4 min readYou’ve heard of home security systems, but have you heard of garage security systems? Okay, that’s not a thing. Still, your garage is just as worthy of protection as your house is.
Let’s talk about how you can keep your garage and everything in it safe.
Do you shut your garage door? Or do you sometimes leave it open while you’re napping or running errands? Leaving your garage door open may not seem like a big deal at first, but at second look, it’s a huge security problem.
An open garage door makes it easier for thieves to steal your cars, bikes, and power tools. And, if your garage is attached to your house, it becomes a huge safety risk. It’s practically inviting people to try their luck with the door connecting your home to your garage. Pretty scary if you ask us.
To keep your garage and home safe, close your garage door when you aren’t around to monitor it.
It’s easier to protect a smart garage than a “dumb” one. Responsive technology that you can access remotely makes it easier to control garage access.
A quick way to make your garage more secure? Use a smart garage door opener.
When you use a smart garage door opener, you can control the door from your phone. That means you can open and close the garage remotely. That’s super useful if you forgot to shut it when you left the house or need to let your kid in to grab their bike.
One other benefit of switching to a smart garage door opener is that you don’t need to keep the remote in your vehicle. If a thief steals your car, they can find the address on your auto registration and take the door opener there. That’ll turn a simple car theft into a home burglary. Controlling your door through your phone means you can leave the opener at home.
Data effective 11/30/2022. Offers subject to change.
Even if you don’t want to invest in a smart door opener, you might be able to put your everyday garage door remote on a timer. The timer causes the door to close after a set amount of time.
If you aren’t sure whether your opener has this feature, check with the manufacturer.
If you add sensors, you’ll know anytime someone else opens or closes the garage. You can even receive an alarm through your phone when there’s unauthorized activity.
Some home security systems offer special tilt sensors. These are different from your typical entry or open/close sensors because they account for the way some garage doors tilt while closing.
Provider | Garage door tilt sensor image | Garage door tilt sensor price | Learn more |
| Frontpoint |  | $22.50 | View Plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brinks Home |  | Call for quote | View Plans |
Data effective 11/30/2022. Offers subject to change.
It may seem like a no-brainer, but locks are a surefire way to secure your garage.
If your garage has a service door, put a secure deadbolt on it. Do the same with the door that separates the garage from the mudroom or kitchen.
We recommend a deadbolt over a non-deadbolt lock because a deadbolt can’t move from a locked position unless there’s a key in the cylinder. That makes it far safer than your typical lock mechanism.
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Alternatively, you can put a padlock on the service door if you don’t use it much. You can also padlock things inside the garage, like tools and bikes.
Several years ago, the web was full of videos of people opening closed garage doors in six seconds or less. All it took was 1) a wedge to open a gap between the weather sealing and the door and 2) a coat hanger to reach the emergency release.
To keep this from happening to you, we suggest using a garage door shield, such as the Garage Shield. This shield protects the area near the emergency release mechanism, making it impossible to jimmy open.
The Garage Shield is compatible with all modern overhead garage door openers. But it doesn’t work with older styles of garage doors like roller doors, canopy doors, or side-hinge doors.
Did you forget about the garage windows? They’re easy to overlook. But they need protection, too.
If you have garage windows that slide open, put sensors on them. You can buy window sensors on their own, but we generally recommend a full security suite.
Provider | Window sensor image | Window sensor price | Learn more |
| Frontpoint |  |
$16.50
| View Plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link Interactive |  |
$24.00
| View Plans |
| Abode |  |
$19.99
| View Plans |
Data effective 11/30/2022. Offers subject to change.
If your garage windows don’t slide open, you can still protect them by making them shatter-resistant. The quickest and easiest way to do this is to buy some window film. You can get window film in pre-cut pieces or cut off a custom-sized piece from a big roll.
Best of all, window film is relatively inexpensive, especially when compared to sensors or cameras.
Amazon.com List prices as of 11/30/2022 10:00 MST.
Aim cameras at your garage door and/or garage interior to ward off potential mischief. The mere presence of a camera deters the type of criminals and busybodies who misbehave only when they know they won’t get caught.
Provider | Outdoor camera image | Outdoor camera price | Learn more |
| Vivint |  | $399.99 | View Plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontpoint |  | $100.00 | View Plans |
| Link Interactive |  | Call for quote | View Plans |
Data effective 11/30/2022. Offers subject to change.
If you’d like to learn more about security cameras, take a look at our security camera review.
When you act on one or more of these garage security tips, you decrease the chances of someone breaking into your garage.
If you’re looking to reduce garage security-related anxiety, you should be all set. You can also check out our top home security systems if you’re looking for whole-home protection vs. just garage protection.
We touched on this earlier, but most garages are full of valuables: cars, expensive tools, the Tollhouse cookie ice cream sandwiches in the deep freezer. When you leave your garage unsecured, you make it easy for people to walk in and take or vandalize whatever they want.
Also, if you have an attached garage, then the adjoining door is an easy entrance to your house. That puts your in-home valuables—and your family—at risk too.
Some people use a zip tie to prevent people with coat hangers “fishing” the emergency release. We don’t recommend that.
Zip ties interfere with the emergency release mechanism. They also violate several federal regulations as well as UL Code 325 (which lays out standards for door and gate safety). Plus, using a zip tie could cause your insurance company to deny your claim after a garage intrusion or accident.
Some garage doors open by keypad rather than by a remote. We’d say these keypads can, in some instances, be safer than a physical garage door opener—but they aren’t infallible.
For instance, someone can observe you entering the passcode. Or figure out what your code is by the most worn-down keys. Most importantly, you either have to keep switching the password or get a keypad that allows throwaway guest codes. Otherwise, keeping it a secret could be difficult.
And yes, to keep your garage secure, the code must be secret. You shouldn’t give it to houseguests or your kids’ friends, even if they’re trustworthy. They might let the code slip to someone else who isn’t trustworthy.
The problem with universal garage door remotes is that they’re universal. If you and your neighbor ended up buying the same remote and using the same access code, you could get into each other’s garages.
Still, it isn’t blatantly unsafe to have a universal remote—as long as you change the access code upon purchase and have a newer model. A potential burglar can more easily hack an old opener. Newer devices have more protections in place to prevent unauthorized access.
A detached garage is safer in the sense that it doesn’t offer ready access to your house. But if your garage doesn’t adjoin your home, it could be a more inviting target for car thieves and drifters. After all, you aren’t as likely to hear an intrusion in a separate building.
Overall, we’d say that merely keeping the door shut won’t be as big of a deterrent for a detached garage. Ideally, you’d add some sensors or cameras to make it easier to check on.
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