Securing your garage

[lugnut]

What sorts of measures do you guys take (sensors, indicators, etc), or plan to take, in securing your garage that has an automatic door opener? Also, have you zeroed in on entry/exit2 delays that minimize false alarms? I'm just wanting to get some ideas.

I'm wondering if garage doors controlled by an automatic opener are probably low on the list of entry points for burglary, so you can set the entry delay to the maximum of 255 seconds and not really compromise anything in the grand scheme of things.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I'm wondering if garage doors controlled by an automatic opener are probably low on the list of entry points for burglary,

Actually it's one of the easiest points of entry in a house. Just punch through the cheap plastic windows and pull the door opener's emergency release handle!

I monitor mine (rather extreme) with contat closures and a position sensor that will tell me the location of the garage door to within a couple inches.

I also do some arming scenario where that zone will not be active until the system is armed, the laundry room door opened, and the garage door closed (will alarm on the next open). This gives the wife all the time she needs so load up the SUV.

I do this via an Ocelot and Caddx NX8e security system. I'm sure you can also do this with an Elk though.

I also do things like after five minutes of the system armed in away mode, check the garage door and if it is open, chirp the siren, flash the garage lights, and close the door. Check again for closure and repeat procedure. If not closed send me a text message.

I also will close the garage door if left open when the system is armed in stay mode.

I don't have any wiring to my garage door button, just hacked a remote and wired that in my Ocelot system (again, you can easily accomplish this with an Elk).

All of this is explained in my various How-To's FYI.

 

[Rupp]

Man we must be blessed to live where we live. I leave my garage door open about a foot or so for the cat and have never considered monitoring it. If someone wanted in they could slide under the door. I did try the auto door shut but that back fired on me when my Son didn't pull all the way in a while back and the door scraped a long gash into the bumper so I scrapped that idea. I do have a camera in the garage that I added to keep track of the cat and this is a good way to check the door status as well.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Rupp, sorry to say this, but it's just a matter of time. Where there are people there is crime...

 

[Rupp]

Rupp, sorry to say this, but it's just a matter of time. Where there are people there is crime...

Are you an alarm salesman
Oh, I'm sure because this area is growing as all other areas in the US. I guess the burglars go for the bigger stuff all around us and leave us older homes alone. My cameras hanging all over the house probably help as well.

 

[gatchel]

Rupp, sorry to say this, but it's just a matter of time. Where there are people there is crime... <_<

Are you an alarm salesman

My friends who leave their houses unlocked ask me the alarm salesman question all of the time. I just hope when they do get robbed that no one gets hurt. It's only time.

 

[lugnut]

Actually it's one of the easiest points of entry in a house. Just punch through the cheap plastic windows and pull the door opener's emergency release handle! <_<

Since I've never had a garage door with windows, I guess I didn't consider that scenario. Also, it's easy enough to put a screw or a cotter pin through the "emergency" release latch so it takes hands-on access to it, or even a padlock for that matter. Only takes an extra minute to release it.

The garage door safety hawks might have heartburn with that, but security versus safety is all about prioritizing the odds that a certain event will happen. I've never in my life used that door release for an actual emergency so I rank the "what if..." security implications higher than the "what if..." safety implications in that case.


I'm considering a camera in the garage, as well as motion sensors. But it's a fairly harsh environment (dusty because of workshop, and often over 110* in the summer). No sure how well the run-of-the-mill cameras and PIR's would function in that environment.

I'm also trying to think of a way to disable the garage opener's receiver (or cut power to it) via some wireless pushbutton device kept in the car. Not only would that be an extra level of security on my old door opener, but I thought that wireless pushbutton could also be the event that completes the arming of the system (i.e. the M1G holds off on completing the arming sequence til it gets that event, overriding a fixed/programmed exit time set at maximum).

When you return, you hit the wireless pushbutton again, which re-activates the garage door receiver, and also signals the M1G that approved disarming is about to take place so it can bypass the garage door zone.

