Close Call...OT

[PatS....]

Had a day off on Wednesday, so I went to the garage to get some projects done.

I have been renting for about 5 yrs now. When I first got the garage I was 2 blocks away. Now I am 10 km away!

I worked until about 3:30 Wednesday and then headed home so I would miss the horrendous traffic we have here.

A buddy then called to ask if I could "help him" change front brake pads on his mini-van. I told him it would have to be after 9pm. That was OK.

At about ten to 9, he calls my cell to ask where I am...I say about 5 blocks away, why?

"Well, I was just wondering how you got the garage door open when you're not here. But I am parked in your garage"

My heart sunk.

It has a remote control door opener.

Did I go away and leave it open?

Did a dog scratchin his ba!!s make the right static to open it?

I always wait until it closes before I go in case it just hits bottom and opens again, but I can't recall this specific day!!

So, it's very likely the 16X9 foot door was open and me on the other side of town for 6 hours!

If my buddy had not called to do the brakes, it would have sat open all night and well into Thursday. A very frightening thought.

So, the opener is now disconnected, door is bolted and barred and I will use the man-door. I had it barricaded from the inside because it's a bit secluded and the big door is well lit. Time to rethink the security there.

How do you guys handle keeping out the bad guys? (besides making sure the door is closed in the first place? )

[anthonyb]

175#, self-propelled alarm system. (Newfoundland)

[55 Fargo]

Out where I live, not that I am exempt, but the door stays unlocked all night in the garage, it is locked when we are not home, but I am in the country.

Now if I lived in Winnipeg that would be a different story, would leave a pit bull in there for security, without windows or barred windows and barred doors........Fred

[PatS....]

The breathing kind of security would be difficult because sometimes I don't go there for a few days. He may get a bit cranky and skinny

Never had any signs of attempted unauthorized access, but I leave one flourescent light on near the rear door so light shines through the cracks and the radio is on 24/7. Makes 'em think someone may be in there working.

All that is moot if I leave the door wide open!!! DOH!!

Right after I got over that AIDS thing, this Alzheimers starts up!!

[Plymouthy Adams]

Do what everyone else does I guess...take the time to secure the place, lock the doors...have a few guns strategically placed about the house and garage..plus the quaranteen sign that warns of:

Brown Recluse Infestation...

[greg g]

What ever you do you will keep the honest folks out. The ones who respect private property, and your right to keep your stuff. If the dishonest folks want yer stuff bad enough, they are gonna get it in spite of locks, lights, chains, dogs, alarms or other stuff. So a good hasp and a laminated master lock is probably as good as it gets for the honest folks. I have a friend who has a remote garage, and has a bunch of motion sensors wired up that turn on the lights and trigger a barking dog sound bite. So far so good but it probably just a matter of time before somebody wants his stuff more than he does.

[Guest tagree01]

I have the same problem at my place. One of my garage doors is on the same frequency as something else. Every couple of days I would come home and the door was open. Thought I was losing my mind. Took me 2 weeks to figure out it wasn't me--something else was triggering the door. Now I keep the opener unplugged unless I am taking the bucket out for a drive. It is a pain, but better than losing all my stuff.

[builtfercomfort]

If you can disable the garage door receiver while keeping the opener working, you can buy an aftermarket receiver that hooks up to the wires for the inside-the-garage switch. They are only about $35 - Liftmaster makes one.

[PatS....]

If you can disable the garage door receiver while keeping the opener working, you can buy an aftermarket receiver that hooks up to the wires for the inside-the-garage switch. They are only about $35 - Liftmaster makes one.

So, a remote to turn the power off and on to the garage door opener? That sounds like the answer. Then I can barricade the little door again.

Thanks:)

[builtfercomfort]

Hi - the piece I'm talking about is a replacement receiver for the garage door opener. Since your receiver is 'compromised' by having another unknown transmitter nearby, you disable that receiver and get a new receiver, externally mounted (probably on the opener itself).

The new receivers have a 'code' type transmitter, you need a digital code on the proper frequency (not just the proper frequency).

Lots of options here:

http://www.aclickawayremotes.com/category/Receivers/index-all.html

[PatS....]

Well, I talked to my brother in law the electrical contractor and he is going to install a key operated switch accessible from outside to turn the power to the opener on and off.

Seems to be the best solution for the least money.

One more step to open/close the door, but I won't be able to drive off and leave the door open if that's what I did

I have also replaced the ancient opener with a digital one

[knighthawk]

A bucket of empty 12 gauge shells by the door seems to help also !

[62rebelP23]

a chalk outline and some red paint on the concrete... courtesy of an old James Garner movie...

[PatS....]

a chalk outline and some red paint on the concrete... courtesy of an old James Garner movie...

Half outside the door:eek:

[TodFitch]

<snip>I have also replaced the ancient opener with a digital one

That will go a long way toward solving the problem. The old openers were notorious for being easy to trigger by things other than the official opener. The digital ones use longer keys with more interference resistant encoding and they rotate the keys each time they are used so it is very unlikely that they will be opened by something other than the correctly paired remote.

Putting an outside key switch on the power to the opener will seal it too. If we are going to be out of town for any length of time I will pull the power cord to my garage door opener and throw the inside latch on the door "just to be sure".

[62rebelP23]

it's a sore thing that we can't trust people not to mess around. it's too easy to break into any building and get away before anyone realizes it. security dogs can be neutralized by willing thieves, and in some areas using a firearm to protect property is illegal. it comes down to a matter of preparation and planning, and having an eye for what might be an easy entry into a building. if entry takes too long, thieves will get anxious and leave. of course, they leave a lot faster with buckshot peppering their hide....

[toddbracik]

My garage is detached and on an alley so the last time, while I was working in the front of my house, the thieves went into my open man door with a screw gun and removed the 30 or so drywall screws from the 2X4's that I had attached to the old hinge doors ON THE INSIDE! Since then I have bolted four 2X12's on the top and bottom of both doors on the outside. On the inside I screwed in a bunch of 2x4's and drilled out all the screw-heads. Now I cant open the big doors without a sawsall at but thats alright. I Plan on building a more secure garage here in the future.

Each time the thieves only took my lawn mowing equipment and the extra small engine projects I had laying around which actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise because they removed all my clutter that kept me from the dodge. I took a sharpie and wrote "stolen from Todd Bracik" all over my latest mower, clear coated it and welded a new gas tank on it so it would be easy to recognize. They have never touched the dodge or the parts to it strangely.

Hmm, I wonder if there is a group of thieves out there who would steal a dog kennel?