Home security is something that must be uppermost in all our minds these days. With the onset of long winter nights ahead, making sure that your home is as secure as possible can be an expensive business!
One of the most vulnerable areas can be up-and-over garage doors, especially if you have an integrated garage as this can give almost direct access into your home.
Having already successfully draught proofed our garage door (see Draught Proof Your Garage Door For Under £3) Brian set about finding ways to secure it without spending a fortune!
So, here’s what he came up with…over to you Brian…
…If you have one of those ‘Up-and-Over’ metal garage doors then here is a simple security fix I have devised.
There are many propriety security locks and devices on the market, mostly they deal with the garage lock itself. True, there are others that use heavy duty ground and wall bolts but these are obvious from the outside as they are bolted to the door panel itself with heavy duty coach bolts and are nowhere near as easy to install.
These are of course effective but I wanted to devise a more simple method that anyone with just an electric drill can do themselves in just a few minutes.
As we know, the Achilles heel of this type of garage door is that the usual central lock secures the opening mechanism only leaving the top free running on the roller track so a determined intruder could ignore the lock and gain entry forcing the top part of the door inwards and bending the metal. This, especially as most doors are just thin steel can be a potential flaw in the security of the door.
My idea is very simple, if the rollers are totally prevented from moving then there is no way the door top can be forced in that way, in fact even if the door lock itself was inadvertently left unlocked, then provided my roller device is in place, the garage door would simply not open.
What you need to do is to drill two 10mm vertical holes upwards through the top and bottom of the steel roller track adjacent to the nylon roller wheel itself, ensuring that the two holes are in line. I would advise using a smaller diameter drill initially of about 3mm also the use of a centre punch will help to mark the spot, as the track is usually rounded and this will prevent the drill wandering, then carefully drill the first hole keeping the drill as vertical as possible. This is not that critical but makes lining up the second hole a lot easier. The second hole simply utilises the first hole as a convenient guide. Repeat this for the other track in exactly the same way and remove any drilling swarf from the four holes.
Purchase two 10mm x 75mm long steel bolts and then simply drop one through each track on both sides and the door is now secured….you could spin on a couple of nuts on the bolts too if you wish but gravity will keep the bolts in place quite sufficiently.
The only down side is that this method of security can only be done from the inside of course but as most will have an integral garage attached to the house with a separate exit, then this idea will prove to be a cheap and effective way to secure your garage in addition to the standard garage door lock.
…We hope you find this simple but very effective idea useful!
Here’s What We Used:
…and 10mm x 75mm bolts
Click on the picture to see more info on these bolts OR CLICK HERE
Hi, do you think the door runner looses much of its strength/stability by drilling out material at these points?
Hi Jay, thanks for your question.
The door runner is very durable, being made with a thick enough steel to not cause any problems. We did this to our garage door runners about 5 years ago and this simple solution has not given us any cause for concern regarding the durability of the runners.
Naturally we cannot guarantee this with all of the different garage door systems out there so if you have any concerns about your runners then you should perhaps think twice before going ahead.
We have found this to be a simple and cost effective way to secure an up-and-over garage door. Sturdy locks and bars are available to purchase but can cost over £100 so if this solution does work for you then there are great savings to be had!
Donna
It’s a terrific idea – both effective and cheap – but I’m not sure that “… as most will have an integral garage attached to the house with a separate exit … ” is necessarily true. Sadly, our garage doesn’t have a separate door 🙁
Hi Ieuan, thanks for taking the time to leave a comment – as you say, this is a very simple & cost effective solution for securely locking a garage door but it does only work if you can exit the garage via another door.
Brian came up with this idea when we moved to our new house and the weakest point of entry was the garage as it only has a small lock on the door.
After doing a lot of research into garage door locks, we fond they were bulky and very obvious, almost shouting out to burglars that there is something valuable inside! So, after putting his thinking head on, this solution was developed.
Sorry it’s not an idea that will work for you this time though. 😊
Donna
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise in this area. Your step-by-step instructions, along with the accompanying photographs, make it easy to follow and understand the process of creating a secure locking mechanism for garage doors. Your emphasis on using readily available materials and the cost-effectiveness of the solution is particularly commendable. I appreciate how you prioritize the safety and security of readers’ properties, offering a simple yet effective solution that can provide peace of mind. Your dedication to sharing valuable information and practical solutions is greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much for your lovely comment – it’s so nice to hear that our ideas and instructions are well received and so useful to our readers 😁👍