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

(Also, BSR could you provide a link to your How-to DIY's? I haven't learned my way around the cocoontech neighborhood yet so I'm not sure where to look)

 

[Rupp]

Rupp, sorry to say this, but it's just a matter of time. Where there are people there is crime... <_<

Are you an alarm salesman

My friends who leave their houses unlocked ask me the alarm salesman question all of the time. I just hope when they do get robbed that no one gets hurt. It's only time.

I didn't say I leave the house unlocked but now that you mention it I do. We don't even have dead bolts and to be honest I've never met anyone who's house has been broken into. The one person I do know that has an alarm has had to pay 3 fines last year for false alarms. If my house had been wired for an alarm I would have one just to play with but I'm simply way to tight to pay the fees and thus have never pursued getting one.

 

[Rupp]

I'm considering a camera in the garage, as well as motion sensors. But it's a fairly harsh environment (dusty because of workshop, and often over 110* in the summer). No sure how well the run-of-the-mill cameras and PIR's would function in that environment.

I've had an X10 motion sensor and a cheapy X10 camera in my garage for nearly 7 years and they both still work perfectly. I just dust the camera off every 3 or 4 years and it keeps working. Harbor Freight also has some ~$30 cameras that work really well in these type of environments.

(Also, BSR could you provide a link to your How-to DIY's? I haven't learned my way around the cocoontech neighborhood yet so I'm not sure where to look)

Look up at the title of this thread :
CocoonTech.com > General > Marketplace > Elk Products > Securing your garage
Click on the CocoonTech.com and slide down to the DIY's forum. They are all listed there.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

(Also, BSR could you provide a link to your How-to DIY's? I haven't learned my way around the cocoontech neighborhood yet so I'm not sure where to look)

How-To Forum

Ultimate Garage Door Monitor How-To

Garage Door Remote Control for Automation Control How-To

Installing a Home Security System How-To

 

[kccustom]

Rupp, sorry to say this, but it's just a matter of time. Where there are people there is crime... <_<

Are you an alarm salesman

My friends who leave their houses unlocked ask me the alarm salesman question all of the time. I just hope when they do get robbed that no one gets hurt. It's only time.

I didn't say I leave the house unlocked but now that you mention it I do. We don't even have dead bolts and to be honest I've never met anyone who's house has been broken into. The one person I do know that has an alarm has had to pay 3 fines last year for false alarms. If my house had been wired for an alarm I would have one just to play with but I'm simply way to tight to pay the fees and thus have never pursued getting one.

What was your address?

All kidding aside, that used to be my story till our kid called us at work and asked if the guy that just walked into his room was supposed to be there. Lucky for us the guy just left after seeing somebody home. The wife still ain't right.

 

[me2]

Fire! Thats the main reason I have an alarm system. Had a home fire once, don't want to go thru that again.

Garage doors have contacts. Garage has 3 heat detectors. And there is a PIR for when we leave the doors open during the day. The elk tells us if there is motion and reminds us to close the doors a night if open.

 

[mustangcoupe]

My reason was for the cool automation things I could do with the ELK, I know I could have gotten away cheaper with another option but I figured an alarm was not a bad idea.... about 6 months after putting it in my wife called me saying she got home and the alarm was going off... (I got the notification minutes earlier and was enroute from a block or two away. one of the pains of glass in the kitchen door was busted and the door was open a few inches.... I guess thats as far as they got. Nothing was touched or missing.... the next step is video monitoring of the two doors with a picture to my cell phone of who is there.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

one of the pains of glass in the kitchen door was busted and the door was open a few inches.... I guess thats as far as they got. Nothing was touched or missing....

I do like to hear stories like this (not of your break-in of course Todd, but how your alarm system more than likely prevented a burglary event). This shows how benneficial an alarm/security system can be!

 

[gatchel]

one of the pains of glass in the kitchen door was busted and the door was open a few inches.... I guess thats as far as they got. Nothing was touched or missing....

I do like to hear stories like this (not of your break-in of course Todd, but how your alarm system more than likely prevented a burglary event). This shows how benneficial an alarm/security system can be!

I always say that the bad guys will hear two noises, if they don't leave after the first, they won't be leaving after the second.(If I'm home that is)