Call Today: (786) 309-9187
Garage door locks secure our garages from intruders and burglars but they also give us peace of mind in knowing that while we sleep or are not home, our garage interiors are safe and protected from weather, thieves, nosy neighbors and vagrants. Does your Coral Gables, FL garage have a lock on it? Chances are it does. If you use an automatic garage door opener, it has one built in already but there are a plethora of additional locks on the marketplace that can also add extra security for your home or business garage door. Coral Gables Locksmith offers locals a variety of these locks ranging from very affordable to more pricey in nature. Call us or your favorite locksmith in your locale for additional details on these useful and practical pieces of garage door hardware.
Garage doors were not always automatic. Once, not too long ago, all garage doors were single tilt-up wood doors. There were no openers to lift and lower your door whenever you came and went. These garage doors were solid, one piece sheets that you manually move up or down depending on which way you were going. The automatic lock on the opener was not there because it didn’t exist yet. Now, with rolling doors and opener units, our garage doors can lock automatically when we shut them. Need proof? Try closing your garage door and lifting it up by hand – you can’t, can you? Our openers can now unlock, lock and move our heavy, rolling garage doors with the click of a button or even from inside the house or across the street. We can even stay in our cars while we do this. This alone adds extra convenience and security to our lives. But what if you want extra garage door security above and beyond these opener locks? Don’t worry – today’s automotive locksmiths have you covered!
Keypad locks are fairly common for residential garage doors here in Florida. Look around and you often see these mounted on the outsides of garage doors in most every neighborhood. Gaining entry is simple - enter a key code into the keypad and the garage door will unlock and open or close as needed. Key codes can be changed on an as needed basis.
That’s right – the same padlock type that locked your high school locker can now secure your garage door from the inside. Just drill a hole in your track big enough to fit the ring of the padlock through and lock your garage door securely in place. The advantage of using a padlock is that they are very inexpensive and portable. The disadvantage is that you must lock the garage door from the inside and if you forget and attempt to open your door, you can burn your opener motor out by pitting it against the locked garage door track.
Many residential front doors have a deadbolt lock installed on them for added security. It’s little known but garage doors can benefit from having one, too. Once installed, a simple turn on the inside knob and your garage door is bolted and locked shut. Your key opens the lock from the outside; just like your front door. One big advantage to having one of these deadbolt locks installed on your garage door is that it prevents intruders from using a coat hanger or other device to pull the emergency latch from the outside and opening your garage door that way.
Biometric locks are another name for fingerprint locks. Like the Apple I-Phone, your garage door lock must be unlocked by using an authorized thumb print. If it matches, the door is unlocked. These biometric garage door locks can be operated from inside or outside the garage and can even include a retina scanner if desired.
One of the most useful and affordable of all garage door locks are the simple slide lock models. These are easy to install and use as they are simply bolted into place on the garage door track. Once fastened, they keep your garage door rollers from being able to move along the tracks as they are blocked by the slide lock. These locks are very similar to adding the padlock. Both must be manually applied and must not be forgotten about or opener motor burn out is possible.
Garages are one of the biggest rooms in your house. They are often attached to the main home and as such should be guarded against intrusion. A burglar can simply break into your garage, close the garage door and enter your home and burglarize it without even being seen from the street or neighbor’s house. Even if your interior garage door is locked, the thief can take his time to pick or smash the lock as no one can see his actions from outside. As a safety precaution our locksmiths urge locals to always lock their interior garage door when retired for the night or when away at work or on vacation. Why make it easy for the crooks?
Another good reason to secure your garage with an extra lock is to protect its contents. It’s a given that cars are in your garage and they are worth a sizeable chunk of money but what about other items of value? These can include motorcycles, riding lawn mowers, bicycles, garden tools, drills, stored items, cabinets, work benches, home gym equipment, cans of paint, trash cans, bags of fertilizer, firewood, old furniture, antiques, vintage items, sporting goods, pool tables, book collections, toys, appliances, hot water heaters, water softeners, car accessories and lots more. You paid good money for every one of these items so it makes sense to secure them from theft. Additional locks for your garage door are not fool proof; nothing is, but they give you additional security to help protect the items that you’ve worked so hard to procure for you and your loved ones.
