Home security: garage-door openers

[seamusTX]

I heard this story on NRANews today: Criminals entered an occupied residence by using the garage-door opener in an unlocked car.

This is a two-point failure. Cars should be locked, and doors between attached garages and houses should be locked. It's too easy to get into a garage.

I always take my garage-door opener out of my car if the car is going to be outside my control (towed, in the shop, etc.).

- Jim

[HighVelocity]

I disable my garage door opener when not using it for this reason. We don't leave a garage door opener outside in a vehicle anyway but just in case...

I also have the garage door wired into the alarm system. Not just doors and windows.

[nitrogen]

I always thought garages were to put your cars INTO!?

If you are one of these people that puts everything BUT a car into a garage, they make these little keyring doodads to open your garage door. they are small enough to fit on your keychain, so you don't leave a door opener in your car.

If you don't like those, get one of the wireless keypads that make you enter a code to open the door.

Or, you can do what a coworker of mine does, he has his door opener mounted in his console. He opens the console and hits the button in there.

[propellerhead]

Most of the popular brands have the key fob style opener. I'd get rid of the big ones that clip onto the visor and get a key fob one. That clip on type is like leaving a house key visible in your car.

Dateline or 20/20 did a special once where they had some guy pretend to be a valet parking guy. Once he was given the keys, he checked the glove box for a home address, drove the car there and used the garage door opener to gain access to the house. They took a video of the guy walking through the house then went back to the restaurant. They owner of the car/house was shocked at how easy that was.

[Paladin]

Yep.

#1 NEVER use a valet

#2 park your car in the garage

My parents place got broken into when my dad parked in the driveway... thief broke the car window, got the garage door opener, and opened the garage.

[kw5kw]

Yep.

#1 NEVER use a valet

#2 park your car in the garage

Agree, I never trust my car to anyone except the repair facility where I work.

Both of my vehicles are parked in the garage unless I'm (or my wife) working on them in the driveway.

#3 Garage doors are always closed, unless I'm (or my wife) working in the driveway or front yard.


Russ

[TxFire]

I also reccomend cutting the knob from the emergency release cord. It is possilbe an many doors to to insert a flat metal hook between door panels and grab the pull cord knob and release the drive mechanism allow you to open the door.

Unfortunaley I do not have the luxury of fitting my Crew Cab into my garage. Can I borrow your garage Nitrogen??

[seamusTX]

I also reccomend cutting the knob from the emergency release cord. It is possilbe an many doors to to insert a flat metal hook between door panels and grab the pull cord knob and release the drive mechanism allow you to open the door.

Wow. I never thought of that.

Our garage was broken into one time, and I never figured out how. The screen was pried off the window (inside the fenced yard) and the main door was open. The window has a burglar bar across it and will not admit an adult. The only thing I could think of is that the thief dropped a kid in (or was a kid--nothing was taken that I missed).

The side door was locked when I came out in the morning. The emergency release was not used.

- Jim

[nitrogen]

I also reccomend cutting the knob from the emergency release cord. It is possilbe an many doors to to insert a flat metal hook between door panels and grab the pull cord knob and release the drive mechanism allow you to open the door.

Unfortunaley I do not have the luxury of fitting my Crew Cab into my garage. Can I borrow your garage Nitrogen??

Unfortunately, I have 2 tiny cars shoehorned into mine. I need a 3rd garage to keep the "garage items" in the garage!

Cars have gotten bigger, and I swear that garages have gotten smaller. My dad has space in his garage for 2 huge cars and all his tools.

[ghentry]

I also reccomend cutting the knob from the emergency release cord. It is possilbe an many doors to to insert a flat metal hook between door panels and grab the pull cord knob and release the drive mechanism allow you to open the door.

This is a good suggestion. I used to work in in-home security system sales and heard that this was an easy way in if there was enough play in the garage door. I've also seen some other inventive ways in, but 99% of them were by kicking in the front door or smashing out a sliding glass door.

[spud]

+1 to cutting the red rope.

Also, if you have a garage at a apartment, Next time your out at your garage, look at the silver round thing ojn the door to the top. That is the Key over-ride.

I would suggest disconnecting that ASAP. All it takes is a screwdriver to bypass that. (Our old car got stolen that way)

If in a house, wire up a lightswitch to the garage door power. So when your in for the night or out for vacatiion, kill power to the opener.

[GrillKing]

I always thought garages were to put your cars INTO!?

The American way, protect $500 worth of junk in your garage, while your $25,000 car sits on the driveway.

Unfortunately, I'm guilty of this.....

[jimmy]

"The American way, protect $500 worth of junk in your garage, while your $25,000 car sits on the driveway."

Too true! Of the seven houses on my cul-de-sac, only two of us use our garages for cars! The other cars continue to sit outside, even though we've had several instances of vandalism and burglary of a vehicle in the immediate area.

Also, the doors from the garages to the interior of the homes around here open outward with exposed hinge pins. One of the folks locked herself out of her house by closing her inside garage door behind her after forgetting her keys, and our neighbor got her back in by removing the hinge pins with a screwdriver. After hearing this, I installed security pins between my door and door frame, figuring this was a good precaution.

[dude]

My attic provides an over-ground tunnel into my house from the garage. I've used it several times after locking my house keys inside the house .

Up into the attic from the garage, and down into the hallway from the attic. I really should put a lock on at least one of those access panels.

[Crossfire]

I always thought garages were to put your cars INTO!?

The American way, protect $500 worth of junk in your garage, while your $25,000 car sits on the driveway.

Unfortunately, I'm guilty of this.....

Guilty as charged.