Inspecting Your Garage for Potential Security Compromises

 We utilize our garages for so many things; to store lawn equipment, old furniture, clothes, kids play area and are even used as home offices by some homeowners. The problem with having a garage is that they are susceptible to intrusions. Intruders or burglars usually know that they can get money by breaking into garages. In addition to getting what they want out of your garage, they can also gain entry into your home if you have a garage that leads into your house. Most homeowners do not even consider the risks of having an attached garage. If there is a malfunctioning garage door, you risk the door not coming down completely. If you use the garage several times a day, it could stop working at any time and sometimes this will happen without your even knowing it.

A garage door opener is what closes and opens your door. If you’re having problems with your opener, you may think that you have closed the door and when you turn your back, it begins to go up again, without your noticing it. This is a huge problem because someone can come right into your home undetected. It is possible for a garage company to inspect your garage door to make sure it is always safe and secure. Here are some steps that you as a homeowner can take to ensure your safety.

Reverse Mechanism Test

This requires that the garage door is completely open. Place something underneath the door, directly in the middle. This is where the door meets the ground. Push the power button on the wall to close the door. When the door touches the object that you have placed underneath the door, it should automatically reverse. If it doesn’t, this is problem that should immediately be checked out by a garage door specialists.

Photo Eye Test

To perform this task, you have to make sure the door is completely open. Push the button on the wall to close the door again. Wave something like a broom across the door’s photo eye. The door should reverse since the beam will then be broken. If this doesn’t occur, pull the broom or stick away to enable the door to close. Once the door has closed, clean the photo eye with a dry, soft cloth. If the photo eye is misaligned, carefully align them. Open the garage again and try testing it again by opening it and then closing it. While closing it, wave a stick in front of the photo eye in hopes that it will reverse. If it does, you’re in good shape.

Door Balance Test

If you have an automatic garage door opener, you should check your door monthly. Close the door and disconnect it from the opener. Try lifting the door manually, slowly. If the door lifts smoothly with very little effort, this means it is working properly. The door should remain open. If there is some challenges opening it or it will not remain open, this is an indication that the door might be out of balance. If this is the case, do not hesitate to contact the services of a professional locksmith.

Force Setting Test

To ensure that your garage door is working efficiently, performing a monthly force set test is essential. Again, open the door up fully. Push the button on the wall. While it is closing, carefully move your hand underneath the door. If it won’t reverse and is still closing, quickly remove your hand. This indicates that the closing force of the door is too much and need to be adjusted by a professional technician.

Visual Inspection

A visual test is what some would consider the easiest test but actually, it can be the most difficult because people may not know what to look for. Here are some of the things you can look for in order to determine if your garage door is in good working condition. While the door is closed, look for damages and wear and tear. Inspect the springs, cables, rollers, pulleys and the doors mounting hardware. Look for fraying and anything that is loose. If something doesn’t look right, snap a picture and share it with a garage door professional. They may be able to determine from the picture what the problem might be. This is rare that they can do this without seeing it in person but on some occasions, depending on the problem, they can. It’s worth a try. I would recommend that you contact a garage door service and allow them to handle the inspection for you on a yearly basis. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Listen Up

This sounds easy enough. All you need to do is listen for anything that sounds unusual. It is not the easiest thing to do because you might hear something and not see that there is anything wrong. When you do not notice anything wrong, you will likely go on using your garage. This is the worst thing you could do. Instead of continuing to use a garage when you are hearing strange sounds, call a professional garage door service.

Keeping Up with Garage Door Maintenance

The key to making sure that your garage door is consistently working properly is to make sure you also receive routine maintenance. Routine maintenance means that you can catch any problems before the problem becomes worse than it may already be. Keeping your door in good working condition is only part of the way to secure your garage door. Consider contacting a reputable and reliable locksmith, such as 24 Hour Renton WA Locksmith in Washington who can also install durable locks on your garage door to prevent break-ins.

Don’t put your life and the life of your family in jeopardy. Take immediate action today to ensure that your garage door remains secure. Don’t leave it to chance because it may be a decision that you regret for the rest of your life.

Interior Door Locks

Interior door locks aren’t just for home use; commercial applications apply, too. When someone mentions a lock on the door an image of the front or back door forms in our minds but in reality, locks on doors are useful inside, as well. Most folks are hardly concerned about burglars creeping into their bedrooms or bathrooms while they are taking a shower. The doors leading to the outside are usually well equipped for that. Instead, inside door locks are mainly used or privacy reasons.

