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I'm looking at increasing bike storage space (son now has 2 bikes!!) and while I've used a metal shed for the last 10 years or so, £££s dictate that the replacement is likely to be wooden.
What ways can people suggest in terms of making a wooden shed more secure? Linking into house alarm probably is not an option.
Please, no helpful STW suggestions like "fit a padlock" 😀
Heavy concrete anchor point.
I've been in the same position for some time and IMHO the trick is to not let people know what you've got in there. I always reverse my car right up to the back of my house and get the f*** away as soon as it's loaded up (never leave it outside for even a second). I Also went down thge "stealth security" route ie: not making it obvious that there is a small fortune inside by making the shed look like fort knox.
I have filled in all of the screw heads in the shed with superglue to make them difficult to unscrew and just fitted a sturdy but simple padlock to the outside. Inside I have a ground anchor drilled into the concrete base and two sturdy motorbike chains. I also bought a cheap passive infrared shed alarm, which should draw the attention of myself and my immediate neighbours. If it ever does get screwed, even if they don't get the bikes first time, they will have to move indoors because once they know they're there.............
there's a article on BikeMagic I think that covers securing sheds pretty well
Are you any good at diy?
If so, make your own from 18mm wbp ply, its on offer at selco regularly for around 16 a sheet. 2x2 on the corners and door frame etc, 12mm ply for the roof and in felt. Clad the outside in feather edge boards and it'll look great.
Will be far stronger than anything you'll buy and probably a lot cheaper too
OK, thanks guys, anchor point, I've currently got an old D lock embedded lock end first into the concrete floor, around here there are a couple of house alrams which are "persistant" offenders when it comes to false alarms, so I'm not sure that a shed alarm would be that effective, although it wouldn't be expensive.
Regarding "stealth", fortunate that the garden can't be seen from anywhere except neighbours gardens/houses, even the front of the house is "screened" by the presence of a bloody great caravan!!
Will check out the BM website for more info.
Security screws on all door fittings so they can not be undone. Ground anchor to attach bikes to. Infra-red motion alarm with passcode inside the shed that will alert anyone in the vicinity. Padlock on door. All windows covered with reflective film so you can see out, but no-one can see in. I've also painted the shed a dark brown and it is really hard to see it under the Yew tree it is next to, despite being 20'x12'!
"All windows covered with reflective film" - Ive used fine black weed control fabric, pinned inside the windows - makes the shed look empty.
Lining the walls with fine chicken wire mesh has worked for me in the past. Each strand is easily cut, but any scrote getting in has to cut dozens of the buggers and get scratched up getting through the gap. Some ne'erdowell levered a plank off the shed containing my motorbike a few years ago, took one look at the chicken wire, and left. 😀
ETA: Oh! And [url= http://www.screwfix.com/prods/17201/Ironmongery/Door-Furniture/Door-Security/Accessories/Hinge-Bolts?cm_mmc=GoogleBase-_-Datafeed-_-Ironmongery-_-Hinge%20Bolts ]hinge bolts[/url] to protect the laughably feeble hinges that most sheds come with.
Did you ever find the link to the topic on the bike magic forum, i am going to have to look into this myself in the near future as i have just bought my first flat.
Cheers
Rusty
Where are the posts about light bombs etc?
I try to ensure no-one ever sees my bikes. If there are people near my house when I'm driving up I'll turn off and come back in a few minutes. I keep my bikes well anchored in the shed but leave the shed looking unloved and unsecure. It's actually alarmed (this rings my mobile when it goes off) and heavily secured. I'm sure someone some day will take a pop at it, but I'll either be able to catch them at it, or I'll be miles and miles away cursing and unable to get home!
Have a look at the Shed Shackle (just google it) they seem quite good .
You'll never make a wooden shed secure so don't bother - just leave it open or minimally locked on the outside but just add every concevable security device inside the shed - use one of those van save things that can lock/bolt to the floor for tools and bits, a selection of decent ground anchors and chains for the bikes. always make sure there is no chain on the floor (or the lock) and the lock on any chain is as hard to get to as possible.
The problem is if you're starting from scratch with all of this the cost is such that it will probably be cheaper to build somethign solid.
I went through a stage some time ago of having a shed broken into (motorbikes in there not Mountain bikes) on an almost monthly basis. The local fuzz reckoned that because of all the locks hanging off it etc. it made it more of an advert.
Have done the above and not had a problem in years
You'll never make any shed secure. Or house. They all have windows and doors. Bikes are light enough that they can be posted out through almost any break in point.
Best thing to do is make sure that getting in / nicking stuff will be noisy, and that there's a security light on it. And the stuff inside is locked up.
Where are the posts about light bombs etc
Minefield is going to work a treat 🙂
shed is a 25mm thick board one with additional insulation and 10 mm plywood on inside, so the b**ggers are going to need some heavy duty equipment to get in
Rusty Mac - Member
Did you ever find the link to the topic on the bike magic forum, i am going to have to look into this myself in the near future as i have just bought my first flat.
Couldn't find an article as such, but several topics on the forum along similar lines to my question.
Thread ressurection:
Overlap or shiplap construction???
Dig a hole under the shed that will hold fair amount of concrete - say 8 cubic feet ( 2 ft x 2 ft x 2ft ) minimum and set a heavy duty ground hardened steel ground anchor into it. Loop extra steel reinforcing wires around the anchor and set these into the concrete too. Get the biggest, heaviest chain and lock can find and lock the bikes down to the anchor with it.
http://www.safelocks.co.uk/acatalog/soldsecure_ground_anchors.html
i like to leave an easy to steal sacrificial bike about hoping they cannot be arsed with breaking a variety of locks when they could just pick up the first bike and go.
Do you all live in really rough areas or are you paranoid re not getting out your car if there is someone in the street etc.
What ithers said lots and lots of locks.
Remeber a hacksaw will go through your frame in about 30 seconds though! If they want it they will get it good insurance is more important than security IMHO.
Any suggestions on floor anchors?? I was going to an Oxford one from Argos for £20...
Do you all live in really rough areas or are you paranoid re not getting out your car if there is someone in the street etc.
No, I'm just not an idiot! I know from experience that you only have to leave a garage door open or a bike in a car to find out that the local teenagers have chanced upon your shed/garage to see what they could find. If I lived in a bad area I'd not leave stuff in a shed/garage!
I have a PIR activated alarm in my shed too, so they won't even get the door or windows open without letting the entire neighbourhood know.
ok so its not rough but all the teenagers are thiefs.
Doesn't have to be a rough area.When my Orange clockwork disappeared a few years ago, the plods said that tealeaves from Manc often brought a van across the Pennines to have a nosy round west Sheff garages and sheds.Presumably the Sheff low life reciprocate!
Seen some cheap smoke machines around that are triggered by a PIR sensor. They'd fill a shed in seconds. Add an alarm and some strobes and I'd pay to watch. 😀