Theft from garages: how do you protect yourself?

As we saw in the previous blog , the phenomenon of theft from garages has intensified over the years and has become a real problem especially for those who use their garage for storing equipment of all kinds. The items stored in garages (for example, racing bikes) are often even more valuable than many other items kept in the house. In this week’s blog we are therefore going to talk about how to ensure greater protection for the garage door.

If the door is of the up-and-over type, the first step to make it more secure is undoubtedly to replace the standard lock which was fitted originally, which often do not guarantee a good level of protection, as they are easy to circumvent and open from the outside as shown in this video:

There are several solutions to replace a standard lock with a more secure locking system. Three possible solutions are described below:

  • The first way is to fit an armoured lock, such as the Viro 8217, so that the outer side of the lock is protected (with steel plates of a few millimetres thick) against brute force attacks, whilst the cylinder is protected by a special armour to defend against pulling and drilling.
  • The second solution is to purchase armoured locks (e.g. Viro series 1.8234 and 1.8252) which provide multiple locking points. This distributes over several points the force caused by an attempted break-in or lifting and it counteracts the action of crowbars on all sides.You can also achieve a good level of security on the cylinder by armouring the lock, for example with the type 806 security escutcheon.

    The security escutcheon provides protection against pulling and drilling, whilst the cover plates, supplied with the escutcheon, cover the pre-existing holes (left by removing the outer plastic covers) and also contribute to the defence of the lock.

  • Finally, a third solution, which makes the presence of an armoured lock even more effective, is to install additional accessories to enhance the overall security of the up-and-over door and the locking system already installed. Here are the main possibilities:

– Fit a protective plate made of hardened, tempered and galvanized steel, to prevent drilling of the sheet metal of the door. As we saw in the previous blog, the thieves often gain access through a hole in the sheet metal to hook onto or grip the command for opening from the inside and attempt to release the lock.

– Install a reinforcing bar horizontally at the bottom of the garage door, to contrast forcing with long levers which attempt to bend the sides of the door.
– Use a fastening unit, such as the New Condor and the specific accessory for fitting on up-and-over doors to ensure an additional anchoring to the ground, which prevents the forced lifting of the garage door.

And if the garage is closed not by an up-and-over door but by a folding door, which security solutions could be put into practice? We’ll see in the next blog!

Do you have a garage to protect? Find out how to do it on garage.virosecurityclub.com!

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