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Today a guy asked me to secure his rolling garage door, which is the only entrance point to the garage. It's along a row of garages that belong to some condominiums, so maintaining uniformity with the other garages on the row is an issue. He wants it very secure. The budget is $200 - $300. I would want to allow myself perhaps $100 in labor. I imagine that others will want to beef up their security once they see that he has done so -- keeping up with the Joneses and such.

The customer was thinking two padlocks, so I'm imagining how I could roll with that. If I did use two padlocks, I'd want to be able to key them alike without having to drill out the pins from the side. After looking around my garage, here's where I'm thinking. I have a box full of long padlock shackles. I could take two of them and heavily striate them with an angle grinder. On either side of the garage door, I could drill 3/4" holes into the ground corresponding to the two ends of each shackle. The ground is either concrete or asphalt, depending on how far the garage floor extends beyond the door. I could then place the shackles in these holes and fill them with cement, allowing the top of the arc to stick out about 3/4". I'd secure a hasp to the inside of the door, possibly with carriage bolts visible from the outside. Then I'd slap a couple of hockey puck padlocks over the hasp and shackle. They'd be close enough to the door to almost fully cover the hasp and protect it from an attack.

But I see a significant vulnerability in this plan. I think I'd just be better off finding a lock that mounts to the inside of the door and slides a bolt through a hole in the track. Mounting it on the door might be tricky, since the door doesn't have sheeting on the inside. Maybe I should buy the fellow a long-range baby monitor.

How about a Tuflok with a Medeco core?

http://www.esmet.com/tufloc-locks.html

Gordon

That looks like a nice option if 1) I can get it securely mounted onto the concrete and 2) it fits within the price range. The customer had his heart set on two locks, but I believe just one of these would provide the desired amount of overkill.

What kind of roll up door are we talking about? Are we allowed to talk about destructive entry? No lock is going to protect a flimsy door. And mounting a hasp to a flimsy door isn't much better.

I do like the hockey puck idea. It will stop the 95% of burglars with bolt cutters.

It's just a standard garage door, probably on the cheaper side, no windows, no opener. Because of the uniformity issue, there's no chance of changing it.

Google "Garage door Locks".
Several Companies make Kits complete with all the hardware and Standard Rim type Cylinders which can be upgraded with security pins.

Also if this door has an emergence release latch on the inside it needs to be protected.
As this is a favorite bypass that can be found on youtube. "Breaking into a Garage in 6 Seconds".

Thanks

Check this out.
http://youtu.be/CMz1tXBVT1s

http://www.garagedoorstuff.com/product/ ... ion-spring

This is the type I'd buy for my home.
Easy install. The only visible difference to door is the face of the rim cylinder, which can be painted to match.

Stay away from the cheap T-handle types. Most of these have low quality wafers locks.

That's what I would use too. In fact, it's what I have on my own garage door.

You could add some security pins to beef it up, and keep it on the customers house key for convenience.

So you guys are saying that in order to secure a garage door, I should simply buy a lock intended for securing garage doors? Where's the fun in that?

But seriously, thanks for the recommendation jharveee and the endorsement DIY Dave. I'll probably present a couple of options to the customer and this will be first on the list.

Go big!
Moat.
Sharks with laser beams.

We had a client a while ago who needed a high security lock on his garage, one accepted by his insurance company. The solution we found, which complied with the highest requirements of the insurer was this:
http://www.mul-t-lock-online.com/store/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=95
with an appropriate padlock in it. Yes it's made of steel and completely encloses the lock. It also functions as a hasp, you can fix the 2 halves to surface on the back and with the padlock in it, it poses a considerable challenge to any attack.
Now I'm not sure what type of door are you talking about, but it fits most types of garage doors around here.

That's a nice bit of security there ARF. It looks good anyway, it'd be enough to put off all but the most determined of attackers I think.

Those 'T' handles locks are indeed very poor. I've not yet seen a good one anyway.

Yeah they are serious stuff Hux... They are made of steel so it takes you a while even with an angle grinder.
I really don't think you would need 2 of those, even with paranoia turned on. The padlock which goes in it is pretty mean alone.

Your initial idea would probably be the easiest and overall best solution... Just a couple of changes. First don't use cement to fix the Shackles in the Ground, use ChemFix, Construction adhesive. Next, unless the shackles you are using are hardened, i wouldn't bother, just find some long "U Bolts" and rely on the Thread to anchor them with the chemFix.

A higher security option would be to mount Shoot bolts on either side of the door, but on the inside as you suggest. This would involve seriously reinforcing the Garage Door. When you say "Rolling" do you mean true Roller shutter style, with the slats being 1 1/2" to 2" wide or just a segmented door with slats of maybe 12-14" wide? The metal on Roller shutters is fairly thick and would be a lot less work. The segmented doors tend to be made of Tin Foil and you can quite quickly remove a section with an old fashioned tin opener.