Homes

Interior door locks at home are nice to have, especially if you value your privacy. Try giving teens a bedroom without a door lock, and see how that goes! It’s not just young people, either. All age groups love to be able to lock their doors, and to maintain a sense of seclusion for themselves. If you have a roommate at home or at school, having a locking interior door offers a much needed separation to help maintain household harmony. Bedrooms are not the only use for interior locks. Bathrooms door locks are essential. No matter how open and free you are with your family members or friends, you still need to have a lock on your bathroom door(s). You might not use it, but some of your guests, sure will!

Commercial interior locks

Again, the perimeter door locks are designed to keep out intruders or after-hours visitors but the interior locks are more for privacy and in some cases, as a form of access control. In this day and age of working from cubicles or even from desks in an open floor plan, interior locks are still vital for private offices, conference rooms, storage areas, mailrooms, executive areas and break rooms.

Some commercial bathrooms are not locked during the day and use a sign indicating gender use on the door. These doors still have locks on them in case of policy change or for “out of order” times that can include maintenance or cleaning. Other commercial bathrooms, usually the smaller ones, are meant to be locked during occupation for basic privacy.

Another well-known interior lock usage in a commercial application is storage rooms. While some smaller storage facilities are based outdoors, most all of the larger ones use indoor rooms that can be locked individually by the person renting the room(s) to store their belongings. In these cases, private locks are placed on the closed storage room door and the management reserves the right to cut the lock if payment is not received or to put one of their own over the customer’s lock to keep them out until the monthly rent is caught up.

Do it yourself

Here in Renton, WA we tend to have rainy, wet weather. This may affect our front or back door locks but for our indoor locks, this is not a problem. Whether you are rehabbing a foreclosed home or just wanting to replace or change your interior locks, you have many options.

You can purchase interior locks locally as many Renton stores carry them. These include hardware and home improvement stores as well as the national chains. Wal-Mart, Target, Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy and Sears all carry a large assortment of indoor locks for you to choose from. Prices range depending on the lock selected and the brand chosen.

You can also purchase online as many of the same stores listed above offer great deals from their websites. Be sure to check Amazon.com as they tend to carry a larger selection than most and also offer better deals and even free delivery based on your ordering criteria. Another good aspect of using Amazon is their review system. You can browse through customer reviews on the locks that you have in mind. Most people only take the time to write a review if it is positive or negative and you can really learn a lot about the lock’s usability and any problems with shipping or installation by simply checking the reviews.

Local locksmith help

Here at 24 Hour Renton WA Locksmith we often install interior door locks for our local customers. Our licensed, bonded, and insured shop offers interior lock installation, service, and rekey assistance at the best rates and with round-the-clock emergency help whenever needed. You can also call other Renton, WA area lock professionals and have them install or service your residential or commercial interior door locks.

Why spend the money?

Often, we are asked why someone would spend the money on installing or replacing their indoor locks by using a locksmith. There are many good reasons. To begin with, your time itself is very valuable and when you combine that fact with a lock professional’s ability to service your indoor locks, you wind up with highly professional lock and key service that is done correctly and also in a timely manner.

Many people don’t want to bother having to do the tedious work of interior lock installation or replacement. For them, having a skilled and experienced lock professional do the work just makes sense. You can buy the interior door locks yourself and simply have a locksmith install them for you. Or, you can simply discuss your interior lock needs and wants with your trusted locksmith experts of choice and have them select and install a brand or lock size that they recommend for your particular interior door needs.

Picking your own locks!

We don’t mean selecting either! Sometimes the need arises for having to access your own locked interior door. This usually happens by accident or in the case of a teen temper tantrum! No matter what the cause, your new interior door locks should always come with a small tool to allow you access back in should you get locked out.

If you are renting or purchased a re-sale home, the likelihood of the original tool still being there is not good. You can buy these small picks at hardware stores or use a small, thin screwdriver to insert into the door knob until you feel it catch on the interior lock mechanism, turn, and you are in!

Article source here: Interior Door Locks

DO YOU HAVE SLIDING GLASS DOORS? HERE’S HOW TO ENHANCE YOUR SECURITY

We all want our place of residence to be the one safe place, our sanctuary, where we can always relax. Therefore, to maintain peace of mind, it’s important to keep an eye on your locks, points of entry, and the premises of your property. A glass sliding door, although a desirable addition to any house ~ since it commonly allows in sunlight from your welcoming patio area ~ is unfortunately also a security weakness, for a number of reasons.

Glass Door Weaknesses

Sliding glass doors are primary targets for burglars, because of the following vulnerabilities:

The glass itself is susceptible, because obviously, with enough force, any reckless thief can break right through the glass.

The whole door itself can be lifted out of its tracks by a professional criminal with some basic tools.

The brackets holding the stationary panel in place have screws that can be unscrewed from the outside, making entry easy for a prowler.

