Attempted garage break in - what to do to secure bikes now..
- Thread starter ishaw
- Start date
Build a wall behind the piece of tin the builders laughingly refer to as a "door". (Just one skin of breeze blocks, makes the door completely superfluous, and gives you another surface for posters/racking/stuff. Need to have an alternative secure access route first.......... And a proper roof.)
Really, you could go through 99% of what is sold as garage doors these days with a pair of tin snips. Or a size 10.
The doors we have weigh about 80 odd kilos each, have dead bolts on each side, are about 40mm thick (insulation and armour) and can be kicked open by a teenage thug (not my garage, a neighbours) in about 30 seconds.
Needless to say, bikes don't live in the garage, they never have. Never will.
Even the wife agrees.
The in-laws look confused tho........
Really, you could go through 99% of what is sold as garage doors these days with a pair of tin snips. Or a size 10.
The doors we have weigh about 80 odd kilos each, have dead bolts on each side, are about 40mm thick (insulation and armour) and can be kicked open by a teenage thug (not my garage, a neighbours) in about 30 seconds.
Needless to say, bikes don't live in the garage, they never have. Never will.
Even the wife agrees.
The in-laws look confused tho........
The trouble with chains and d-locks is that these days, hydraulic cutters are not difficult to get hold of and they're virtually silent. There's not much will stop one of those.
The idea is to make sure the scrote(s) will draw a lot of attention to themselves when attempting to relieve you of your property. So to that end:
Halogen PIR. Biggest, brightest one you can find.
Solid timber garage door. Openable only from the inside, for preference.
If you have a side door, also solid timber, with deadlocks and hinge posts. If you can afford it, phone CR Smith and ask for the 'drug dealer special'. Okay, don't ask for that, but there's a model they make that is favoured by the vendors of illicit substances as it'll stop not only their competition, but most police 'enforcers' too.
A *loud* siren alarm. It may be fairly trivial to disable, but if it's difficult to get to, that's not going to matter - if it's effective for 30 seconds, that's likely enough.
*Don't* use toughened glass in any windows, if you have them. That may sound counter-intuitive, but toughened glass shatters into nice safe clumps. Plate glass doesn't - it breaks into vicious shards of all different shapes and sizes, making highly likely that your average scrote will puncture themselves repeatedly trying to get past it. If you have windows, some form of reinforcement behind them is a must.
Of course, with the halogen and the siren, care must be taken to make sure they don't go off when they shouldn't - your neighbours will just ignore it, if that's the case.
Also, secure the surrounding area. If your fence is over 2.4 metres high, you're perfectly entitled to glue broken glass to it without the risk of being sued. If you want to go for subtle, carpet gripper nailed to the top and painted the same colour as the fence is a remarkably effective deterrent (If the fence is lower than that, you can still do these things, but you increase the chance of the scrote suing you for personal injury). Secure side access to the gardens, etc. as well.
Some of those may have been recommended to me by a local PC. Some may not. Some might have been, but it's highly unlikely the PC can officially recommend them
The idea is to make sure the scrote(s) will draw a lot of attention to themselves when attempting to relieve you of your property. So to that end:
Halogen PIR. Biggest, brightest one you can find.
Solid timber garage door. Openable only from the inside, for preference.
If you have a side door, also solid timber, with deadlocks and hinge posts. If you can afford it, phone CR Smith and ask for the 'drug dealer special'. Okay, don't ask for that, but there's a model they make that is favoured by the vendors of illicit substances as it'll stop not only their competition, but most police 'enforcers' too.
A *loud* siren alarm. It may be fairly trivial to disable, but if it's difficult to get to, that's not going to matter - if it's effective for 30 seconds, that's likely enough.
*Don't* use toughened glass in any windows, if you have them. That may sound counter-intuitive, but toughened glass shatters into nice safe clumps. Plate glass doesn't - it breaks into vicious shards of all different shapes and sizes, making highly likely that your average scrote will puncture themselves repeatedly trying to get past it. If you have windows, some form of reinforcement behind them is a must.
Of course, with the halogen and the siren, care must be taken to make sure they don't go off when they shouldn't - your neighbours will just ignore it, if that's the case.
Also, secure the surrounding area. If your fence is over 2.4 metres high, you're perfectly entitled to glue broken glass to it without the risk of being sued. If you want to go for subtle, carpet gripper nailed to the top and painted the same colour as the fence is a remarkably effective deterrent (If the fence is lower than that, you can still do these things, but you increase the chance of the scrote suing you for personal injury). Secure side access to the gardens, etc. as well.
Some of those may have been recommended to me by a local PC. Some may not. Some might have been, but it's highly unlikely the PC can officially recommend them
Gaddmeister
Retrobike Rider
Gaddmeister
Retrobike Rider
Re:
Forgot to say we had our house marked with the rest of the street and our marking translated as 'avoid' :-D
Forgot to say we had our house marked with the rest of the street and our marking translated as 'avoid' :-D
Funny you should say akita, as I'm considering a few extra locks and one goes by that name:
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.OnGuard-Brute-L ... _59955.htm
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.OnGuard-Akita-C ... _61174.htm
Worth a lock, I mean look?
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.OnGuard-Brute-L ... _59955.htm
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.OnGuard-Akita-C ... _61174.htm
Worth a lock, I mean look?
Gaddmeister
Retrobike Rider
Re:
Pmsl!!! The real thing is better, more fun and a loving companion to the family! You also have fun all year around as wherever you take him people run! :-D A dog also provides exercise and a good excuse to ride your bike with him :-D
Pmsl!!! The real thing is better, more fun and a loving companion to the family! You also have fun all year around as wherever you take him people run! :-D A dog also provides exercise and a good excuse to ride your bike with him :-D
ljamesb
Old School Hero
Very nice Akita! That's awesome if he likes to run while you bike.
I can also confirm that Shetland Sheepdogs make amazing alarms/watch dogs. They may not be intimidating due to their small, cute and fluffy nature, but the burglar won't know that from the other side of a locked door . They were bred to use their bark when herding so as a result can be very vocal.
Our border collie has a very deep and mean sounding bark. We adopted him, and strangely enough, he didn't bark once in the first 6 months we had him. Then one day I heard this frightening, blood curdling barking and thought it was a neighbours dog which must have gotten in. Turns out it was him. lol.
Deceptively mean looking photo of him below taken while Herding and carrying a stick lol.
We should start a 'show us your dogs' thread. lol
I can also confirm that Shetland Sheepdogs make amazing alarms/watch dogs
. They may not be intimidating due to their small, cute and fluffy nature, but the burglar won't know that from the other side of a locked door . They were bred to use their bark when herding so as a result can be very vocal.
Our border collie has a very deep and mean sounding bark. We adopted him, and strangely enough, he didn't bark once in the first 6 months we had him. Then one day I heard this frightening, blood curdling barking and thought it was a neighbours dog which must have gotten in. Turns out it was him. lol.
Deceptively mean looking photo of him below taken while Herding and carrying a stick lol.
We should start a 'show us your dogs' thread. lol
Gaddmeister
Retrobike Rider
Re:
I agree.....bike dogs :-D
I agree.....bike dogs :-D
