Garage Security

[Mordi]

I have read with interest the recent posts about setting up video to keep an eye on your shop. Lots of good ideas and will probably do some video in the near future.

However, it got me thinking . Is there anything that can signal me when someone attempts or actually opens the garage door? Perhaps a indicator light or audible signal that triggers in the house to tell me the garage door has been opened? Also, for the times I am not home, it would be great to be notified via page or cel phone that my garage has been compromised.

Maybe I just have been watching too many movies.....

Mordi

 

[mhoffm911]

Your home security system may be able to have a separate sensor wired to it for such service. Ours sets off an audible alarm and they call my cell phone immediately when it goes off.

 

[oldgoat]

If you want to be notified you just about have to go with a security company to monitor it. If not there are alarm systems that you can put in that will sound off or will sound inside the house. I bought one of the HF driveway systems that has a remote beeper that you can put in the house and if someone breaks the beam the beeper will go off a few times. They also have a alarm with a motion detector that will work also.

 

[shopforeman]

I have seen X10 motion lights that will sound a remote alert when triggered. I myself have a computer based digital video surveillance system that can be setup to detect motion and send alerts. It can send to pagers and can email still shots of what the camera saw to any email address specified. It also has a remote application that allows you to log in from a remote computer to view any camera connected to the system. If one wants to spend the money it can even manipulate Pan, Zoom, Tilt functions remotely over the net. Stand alone units are available that contain a hardware and firmware combination that can do a similar job. It would be very easy to hardwire an alert system on the garage door...wireless would be a bit more challenging but certainly doable. I am opposed to paying monthly for alarm monitoring. The real secret to home/garage security in my humble opinion, is making your property less desirable to the criminal element. A good security lighting layout is a start. Make sure your landscaping does not help criminals operate undetected on your property. Doors without sidelights, keep windows away from doors. Bars on lower accessible windows. Don't let thieves see your stuff. My new garage will have windows down each side but they will be 1' X 3' mounted high in the wall making it difficult to get in through a window. The doors will be commercial steel frame doors with double keyed deadbolts. Wieser makes a new type of lock that cannot be "bumped". Even if you do not have an alarm system. Get some stickers that say you do. The bottom line is if your place seems too difficult to the criminal he will go next door and rob your neighbor.

 

[Magneto349]

You can buy motion lights that have an alarm or buzzer that rings in your home whenever it turns on. My dog sleeps in the garage at night, when he knows someone is out there he starts barking and growling. Although he`s not a big dog (Chow) he is very intimidating when someone looks throught he window and he is staring at you growling. Plus if the lights are off and you shine a flashlight throught he window all you see is 2 big eyes staring at you. Although no one has ever broke in, I have had someone checking to see if the doors were unlocked, whne he starting barking they left in a hurry. Plus just his barking will wake me up. He`s cheaper than an alarm system. Just my 2 cents..

 

[shopforeman]

Although he`s not a big dog (Chow) he is very intimidating when someone looks through the window and he is staring at you growling. Plus if the lights are off and you shine a flashlight throught he window all you see is 2 big eyes staring at you.

No offense intended but a good kick will probably take most of the piss and vinegar out of your smaller dog. A pair of eyes a foot or so off the floor just doesn't seem intimidating to me. I've gone a few rounds hand to teeth with a boxer before and have handled many strange dogs so I may not be as intimidated as the next guy. Most dogs that are not trained for it will back down in a hurry when they realize you are not afraid of them.

All joking aside. For a lot of people the dog barking is all it takes. Criminals don't like noise and they don't like lights. Also lots of people ARE afraid of dogs and it's actually the little ones who are most likely to bite...mind you it's usually out of fear not aggression. Having a barking dog...one that only barks at people coming near is a great anti-theft system!

 

[Kevin54]

No offense intended but a good kick will probably take most of the piss and vinegar out of your smaller dog. A pair of eyes a foot or so off the floor just doesn't seem intimidating to me. I've gone a few rounds hand to teeth with a boxer before and have handled many strange dogs so I may not be as intimidated as the next guy. Most dogs that are not trained for it will back down in a hurry when they realize you are not afraid of them.

You may have tangled with a Boxer but a Chow is definately different. My family has had a few and I had one also. A Chow will not back down. You kick it you had better be dead on. And when most see a Chow they will be intimidated. A little on Wikipedia about the Chow breed:

The Chow is a unique breed of dog thought to be one of the oldest recognizable breeds. Research indicates it is one of the first primitive breeds to evolve from the wolf. Recent DNA analysis confirms that this is one of the oldest breeds of dog.[2] From what records survive, some historians believe that the Chow was the dog described as accompanying the Mongolian armies as they invaded south into China as well as west into Europe and southwest into the Middle East during 12th Century,[citation needed] although a Chinese bas-relief from 150 BC shows a hunting dog similar in appearance to the Chow. Later Chow Chows were bred as a general-purpose working dog for herding, hunting, pulling and guarding.



Kevin

 

[Magneto349]

No offense intended but a good kick will probably take most of the piss and vinegar out of your smaller dog. A pair of eyes a foot or so off the floor just doesn't seem intimidating to me. I've gone a few rounds hand to teeth with a boxer before and have handled many strange dogs so I may not be as intimidated as the next guy. Most dogs that are not trained for it will back down in a hurry when they realize you are not afraid of them.

All joking aside. For a lot of people the dog barking is all it takes. Criminals don't like noise and they don't like lights. Also lots of people ARE afraid of dogs and it's actually the little ones who are most likely to bite...mind you it's usually out of fear not aggression. Having a barking dog...one that only barks at people coming near is a great anti-theft system!

