CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help

Home garage security?

(29 posts)
  • Started 8 years ago by mcsparshatt
  • Latest reply from wishicouldgofaster
  • This topic is not resolved

  1. mcsparshatt
    Member

    Hello All!

    Am moving into a Miller new build home in September, which also has a detached garage, where my bikes and the majority of my bike crap will go - hallelujah!

    It seems that insurance companies will only cover me if the locks are British Standard BS3621, which I am pretty sure the garage won't be. Therefore, I will be looking to get someone in to sort this out - has anyone had something similar done before, and how much did it cost roughly? I hear that the front 'up and over' doors are pretty easy to break into, so what would normally be put in to secure them?

    Also, I have heard about floor anchors and the like to have something solid to lock bikes to in the garage. I assume this would require some work to embed the anchor or whatever in some cement? That is far beyond my DIY powers! Again, has anyone else had something similar put in?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  2. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @mcsparshatt

    I fitted a ground anchor at mine - one of the ones that's flush with the floor. It wasn't difficult at all.

    As regards your locks, this gent;

    http://www.albanylocks.co.uk/

    is a friend of mine and a very reliable professional.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  3. chdot
    Admin

    Some advice here -

    http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9656

    Posted 8 years ago #

  4. mcsparshatt
    Member

    @mcsparshatt

    I fitted a ground anchor at mine - one of the ones that's flush with the floor. It wasn't difficult at all.

    As regards your locks, this gent;

    http://www.albanylocks.co.uk/

    is a friend of mine and a very reliable professional.


    Cheers - what was the process of fitting it. Any good Youtube videos or online guides? I assume you had to break through some cement?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  5. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Yup - you basicaly dig a hole though the floor, lay stones in the bottom for drainage, put the anchor on top of the stones and pour cement/concrete round it so that it's flush with the floor.

    Breaking through concrete is just brute force. You could hire a drill to speed things up - I just did it by hand.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  6. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Cheers - what was the process of fitting it.

    A hammer drill and the appropriate sized masonry drill bit will do for one of the anchors which sits on the floor/wall. You could mount it into the wall or the floor. Brick or blockwork is (much) easier to drill than concrete. If you go down this route, make sure whatever anchor you use has a non-return fixing so that it can't just be removed with a normal Allen key or spanner.

    An example of this sort of anchor is the Torc; http://securityforbikes.com/torc-ground-anchor.php

    Posted 8 years ago #

  7. 14Westfield
    Member

    I'd also recommend fitting a garage door padlock - these are similar to the ground anchors for your bike but include a disc shaped padlock with the mechanism hidden.

    Thst will reduce the chances of anyone getting in the up and over door.

    Eh
    http://www.lockshop-warehouse.co.uk/acatalog/bulldog-garage-door-lock-gd20.html

    Posted 8 years ago #

  8. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I'd also recommend fitting a garage door padlock

    Would a garage padlock act as a visual deterrence or perhaps a flag for "nice things to steal inside"? Just a thought to which I do not have an answer.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  9. crowriver
    Member

    I have one of these fixed to the wall of our common stair: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/locks/product/review-abus-wba100-ground-anchor-09-35287/

    Add a few longish motorbike security chains secured with big disc padlocks, locked into loops, looped into each other. Then just lock each bike to one of the chains, with the normal bike lock.

    Works a treat.

    In the low security bike shed in the back green, I fixed a couple of these to the floor, and added padlocked chains to lock stuff to. http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/locks/product/review-squire-locks-bwa2-09-35289/

    My rented garage has a car style IR pedestal operated electric door. So it's pretty secure. I agree that fixing a big padlock on the outside is maybe an invitation to thieving types...

    Posted 8 years ago #

  10. zesty
    Member

    As its a new build, if the foundation for the garage isnt down yet can you not speak to the builder and see if they will fit the anchor for you when they do the foundation?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    Don't forget one of these -

    http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41tuo9uuIQL.jpg

    Posted 8 years ago #

  12. Arellcat
    Moderator

    An example of this sort of anchor is the Torc; http://securityforbikes.com/torc-ground-anchor.php

    Pragmasis was set up by one of the old guard of ACF, before it became yACF, and the Shed Shackle was their first product. It's safe to say that they know what they're talking about.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  13. WickyWocky
    Member

    We bought some groundbolts to secure our swings as we didn't want to concrete them in. The blurb suggests they will cut through concrete but we've not tried that.

    http://www.groundbolt.co.uk/Video_overview.html

    Posted 8 years ago #

  14. chdot
    Admin

    Never come across groundbolts before.

    Impressive (until you hit rocks I suppose)!

    Posted 8 years ago #

  15. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Would be useful on campsites, but a bit heavy and inconvenient to take with you whilst cycle touring.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  16. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Would be useful on campsites

    There was a circus Big Top at Fisherrow a few weeks back, the guys for which appeared to be attached to industrial versions of these.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  17. MediumDave
    Member

    Indulging in a bit of thread necromancy here as I feel this may be of interest to some.

