Tilt Up Garage Door Security?

[dhcomp]

Ok, so if this belongs elsewhere, i appologize.

I learned the hard way this weekend that my 1 piece garage door(single car garage) isnt' very secure.

Luckily, the "villan" was my drunk roommate who lost his phone/keys and broke in. He just grabbed a corner and pulled, and 2 pieces bent and he crawled under. The link to the opener bent, and one of the side arms where he lifted bent. The opener was a screw drive 1/2 hp craftsman, so that didnt' move....just the link to it bent.

Who is in the door industry? Is this pretty standard? What can i do to increase the effort needed to break in? I am not living in davis anymore, but used to use this door daily, so woudl ideally like to strenghten it without hindering its function (want it to open and close like normal by remote, but be more secure when closed).

My plan is to strengthen the link to the garage door opener, and try and find some sort of lock pins i can add to the inside when i am out of town. Either that, or drill into the slab, and just drop a large "Pin" through the center of the bottom 2x directly into the concrete.

Any other comments?

Thanks guys!

 

[SUBFAN]

I put in two brackets that allow you to place a board across them. I put this towards the top so it will not allow any travel of the door.

My door is a heavy wooden style, so no bending here.

Not the best set up in the world, but so far it has deterred the scumbags that swing through and check doors every night....

 

[bp71k5]

You can get some pring loaded locking pins that mount on the inside at Home Depot. It's basically just a length of metal that pins the door edges inside of the tracks. Costs like $8.00

 

[dhcomp]

You can get some pring loaded locking pins that mount on the inside at Home Depot. It's basically just a length of metal that pins the door edges inside of the tracks. Costs like $8.00

Got 2 of those, but used them on a tilt up door. They weren't strong enough to stop much of anything, i bent them in half instantly.

Those are great for roll up doors though......

My door is a tilt up, and didn't find anything of this style at the hardware store.

 

[bp71k5]

Oh, I get it. You can get those pins that go on each side of the door that pin slide into holes in the wood framing around the door. We had a handle in the center attached to some steel cables that pulled the pins out when you rotated it from the inside. It worked ok as long as your door doesn't flex so much that the pins pull out by themselves.

 

[dhcomp]

I have one of those pin setups on the outside right now. I guess the good solution would be to add 2 on the inside. Any other suggestions?

 

[Greg72]

Keep alcohol away from your roommate.

 

[dhcomp]

Keep alcohol away from your roommate.

Lol, like thats gonna happen. And now im not worried about him, im worried about anyone else , as it seems so easy to break into.

Are roll up doors harder to break into?

 

[bp71k5]

Any other suggestions?

You could screw the door shut if you aren't using it for a long period of time, or you could park a big truck up against it.

 

[Big Blzn]

Do yo have access to the garage from inside the house or is your only access to to it via the garage door?

Edit: If he went and screwed up the garage door trying to break in you have no access to the house from inside the garage, right?

 

[dhcomp]

I have been parking my blazer in front of the door when im away, but the battery is dead now, haha.

Yes, there is access to the house from the garage. Thats why he went through the garage, so he could get into the house. Through the garage/house door, that will now be locked all the time.

 

[Metrodps]

I have been parking my blazer in front of the door when im away, but the battery is dead now, haha.

Yes, there is access to the house from the garage. Thats why he went through the garage, so he could get into the house. Through the garage/house door, that will now be locked all the time.

How foolproof will these new measures be? Homeowners and viewers alike will find out when Matt and Jon pay an unannounced visit some weeks later to test them. Will they get in this time?