell; they belong to you. A poorly or non-guarded garage is vulnerable to thieves but there is another little thought of angle to this; your garage often leads directly into your home! We’ve all heard of the crooks that break into garages using coat hangers to trip the emergency latch on the garage door opener. They do this for a reason; to access your garage for its contents and also to gain direct access to the inside of your house. 

Don’t I have a garage lock already?

You might; let’s see. Do you have an automatic garage door opener installed on your garage door? If so, you do have a lock of sorts. It is activated when you close your garage door. You can test this yourself by trying to manually lift your garage door from either the inside or outside. You can’t; that’s because the lock is triggered whenever your garage door is closed. What can open it? Either you tap the remote opener or use the wall button to unlock the garage door and open it or close it. A last resort is to pull the cord with the red handle that trips the emergency release on Genie, LiftMaster and other garage door opener models. This is what burglars attempt to do when they stick coat hangers through your garage door panels in an attempt to “unlock” your garage door.

Slide locks

A garage door slide lock can prevent any kind of illegal entry. These locks are inexpensive, easy to install and work like a charm. The main drawback is that they must be manually locked each time used. They work this way; your garage door opens and closes by having the rollers move up and down in the tracks. If your slide lock is applied, the rollers are blocked from moving and your garage door won’t budge. Rollers can be stopped by installing the slide lock and bolting it into place. Consult your local residential locksmith for various slide lock models and the best ways in which to secure them. You can even make your own by simply drilling a hole into your track system and locking it in place by adding a padlock. Use a master lock like the one you used back in high school for your locker. Keep the key handy or use a combination lock and don’t forget the number sequence or you may have to cut the lock off in order to use your garage door again. Another point; don’t forget to remove the lock when it’s time to activate your garage door! You can burn your opener motor out and cause damage to your door if you don’t!

T handle locks

A common garage door lock that you are sure to recognize is the widely used T-Handle lock. These are easily noticeable by their uniquely shaped handles that turn and unlock the garage door. These locks are affordable and cost between $10 and $30 with uninstalled. These widely used locks use a T-handle on the outside of the garage door and they do need a key to unlock them. When you turn the handle, it pushes or pulls a bar thru the tracks of the door, locking it or unlocking it in order to open door.

Start locking your interior door!

There’s no sure-fire way to prevent illegal garage door entry. You must be vigilant in many things. Keep an eye out for unusual or alarming persons, cars or activity outside or near your house. Use a light over your garage door at night and don’t work alone with the garage door open; you are easy to spot and it’s hard to see outside due to the interior light. Keep your garage interior door locked both when home and especially when you are not there. If a crook should gain access to the inside of your garage, all he has to do is close the garage door back up again and he or she is able to “work” in privacy behind the security of your garage door. Locking the interior door gives you a second line of defense against the intruder and in this day and age, every second and every method of protection counts!