I am going on vacation and need to lock and secure my garage door. A thief got in my neighbors garage while they were on holiday. I have an automatic garage door opener in a 2 car garage. I would like to know how to make a garage door more secure from the inside.
Secure Garage Door From Inside
To lock the garage door from the inside there are some easy and simple methods you can use. These methods are inexpensive and fast. Secure your garage door whenever you go on vacation or leave your home for a long period of time.
Secure & Lock Garage Door From Inside
Simple items to secure garage door:
1. Zip Ties
2. Padlock
3. Garage Door Side Lock
1 – Unplug Garage Door Opener
Older garage door openers can be opened by thieves using a code grabber. A thief can grab the signal from your remote to your garage door opener using a special device. By grabbing this signal, they get access to your garage. It is a smart practice to unplug the garage door opener when leaving for long periods of time to prevent intrusion. (New garage door openers have a rolling code making code grabbing next to impossible)
Unplug Garage Door Opener For Security
2 – Zip-Tie Manual Release Latch
Garage door openers have an emergency release lever. This lever is for when you lose electrical power and you cannot open the garage door. Thieves can use this to get into your garage. By using a clothes hanger and pulling the lever, the door can manually be opened. Put a zip tie on the manual release latch. This prevents the door from being pulled and opened.
Garage Door – Zip Tie Manual Release Latch
3 – Lock Garage Door Vertical Track
If the garage door vertical track is locked, the door cannot be opened. Use a key padlock on the vertical track to prevent the door from being opened manually. There will be holes in the vertical track that can be used with a simple padlock. If no holes are present, you can drill some using a hand drill and a drill bit for metal.
Lock Garage Door – Vertical Track
4 – Garage Door Side Lock
A side lock for garage doors lets you lock the garage door from the inside. This lock attaches to the inside of the garage door. The lock slides the latch into the garage door vertical track and locks the garage door. Your garage door may not have an area for the latch to slide into. Most garage doors have a square knockout that can be removed. The side lock will need to be installed on the garage door using 4 bolts. If no holes are present, you can drill holes using a hand drill and a metal drill bit. A garage door side lock can be purchased for under $10 dollars. It should take 15 minutes or less to install a side lock to secure your garage.
Garage Door Inside Side Lock
Need help securing your garage door? Please leave your issue below and we will be happy to assist.
How do I lock an old style one piece door? The kind with the springs on either side…
Instead of a lock, all my father did was take a small trash copper pipe with a fitting on the end like a spigot.
on the inside he just inserted the pipe thru the hole in the track like the lock is above and let it sit in the hole. the spout prevented it from passing thru. That way he could slide it out and have access and just slide it back in place.
a lock is a nice idea but if they are inside they can just cut it off.
a socket wrench with a socket, a small hammer with the handle thru the opening works. Have room around the door, even a broom handle.