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Protect Your Family From Hackers To Rats: How To Secure The Biggest Door To Your Home

Written by Posted On Tuesday, 23 February 2016 08:02

For many homeowners, the garage is the most forgotten room in the house. In fact, some don't consider it a room at all. The garage is where they park their cars and store everything that doesn't "fit" anywhere else. Although your own garage may be easy to overlook, there are two groups out there that think about this space often — i.e. rodents and thieves. Given the opportunity, they would love to gain entry and potentially threaten your family and belongings. The garage represents one of the easiest access points.

How exactly can you protect yourself from vermin and criminals?

Let's start with the rodents.

Keeping Your Garage Safe from Rats

The typical American garage offers plenty of opportunities for pests to enter. Once inside, there are countless more places to hide — especially if you have lots of clutter. Yet even a tidy garage can be inviting, since rats sometimes burrow into walls.

Left unattended, a rat infestation can quickly worsen as the intruders move deeper into your home.

Protecting your property requires a two-pronged approach:

  1. You must get rid of rats that have already entered.
  2. You must take steps to prevent future intrusions.

Let's take a look.

Getting Rid of Rats

Rats are very good at hiding, but they also leave telltale signs like droppings, odors and holes. When you spot these signals, it's time to take proactive steps:

  • Cats are a favorite among many homeowners. However, this strategy is hit and miss — some felines don't chase rats.
  • Traditional rat poison and spring traps are both effective, but if you have kids or pets, this approach can do more harm than good.
  • Glue traps are a safe alternative. However, you must kill or relocate the rat since glue traps merely immobilize vermin.

A better solution is to use an environmentally friendly repellent that doesn't harm people or pets. Fresh Cab, for example, is a 98 percent biodegradable alternative approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, and it’s available on Amazon.

An even better approach? Hire an exterminator to increase your chances of wiping out all rats. If even two are left behind, you could theoretically end up with more than 130,000 new rats within a year. 

Preventing Future Rats

Stopping future infestations is also important. Common strategies include:

  • Removing all foods from the area — including pet food.
  • Regularly cleaning your garage and surrounding areas 
  • Sealing all openings. A mouse only needs a ¼-inch hole to break in.

Adopt the above steps, and you should be able to protect your home from future rat infestations.

Now, let's turn to the more serious problem of thieves entering your garage.

Keeping Your Garage Safe from Criminals

There's plenty of online advice about preventing thieves from physically busting through garage doors. Garage keys, reinforced windows and padlocks are all proven strategies for preventing these types of “brute force” break-ins. 

However, the thieves of today don't need to use crowbars to gain entry. It's now possible to remotely open garage doors using modern hacking techniques, and these criminals don't require fancy equipment either. A modified child's toy can do the trick. Plus, there are even ready-made tools that sell for under $40.

This technology exploits a commonly overlooked feature of most automatic garage door openers. With a handheld device, criminals can quickly test all possible “signal” combinations in fewer than 10 seconds. You don’t even have to be a specific target. A thief can stand on your block and test all nearby garage doors simultaneously.

Nonetheless, this strategy only works with garage doors that use static or "fixed" codes. 

The best solution is to install an opener that uses changing or "rolling" codes instead. These garage doors are still technically “hackable,” but they take much longer to crack. That extra time can act as a powerful deterrent — especially if your home is surrounded by garages that rely on older security protocols. 

At the end of the day, no single strategy can prevent unwanted visitors. Though whether you’re worried about rats or criminals, the less inviting you make your garage, the greater your chances of avoiding surprise visits.

 Justin White is the marketing director for Garage Door Repair LLC, Justin is extremely resourceful with resolutions on common garage door problems.

 

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