Garage security?

I know a few people have had their garages broken into recently, so
would like some advice on how to secure mine better.
It was done over last night, rather annoyingly, 2 good quality cycles
and 3 power tools were taken, as well as the keys for the Ducati.
(yes, I had left the keys in it, as there was no way anyone could get it
out of my gate as the entry way is jam packed full of tiles and paint at
the moment for a job next week)

Being as the keys were taken, I'm presuming they will be back at some
time to attempt to get it away.

Usual standard up and over door, they wedged a screwdriver/jemmy into
the top fixing, and got it open with no damage apart from a few paint
scrapes.

So, whats best? - a wireless alarm seems a good idea, as well as extra
padlocks on the door to stop it being jemmied open in seconds.
Any other idea on what will deter a return visit?
Ta,
Alan.

 

[snip]

You'll get a load of stuff about the door etc., but from the point of
keeping the bike I'd suggest you invest in an Almax chain, if you
haven't already done so.

http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/

 

Move somewhere less pikey.

Set up a camera/booby trap for the fuckers when they return!

You can get those posts that drop into the ground and act like a
bollard, secured with a big fat padlock.

 

Oops. Not good.

Baby alarm, if it's on the house mains electricity supply.

Other than that, my main worry would be somebody clocking the Ducati
when it's local, out of the garage, and parked. I'd invest in a (bigger)
lock.

I assume that changing the locks on the bike would be too expensive.

 

Crikey. Way to invalidate your insurance!

 

Definitely an alarm - I wouldn't still have the MV if it wasn't for one
of those. Then you need to securely fix the bottom corners of the door
to the frame/floor.

I put a mortice lock in each edge of the door near the bottom[1],
rivetted to the door. They locked into a sheet of steel (made from an
old PC full tower case) that I wrapped around the frame. That stops any
chance of forcing the door outwards or inwards, whilst still letting
you lock/unlock it from either side (handy with a garage at the bottom
of the garden).

I also bolted some angle iron to the frame on either side, with half
notched out so the back edge of the door lip sat between the frame &
angle iron when closed. That stops the edges of the door pulling in &
popping out the mortice locks if forced in the center.

That setup's withstood several scrote attacks, to the point where the
door's bent to ****, but they've never got it open again.

[1] Cut a slot in edge of metal door[2], push locks in slot, rivet lock
to edge of door, drill hole for key so you can access it from outside
(if required).

[2] Prolly won't work with a plastic door.

 

And have the camera nicked.....

 

Garage doors seem to be a bit of liability. It would seem to make sense,
given that most people park the car outside anywhere, to have a narrower
door that could be secured more effectively...

 

I'd agree with this, and will be investing shortly. The wireless ones
are only around 20 quid on ebay[1] and seem to do ok on customer
feedback.

I'll also be getting an Almax chain and ground anchor.

I've got a double garage with a single plastic door, the locks seem
fairly secure, I can't see anyway to break in other than a large angle
grinder down either side of the door to cut through the locking rods or
some way of forcing the handle/lock, either would hopefully create
enough noise to wake us up. We also have the dubious benefit of being
two doors down from a taxi driver, so there's a pair of them coming and
going at the dead of the night[2], annoys the hell out of their next
door neighbours but we're shielded from the noise.

We're not in a pikey area, nobody has been burgled on our road since the
estate was built nearly 20 years ago, the worst that happened was a
jacket taken out of a car that was left on the road unlocked overnight.
We're in a crap postcode area though, but that's because NG2 is huge.


[1] Detector in garage, alarm in house
[2] Usually between 4 and 5am

 

Instead of using standard mortise locks , use fantails , generally
used in timber sliding doors the locks operate as a mortice lock but
the bolt fantails as it opens , bit of a **** to fit but cant be
easily forced open with krustys mods as well it should be a lot safer

Make sure your doorframe is well fixed too and that the frame is
tight against the brickwork , one of the tricks now is a sabre saw
through the fixing screws , a couple of 12mm bolts about 100mm long
works well leave loose so they spin if they try to cut them , bury
the heads below the surface and use a couple of small washers fitted
over the head to retain them

 

They're a piece of piss to secure *if* you don't need to be able to
lock/unlock them from the outside.

 

I'd put an alarm in the garage too. 120dB in a confined space will
scare the crap out of most scrotes & send them running, but may not if
it's in the house.

 

URL please?

 

And a 30amp supply to you bike?

Another "possibility" is a nice big obvious white switch just inside the
door. Lights obviously. But connected to a 5L bucket of "flash powder".

 

www.ebay.froggieland

HTH

 

To be totally anti-jemmy will take some effort - as Krusty describes.
A less secure but easier (and visible) option might be a Garage
Defender.

http://www.sasproducts.com/acatalog/Garage_Defender.html

 

The trouble with those is they provide a perfect leverage point for
your crowbar to pry the bottom of the door up.

 

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=143876&Referrer=froogle

Bit more than £20 on that site but I saw a few on ebay a couple of weeks
ago end at less.

 

Actually, no, it doesn't.

 

Ta.