    I've been installing security anchors and chains in my girlfriend's garage and was pleased to find that this:

    https://www.screwfix.com/p/smith-locke-keyed-d-lock-100mm-x-200mm/483FA

    fits nicely through the links of

    https://www.screwfix.com/p/smith-locke-hardened-steel-hex-security-chain-2m-x-10mm

    once the rubber cover on the D-lock has been removed. It has quite a chunky shackle - unusual for a cheap D-Lock.

    The long chain and D-lock gives one a lot of locking-up options for quite a keen price. Ground anchor wise we used:

    https://www.screwfix.com/p/master-lock-wall-floor-anchor-steel-large-160mm/49778

    I have no idea whether these products are really any good. Probably not given the price, so I wouldn't trust this setup alone to protect a truly "fancy" bike, but it is certainly fine for our stable of ragged beaters.

    And as the "lockpickinglawyer" and other lest subtle people demonstrate, even expensive fancy locks are not much use against a determined adversary.

    Posted 2 months ago #

  18. neddie
    Member

    Can confirm the chain and the anchor are good, and work well inside your flat, for added security in times of huge inequality and chronically under-resourced police

    Posted 2 months ago #

  19. Yodhrin
    Member

    @MediumDave wouldn't put too much stock in LPL tbh, he's pretty transparently been building up a following so he can flog his "totally just for training/educational purposes, honest" break in tools to crims and just about every security bod I've ever spoken to suggests that the chances you'll ever run into a competent lockpicker "in the field" stealing bikes are so low as to be basically nonexistent. If it's proof against basic brute force bump/rake attacks and the shackle is well secured so they can't just hammer it apart, the worry is grinder resistance not fancy lock design.

    Posted 2 months ago #

  20. le_soigneur
    Member

    An early line of defence to stop them getting into the Garage in the first place:
    Enfield lock on the inside of the door means they'd have to angle-grind the door itself.

    Posted 2 months ago #

  21. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I can't help wondering if a lock couldn't be made a bit electrical, to wit, if the thing is cut through then a circuit is broken and an alarm or tracker is triggered (or perhaps, the entire thing goes live and electrocutes anyone holding it).

    Posted 2 months ago #

  22. neddie
    Member

    Always thought these WiFi door sensors would be good for protecting a garage / shed

    https://www.screwfix.com/p/swann-window-door-sensor-2-pack/709rf

    Posted 2 months ago #

  23. MediumDave
    Member

    It's a particularly rubbish garage door - peeling it open with a decent pair of tinsnips probably wouldn't be much of a challenge. Outside is block paving on a slope so a garage door defender wouldn't be easy to fit without concrete work.

    Good to know the chain at least is OK.

    I agree that the subtle art of picking is not a particularly high risk but lots of locks have vulnerabilities that can be easily used to open them by the less subtle. Infamously in the cycling world: the Kryptolok ballpoint pen trick.

    On that note of unsubtly I first came across LPL in video where he and some associates were shooting at locks with a variety of firearms (because 'Murica...). Some of the locks (including some expensive ones) didn't even withstand being struck by .22 short and their weakness was confirmed by belting them with hammers and in one case pulling them to bits by hand!

    As for buying picks half the fun is grinding your own set from hacksaw blades and the like! Kids today...

    Posted 2 months ago #

  24. le_soigneur
    Member

    Park the car within a foot of the garage door.

    Posted 2 months ago #

  25. MediumDave
    Member

    That would require both obtaining a car and risking the wroth of a neighbour who on move day came over to say we could absolutely not park in front of the garage or in a variety of other places!

    They were very relieved when I said we abjured cars

    Parking dynamics in the 'burbs are wild...

    Posted 2 months ago #

  26. Baldcyclist
    Member

    "stable of ragged beaters"

    Do people actually break in to garages these days for bikes. I know there are still a lot of opportunistic thefts, but would have thought garage thefts were more likely to be pre planned theft of expensive bikes?

    That said, I do have one of my bikes locked to the bike stand (which is in turn bolted to the wall), but again if anyone really wanted the bike it probably wouldn't take them long to get to it, or they would just take one of the other 4 which isn't chained to anything.
    Again, it's just more of an opportunist deterent if I happen to forget to lock the garage - which happens all to often that I go out to garage after 5 days and its open. :/

    Posted 2 months ago #

  27. pringlis
    Member

    Two of neighbours in the last few years have had their garages were broken into and bikes stolen. In both cases they had Thule Roof Bike Racks mounted on their cars in the driveway which the police said thieves use as a sign of "decent bikes in this garage".

    With the most recent one a couple of months ago they were able to recover their bikes thanks to @Shuggiet spotting them abandoned in the bushes nearby. Police think the leave them for a couple of days to see if there are any trackers on them then return to pick up.

    Posted 2 months ago #

  28. MediumDave
    Member

    A few years back miscreants broke into several garages near to where the charity I'm involved with has its lockups. One after another. Bikes, tools and building supplies seemed to be the things taken.

    They failed to get into ours due to a garage door defender and would have been mighty disappointed even if they had got in

    (Unless they wanted ancient shovels and the like)

    Posted 2 months ago #

  29. wishicouldgofaster
    Member

    Thieves would put themselves in mortal danger if they tried to break into mine as loads of crap, some of which is very heavy would fall on to them!

    Posted 2 months ago #

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