Garage Door Security: 5 Tips to Secure Your Garage and Home

When you think about securing your home, you think about windows and external doors because who cares about the garage?

Home invaders do. It can be an easy access point to the home, second only to the backdoor. Besides, there are plenty of valuables in the garage — tools, sporting goods, and cars, which means opportunistic burglars won’t need to enter the home to cash out. 

Five Effortless Ways to Increase Your Garage Door Security

Garage door security isn’t only limited to “bad neighborhoods” or metros. 

You should care about this type of security because in the first two quarters of 2023, property-related crimes, including burglary, rose on average by 7.1 percent in Nashville and Davidson County. 

Unfortunately, for homeowners, that steady increase, which in some neighborhoods reached 28 percent, means garage door security should be a priority so you don’t fall victim. 

We’ve listed five tried and true methods to secure your home, vehicles, and belongings. 

Frost Your Garage Door Windows

While windows are an excellent way to get natural light into your garage, they also offer burglars an unobstructed view of your belongings. Not every criminal is watching you weeks in advance before pouncing. Instead, most break-ins occur because criminals spot something they like and decide to act. That “something nice” could be expensive tools or an empty garage — a signal no one’s home. 

Don’t allow thieves to see into your home by frosting your glass. This $5 upgrade is the cheapest way to add a level of security to your home that lowers your risk of being burgled. 

Install Motion Detecting Lights and Security Cameras

Lights and cameras will help you capture all the action burglars who think they’re being sneaky by commuting in the dark. Not only are these an excellent deterrent should a burglar pass by your home, but they also guarantee that if they attempt a break-in, you can give the video to law enforcement and warn neighbors. 

Monitor Garage Activity Through an App 

Ensure you can react, even if you’re not home, through an app that alerts you when your garage door is being opened. You’ll have to install a garage door security sensor on the door frame and sync the sensor to your wifi before syncing it to your phone to get alerts. 

Although automatic garage doors lock automatically after closing, burglars are becoming more sophisticated about breaking these mechanisms to let themselves in. 

Never Leave the Garage Door Opener in Your Car

Thieves have a knack for seeing things nobody else would, including garage door openers. Rather, keep them on a key chain with your car keys so you never forget them.

Lock the Door Connecting Your Garage to the Home 

Treat the door connecting your garage to your home like an outside door. Consider a deadbolt and an alarm. With the spike in home invasions, you can never be too careful. 

However, sometimes the simplest tips are the most effective — remember to close your garage door. 

An automatic garage door with a battery backup is the best solution to ensure you won’t forget to lock the garage when leaving.