Six Seconds with a Coat Hanger to Break into Your Garage

[mickeyd]

My garage door is subject to this design flaw. I need to be more vigilant and keep the bad guys out.

https://www.corporatetravelsafety.com/safety-tips/how-thieves-break-into-homes-by-the-garage-door/

 

[RobbieB]

I installed a pair of heavy duty 12 volt solenoids with 3/4" plungers on them into the door rails they are driven by a transformer and a full wave bridge rectifier and the transformer is powered by one of the operator light bulb sockets that turn on when the door is either opened or closed and retract the solenoid plungers.

If you disengaged the door you would only get it up 4 inches before the wheels hit the bolts.

 

[braumeister]

That wouldn't work on my garage door because the top of the door fits too tightly against the jamb. No space for the coat hanger to get in.

Another simple safeguard is to reverse the mechanism so it faces the other direction. The burglar would have to push, rather than pull, and your average coat hanger isn't stiff enough to do that.

 

[SecondCor521]

I leave my front door unlocked and only have about $1000 worth of electronics in my house to steal. As long as the bad guys leave my kids alone I don't care what happens to my limited amount of stuff.

 

[COcheesehead]

I think one plastic zip tie solves the problem. Just zip tie the lever down. If you have to disengage, cut it and apply another zip tie later.

https://www.itstactical.com/intelli...ent-protecting-against-garage-door-break-ins/

 

[wmc1000]

no windows in our garage doors makes this tougher to do.

if you have windows it might make sense to frost them - still get light but no clear vision

+1 on the zip tie!!

 

[REWahoo]

if you have windows it might make sense to frost them - still get light but no clear vision

Allowing them to get so dirty you can't see in works too!

 

[CardsFan]

I had never thought about this, but it sure looks easy. My garage door does not have windows, so it makes it a little tougher, as they say in the verbage, but a pro could probably do it in under a minute.

I like the idea of the zip tie. Simple and effective. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have needed to use that latch in the past 5 years.

 

[Andre1969]

No windows in my garage doors, either. Plus, the way they lock is a simple sliding latch that slots into a groove in one of the tracks. There's also no actual locking mechanism on the doors, themselves...you have to go in the back door, and unlock them from inside.

 

[GrayHare]

The emergency release is there for, well, an emergency. I'd prefer it not hindered by a zip tie. Installing something to block easy access and reach by a wire is probably safer.

 

[Ronstar]

Coat hanger works fine on my garage door. I’ve done it a couple of times.

 

[COcheesehead]

The emergency release is there for, well, an emergency. I'd prefer it not hindered by a zip tie. Installing something to block easy access and reach by a wire is probably safer.

The usual emergency is a power outage and you need to get your car out. Cutting a zip tie for the safety it provides seems like a small task.

 

[RobbieB]

The emergency is a good point.

Probably never happen but if a child gets trapped by a closing door it would be a good thing to be able to release the door quickly before the child dies because it can't breath.

 

[COcheesehead]

The emergency is a good point.

Probably never happen but if a child gets trapped by a closing door it would be a good thing to be able to release the door quickly before the child dies because it can't breath.

My door senses anything in its path and stops.

 

[Sunset]

The emergency is a good point.

Probably never happen but if a child gets trapped by a closing door it would be a good thing to be able to release the door quickly before the child dies because it can't breath.

The door will reverse and power up off the child, you can test yours by putting a pail in the way and let it get hit as the door lowers.

 

[Sunset]

I zip tied my mine with 2 zip ties.

I've seen garages where there is a dent right in the middle very top, possibly from this exact thing. It's easy to push in a garage door, windows or not.

 

[GrayHare]

Most of the emergency release pulls I've seen have a handle of some sort at the bottom of a pull cord. Removing that handle is an easy solution as it prevents the cord from being hooked and pulled by wire while not defeating the safety aspect of the emergency release.

 

[pb4uski]

The usual emergency is a power outage and you need to get your car out. Cutting a zip tie for the safety it provides seems like a small task.

+1 I have a number of them that are probably the right size... sufficiently stout that a coat hanger wire would not break them but a person pulling down on the rope with the handle would easily break it.

 

[Cobra9777]

Nice to know, but not a problem for me. No car has ever parked in my garage since we've lived here. It's a woodworking shop with large machines and expensive tools everywhere. The garage door is locked and bolted shut from the inside to keep thieves away from my stuff. The automatic opener has been unplugged for over 10 years. When I need to move equipment or material in/out, I unlock it, unbolt it, and manually open the door.

 

[travelover]

When I worked at MegaMotors, we had a British guy come in and show us how he'd break into a new model prototype. This guy was ridiculously good, showing a half dozen different possibilities for each car. We fixed the super easy ones, the more expensive / difficult fixes were on the insurance companies.

 

[Sunset]

Most of the emergency release pulls I've seen have a handle of some sort at the bottom of a pull cord. Removing that handle is an easy solution as it prevents the cord from being hooked and pulled by wire while not defeating the safety aspect of the emergency release.

I forgot to mention, besides zip tying mine, I removed the rope handle.

Yep, about 2 years later we had a power EMERGENCY, so I had to bring a stool into the garage, to reach up and cut the zip ties and then flip down the plastic part.

It really was easy.

 

[braumeister]

Wouldn't the simplest solution be to nail, screw, or glue a piece of wood to the inside top center of the door to prevent the coat hanger from getting to the release?

Seems like a scrap of wood six inches by a foot should do it.

 

[frayne]

Thanks for the link and the video.

 

[easysurfer]

Wouldn't the simplest solution be to nail, screw, or glue a piece of wood to the inside top center of the door to prevent the coat hanger from getting to the release?

Seems like a scrap of wood six inches by a foot should do it.

Had the very same thought.

 

[pb4uski]

As did this guy:

https://youtu.be/BXuifg1x_-Y