The lock is actually the weakest part of your sliding glass door. The single-locking mechanism isn’t difficult to breach. A knowledgeable burglar can pry open the lock, or cut it with a hacksaw. With some glass doors, if you shake it hard enough, it will come unlatched.

The door’s location doesn’t help, since a potential intruder knows they’re commonly found at the back of the house, where tampering can be carried out probably without any neighbors seeing.

 

What You Can Do to Better Secure Your Sliding Glass Door

What can you do to discourage a potential intruder? If you want to effectively secure your patio door, first, discourage a robber from even thinking about breaking in. Worst-case scenario: delay anyone who has any success whatsoever, and detect that person immediately for a quick arrest.

Discourage & Delay

Put in an extra lock. There are superior locking devices to complement a basic lock. Most are easily operated from the inside. The best locks are those that fasten your sliding door to the wooden or metal frame. The advantage of these locks is that they prevent the door from moving horizontally or vertically. That means that even if a burglar breaks the regular lock, it will still be hard to open the door. You may also want to consider a type of battery-powered lock with an audible alarm attached.

A safety bar keeps a robber from moving the door horizontally across the exposed track. All you have to do is put in a piece of wood, dowel, or pipe of the correct length. Some safety bars are extremely strong, able to withstand up to 1,000 pounds of force. You can also install a security bar attached to the doorjamb and the bracket at the door’s edge. This type of bar will be immediately seen by a potential intruder, making it a good deterrent. It also lets you keep the door slightly open for ventilation, still preventing someone from entering.

Replace the glass with stronger glass. Choose premium-quality glass, double-paned glass, or glass with embedded wire.

Install window film to help secure the glass door. You can do this easily yourself. The film holds the glass together even if it’s shattered ~ basically making the door shatter-proof, because all the shards will be held in place ~ preventing, or at least delaying, entry.

Stick a decal on the glass door, near the latch mechanism. You’ll warn any potential prowler that a neighborhood watch system, or that your alarm system, is in place.

Keep the door locked! Many people forget to lock their patio doors when they’re away, or leave them open at night. Burglars look for this.

 

Detection

Use sensors or cameras to identify a break-in the moment it begins. Surveillance cameras, motion sensors, and glass-shatter sensors will add an extra layer of security. If you have a video surveillance system as part of your security system, the camera can record any activity so you’ll have video footage as evidence for the police.

If you have an in-home alarm system, be sure it’s wired to a contact on your sliding glass door, so that it can alert you or your security company if any breach occurs.

Keep in touch with your neighbors and be a good neighbor yourself. Communicate periodically, establishing trust. A good neighbor watches out for your home while you’re gone. Always look out for each other, and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. Let next-door neighbors know if you’ll be gone on vacation.

 

Preventive Maintenance

Keeping door tracks and rollers in good shape is important. If these are damaged and don’t move smoothly, the door might be more easily lifted right out from its tracks. Keep out any dirt and debris, because they can cause eventual breakdown. If, even after you clean it, the door still won’t move properly, adjust the size of the rollers. Some doors have little adjustment holes on the bottom, and top edges that will fit a Phillips screwdriver, so you can expand or compress the rollers.

 

Do It Yourself

Overall, you can do a lot yourself to make your home safer and more secure. No property is impervious, but there are numerous ways you can protect your home and family from criminal trespass. The same strategies that apply to your sliding glass doors also go for your sliding glass windows. You can easily put a wooden dowel on each of these windows, for instance, to keep someone from sliding it open from the outside. To comply with your local fire code, be sure any window-blocking devices you use can be quickly removed from the inside. You can also install screws half-way into the upper track of a window’s movable glass panel, to keep it from being lifted out in the closed position.

 

Hire a Professional

Right from the start, when you want to install a sliding glass door, simply ask an expert to do it. Why take any risks? Improper installation will cancel out any security measures you’ll take.

When it comes to considering any issues regarding security at your home, it’s best to hire a dependable professional. If you observe any holes in your home’s security, take all your questions to a trustworthy residential locksmith specialist, and you’ll learn how best to remedy each problem. If you’re located in Renton, Washington, you may want to request a free consultation from a reputable local company such as 24 Hour Renton WA Locksmith.

Article source here: DO YOU HAVE SLIDING GLASS DOORS? HERE’S HOW TO ENHANCE YOUR SECURITY

How To Copy A Key At Home In Under 5 Minutes

How To Copy A Key At Home In Under 5 Minutes

 

 

This is a video explaining how to copy a key at home using soft metal items that you can cut with a pair of tough scissors or tin snips. In the video, the uploader makes use of a bottle cap that he flattened but aluminum soda or beer cans will work as well. This is a great emergency key project for those who don’t have time to get a new key cut. 

Read more: How To Copy A Key At Home In Under 5 Minutes

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