After the second visit of theives to clear out my garage of bikes, I want to lock down my garage once and for all.

Can anyone recommend what to buy for the following:

1. Garage Alarm
2. Ground anchors to lock bikes against
3. Dummy CCTV camera

Also…

4. How to stop an electric motor driven roller shutter door from being forced open.

Thanks.

I want to lock down my garage once and for all.

Unless youhave a concrete bunker or 24/7 security thieves's will get in if there determinded enough – I know of ppl who've had holes knocked in concrete walls, so that they can get to kit…. Good insurance along with decent security is all you can do.

2: Torc get good reviews, I use a krypotnite, both are well rated but can be overcome with the right tools.

I bought a steel Hormann door from a local garage door supplier for £500. They claimed that they supply it to the city council for some of the more "boisterous" estates. Apparently it survives having a van tied to the door and driven off.

But I guess if someone is willing to cut a hole in the wall then that won't help.

Nothing will stop someone who really wants to break in. What you need to do is make them not want to break in in the first place. Something with big teeth and a bad attitude* should do the trick…

*No, not Janet Street Porter 🙄

Ground anchor(s) along with top quality chains. Lock at any tools away so you don't provide the scum with any help. I've put dead bolts on the bottom of my garage door (on the inside), not sure whether that would work in your case. I'd spend money on physical security before deterrent stuff like alarms. I wouldn't bother with the dummy camera, alarm might be worth it though, I've got a little battery operated one which is fairly loud.

After our third break in (over two garages) I can barely get into my garage myself, although as said above, if they want in, they'll get in….

Up and over door – two massive expanding bolts in the bottom corners with some chain links and some unscrewable links attatched to holes drilled in the lip of the door. If they try to force it open, they'll have to actually rip the sheet metal. There's also a shed alarm hidden in behind a flange on the door.

The garden-side door also has a shed alarm, a bolt through, padlocked affair (with rounded-end bolts) and a Yale lock.

The shed alarms I got free from my local nick – just walk in and ask, though some will charge you it won't be much.

I've also planted some wild thorn bushes down both sides of the garage to stop thieves gaining access to the garden.

Bikes are locked to two giant floor anchors (more huge expanding bolts) using big 5uck-off chains.

Not foolproof, but the white wolf lurcher bouncing up and down the garden tops all the rest off…

Baby monitors. Plug into socket out of site and ring the cops whilst they're in act.

Some good advice there, thanks.

Silly question, but with the ground anchors (Torc looks good, cheers), where's it best to site them?

Do you put them at the foot of a wall so you can still keep your bike upright?

torc website;

http://www.torc-anchors.com/index.php

the 19mm chains cannot be cut with any hand held croppers (not even the 42" ones that seem to be the tool of the robbers choice) as i found out when i lost my padlock keys!

took a locksmith 20 minutes per chain with a disc cutter

Install the ground anchors under the bikes…its a pain to reach the chain to unlock the bikes, but will stop anyone getting an angle grinder in there. If the wall is strong that would also be a good place (again behind the bikes), much harder to crop a chain if you can't brace the bolt croppers on the floor.

Is there anyway to make the garage more overlooked from neighbours/yourself?

Definitely going for the Torc, I found a good package deal on their site.
The wall is brick and the floor is concrete, so it looks like I need to use the floor.

The garage is fairly well overlooked, my neighbour saw the theft but is elderly so couldn't really do anything. If she had most likely the thieves would have a go at her.

My next problem is the roller-shutter door. Any ideas how to secure this please? I thought it was tight, but they got a bar under it and forced it up!

I've had wall anchors (Oxford type) prised away from the wall with a huge wrench and then hacksawed through the bolts. Now I've sunk them into 9" of concrete instead.

Make sure you get a chain long enough to secure the forks as well as your frame.

Get yourself a 130dB siren with its own power source, tough to stay in an enclosed area for long with that going off.

Good luck and stay insured

These are advertised as a decent roller door. I'm not sure what your existing is?

Keep safe.

Securing the stuff inside is definately easier than securing the building… My neighbours poured money into locks, stronger doors etc, then got broken into anyway- the thieves levered the entire doorframe out of the garage structure 😐 But a good ground anchor and chain offers brilliant protection.

At the end of the day, it's depressingly easy to break the bike itself and steal it for parts, the frame is numbered after all but the value of the forks, wheels etc is huge and they're easy to punt on. So, even ground anchors can't be perfect.

Oh, and watch what chains you go for, if you go that route, lots of reassuringly expensive chains are pretty mince. Some £100+ chains are quicker and more convenient to open with boltcutters than with the key.

Will go for the torc anchor, chain & lock package off the site for sure. A guy round the corner got targeted at the same time and the police said his ground anchor saved large chunks of his bike.

My roller door looks like the one in that site thumbie, the problem is that they can force it up somehow. I think I might need some sort of anchor outside to prevent it being pulled up.

A big lock on the outside may put them off, at least they'll know I've tightened up on security since the last time!

Tommo email me, details in profile for garage/shed security.

Dont bother with dummy cameras as real ones are so cheap, and actually work.

Try http://www.cpc.co.uk ,for cameras and lots more, next day delivery as well.