I hear you there, and I`m not here to argue. But if I was breaking into a garage and dont know the temperment of a chow and think I can give him a swift kick and he will stand down you better be looking for a prybar because thats what its going to take to get him off of you. Either way, no matter what kind of dog it is, one good bite on your leg or anywere else and your going to stop thinking about stealing things and looking on getting the hell out of there. By then the owner is going to know your out there anyways. I dont want to get off topic with this post. I`m just saying for a low cost alternative to $1000.00 alarm system 99% of theives are out of there as soon as they know something is on the other side of the door when they go to break in.

 

[shopforeman]

A Chow will not back down. You kick it you had better be dead on. Kevin

Well I doubt the issue would ever come up since I am not and have never been a burglar but in the event it did happen the dog would more likely get the business end of the crowbar used to gain entry. In any case if I were in that sort of situation I wouldn't be giving love taps.
In my job doing rural satellite installation & service I have had to deal with nasty vicious dogs on Indian Reservations and farms on numerous occasions. Ninety-nine percent of them figure out that I am not a guy to Fool with. Lots of them try a sneak attack but that's old to me. The ones that did mess with me learned very quickly not to mess with me anymore. Most "tough" dogs turn around and run when they put on a show and I say "Oh yeah" and start towards them rather than backing away.
The fight with the boxer was twenty years ago and it was a dog that I was responsible for caring for in a kennel so I couldn't be too rough with it. I did come out of that with stitches. As it turned out the owner abandoned the dog anyway so I probably should have laid him out. Ended up having it put down a year later because it was so mean I couldn't give it away.

 

[bluesman2a]

You may have tangled with a Boxer but a Chow is definately different. My family has had a few and I had one also. A Chow will not back down. You kick it you had better be dead on.

I'll agree with that one. Chows aren't as big as rotties or as infamous as pit bulls, but they would definitely make my top 5 list of canines I really don't want to tangle with.

 

[shopforeman]

Either way, no matter what kind of dog it is, one good bite on your leg or anywhere else and your going to stop thinking about stealing things and looking on getting the hell out of there. I don't want to get off topic with this post. I`m just saying for a low cost alternative to $1000.00 alarm system 99% of thieves are out of there as soon as they know something is on the other side of the door when they go to break in.

I'm with you on that! As I said above a dog that barks when people come around is a great anti-theft device. The only reason that I did not mention a dog in my first post is because lots of people see the dog as more trouble than it is worth. Also too many dogs bark at everything...making them an unreliable alarm that would end up either being a nuisance to the neighborhood or ignored.

 

[MXtras]

This is a link to a security system and a write up I did on the X-10 Wireless security system I installed in my commercial building. I really like it and it has not given me one false alarm or a single issue in the last 2 years or so. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

http://www.x10.com/security/wireless_systems.html

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19513


Also –check out this thread –

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6096

As far as the dogs - the dogs that are infamous for aggression are so for a reason! I have a pit now, have had an Akita, German Shepards and Rottis. All are very loyal and very protective. They can be a valuable asset as long as they are trained not to eat when fed by others.


Scott

 

[Yotaforce]

You may have tangled with a Boxer but a Chow is definately different. My family has had a few and I had one also. A Chow will not back down. You kick it you had better be dead on. And when most see a Chow they will be intimidated. A little on Wikipedia about the Chow breed:

The Chow is a unique breed of dog thought to be one of the oldest recognizable breeds. Research indicates it is one of the first primitive breeds to evolve from the wolf. Recent DNA analysis confirms that this is one of the oldest breeds of dog.[2] From what records survive, some historians believe that the Chow was the dog described as accompanying the Mongolian armies as they invaded south into China as well as west into Europe and southwest into the Middle East during 12th Century,[citation needed] although a Chinese bas-relief from 150 BC shows a hunting dog similar in appearance to the Chow. Later Chow Chows were bred as a general-purpose working dog for herding, hunting, pulling and guarding.



Kevin

I had a neighbor who had two chows. They got out, went after my other neighbors kids who had climbed a tree, and attacked their dad when he came running out to rescue them. He went inside, ****** and tore up, retrieved his 1911, came out and drilled both of them in the front yard. After his wife wrapped up his ****** hands and arms (before the cops arrived) he tossed both carcasses in the owners yard. I wouldn't mess with a chow no matter how big they are!

 

[Yotaforce]

By the way, a standard car alarm that has the "pager"(good up to like a half mile) can be used with a 12v adapter and some regular door pin switches. If you want, you can hook up the siren, or run it through a switch so when you are home at night you can turn off the audible siren, the would be thief would never know that he has tripped an alarm, giving you the advantage. Besides, how cool would it be when you take someone out to show the garage you could "disarm" your system with a remote control! Chirp-Chirp

 

[MXtras]

The X-10 system has the remote keyfob. It's a rediculously simple system to install.

Scott

 

[Thomarann]

What about something like this?

Marc

 

[Lloydthumper]

I have a rottie and a pit in the back yard and a pom/pekinese mix in the house I don't need them to do anything but wake me up I'll do the rest.

 

[ersatzs2]

This thread was a timely reminder: I just ordered the X10 starter kit. Two weeks ago the police arrested a local ring of thieves who burglarized our neighborhood, including the house two doors down. Since my shop is nothing but windows at least in front, I need to at least do something other than deadbolts. The X10 system looks a lot better than nothing and for ~$100 worth a try.
On insurance: be aware that your homeowner's coverage wears out pretty quickly. In other words, file 2 claims within the same 18-24 month window and they will likely drop you. Lock up your stuff.