Big lock on the outside is also a big advertisment that you've got something of value in there too. It's a vicious circle…

thumbie – Member
These are advertised as a decent roller door. I'm not sure what your existing is?

fitted quite a few of these doors a few years back from this company and thought they were a bit light weight for how much they cost, the finish on them was good for about a month until they'd scratched themselves whilst rolling and un-rolling. the only good thing i really have to say about these rollers are they're nice to fit.

z1ppy wrote, "Big lock on the outside is also a big advertisment that you've got something of value in there too. It's a vicious circle…"

Yup. I used to keep my motorbike in a ratty garden shed that looks like it's fit for storing nothing but insects and rust, with a £5 padlock on the door … Even when the garage got cleaned out, nobody ever so much as touched the shed. Stealth technology!

Having had the same problem –
Garage door defender, bolts to the floor ouside your garage up and over. It prevents it from being forced open (£70), I had an alarm fitted, its radio control so no power required to the garage, it sets of the house alarm (£150), ground anchor and motorbike chain, 10mm bolt cutter resistant mean that a cutting disc would have to be used, all this would make a theft attempt pretty lengthy to be successful.

Screw any access doors shut and brace from the inside.

"10mm bolt cutter resistant mean that a cutting disc would have to be used"

There's not a 10mm chain in the world which offers decent resistance to any decent bolt cropper… English Chain Co used to make one but it was so overhardened, it was embrittled so you could smash the links with a couple of blows from a hammer.

🙄

You could always stop putting valuable things in the garage, and put them in your house instead. Bikes take up very little room really, and if it's your pride and joy, why go through this?

Garages are easy targets, whatever the security, and as noted, the better the security, the more obvious it is that there is something worth nicking.

If you've been done once, they know what you've got, and will come back til they've got it…

Has anybody had a muddy bike stolen? Working on the theory that thieves are fundamentally lazy, it might be enough!

PS I know of somebody who had a very nice bike solidly chained up in their garage but only through the frame. Burgulars broke in and cut through £1000's of frame, took the remains and (presumeably) stripped off the expensive components later.

If biking is a big part of your life and the break ins are stressful it might be easier just to move to a better area in the long run or turn into a radge packet catch the bastards at it and provide your veg patch with some fertilizer.
I have known friends that have put up with this sh!t for years then they move and what do you know there standard of life goes through the roof and they wonder why they didn't do it years ago.

You could always stop putting valuable things in the garage, and put them in your house instead. Bikes take up very little room really, and if it's your pride and joy, why go through this?

and invite the thieves to come into your house instead, if they want it they will come and get it, rather have them in my garage than my house.
Friend had a M5 stolen from his garage, they came into the house and took the keys, he was upstairs with his wife and daughter asleep (didn't hear a thing).. Insurance company asked had he hidden the keys, he lied and said yes. What do the insurance compnay really expect.. if the thieves are willing to break into the house for the keys, if there hidden, they're going to come and ask 'you' where, probably with blunt force persuasion, would you really want that?
(slight side track there, but you get the idea)

The best advice I had about bike security was this; would you put a suitcase full of cash to the cost of your bike where you normally put your bike?

It's your call.

The ease with which bikes can and are being nicked creates a market for nicked bike stuff. Just as I wont ever buy nicked stuff, so I make a real concerted attempt to change things at the other end of the market.

It's a weekly occurence on here; I've had my £800-£1000-£2000 bike nicked from my shed/garage/outhouse, and although I have sympathy for the victims, it's only going to carry on for as long as people put expensive, easily nicked, easily fenced, impossible to trace items in non-secure locations.

On top of all the above advice, a gravel driveway can deter scumbags as it's very hard to walk across without making noise.

Re the alarm put it somewhere it's not easily found, they don't make much sound after they've been smashed with a hammer….

Thanks all. This is a great forum and it's good to know so many others have faced the same problems.

It seems to be a fairly professional gang, I don't think any area of the city I live in would be any better. They seem to visit an area, target the houses they know on the same day then leave it for a few weeks before repeating. I have good reason to believe that they will break into houses to get what they want. And as someone else has said, I'd prefer to keep the garage as their point of focus!

The ground anchor and alarm will delay them once they are in (which I think will be enough to protect the bikes assuming my insurance pays out and I can replace my lost ones!).

However, I'd like to make them pause for thought before attempting to break in. Which is why I was thinking of a garage door lock and perhaps a cctv camera.

The door is one of these:

The nearest I can find so far is one of these, but I'm totally DIY-useless so I'm not sure if it would fit?

Link to site where I found lock

An obvious word about keeping bikes in doors, make sure they cant be seen through windows. I had my back door caved in with an axe last time I got a visit from our local bike thieving scum. Not sure if I was glad to have been out at the time or not.

While I think the ground anchors are great what I'd recommend is a stronger door. Once they're inside they have a little privacy and time to remove any locks but with doors they are more likely to be caught. An alarm is a good idea and a strong roller metal door.

The main thing I try and do is be descrete. Don't work in your garage with the door open so everybody can see the bikes. Don't parade your bike around washing it in front of the house and generally hanging around. If you want to test the shock pressures ride a to a different street rather than jumping off the curb in front of your house. Keep bikes covered in the garage if you own more than one.

Get insurance.

I know a friend who has a metal security shed inside his garage to keep his bikes after several breakins.