How to secure a garage door in Springfield, habits first

Picture the house from the street. The front door is locked and lit. The garage has a keypad code half the street knows, a red cord someone could hook through the gap at the top, and a door into the kitchen nobody locks because that's how everyone comes home.

Park a truck in the drive overnight with a remote clipped to the visor, and the garage becomes the easiest way in. The fixes are mostly habits, and the rest is quick hardware.

Four of the nine are habits you can start tonight. The other five are hardware we install, usually all in a single trip after a free estimate.

Four habits, then five bits of hardware.

1. Lock the opener when you leave townPlenty of Chamberlain and LiftMaster wall panels have a lock button that tells the opener to tune out every remote until it's turned off again. Make it part of packing for any trip; we'll point out which button it is on yours.
2. Retire the old keypad codePick a fresh code the week you move in, then again whenever a contractor, sitter or relative stops needing it. Skip the house number, birthdays and 1-2-3-4.
3. Don't leave remotes in vehiclesA truck in the drive with a remote on the visor is a key to your house for anyone willing to break a window. Bring it in at night, or use the truck's built-in buttons.
4. Deadbolt the kitchen doorTreat the door between garage and kitchen like your front door: solid, rated for outdoors, deadbolted, and actually locked at night. It's often the last door standing between a stranger and your family.
5. Shield the releaseThe metal shield described above. Still works from inside.
6. Cover the window glassClear glass up top lets anyone strolling by count the vehicles and eye the tools. Frosted film fixes it in an afternoon; a solid top section that matches the door fixes it for good.
7. Turn on phone alertsA Wi-Fi opener, or a small gadget added to the one you've got, buzzes your phone each time the door moves and lets you close it from the ballpark or the office. You'll know about a door left open before anyone else does.
8. Toughen up the side doorMost garage side doors are hollow slabs with a knob lock. A solid door, a real deadbolt and a beefed-up strike plate bring it up to front-door standard.
9. Bolt the track for tripsA slide bolt fixed inside the track keeps the door down no matter what the opener hears. If yours lacks one, we'll add it and set the opener so the two never tangle.

Before you go: opener locked, track bolted, remotes indoors, kitchen door deadbolted, phone alerts on, and a neighbor told.

If you're towing the camper or the boat, its empty spot beside the garage tells anyone watching that the house is empty. That's exactly the week these habits earn their keep.

Back home, slide the bolt open before you reach for the remote, or the opener will strain against it.

Release shields, track bolts, kitchen-door deadbolts, solid side doors, solid top sections in place of glass, Wi-Fi openers and add-on gadgets, and new openers to replace fixed-code units.

Each piece gets its own line on the estimate, so you pick what fits and skip the rest. Most of it goes in on a single trip.

You won't find a how-to for breaking into garages on this site. Knowing how to protect yours is enough.

If you've already had a break-in, say so when you call. Clearing the opener and changing the codes come first, the same day whenever we can.

"Closed means locked." Not with a release someone can snag, a remote in the truck and an unlocked kitchen door.

"Smart openers get hacked." With a strong, unique password, the alerts put you ahead, not behind.

"The side door doesn't matter." It's often the first door a burglar tries, since nobody thought to beef it up.

Call from Phelps Grove, Southern Hills, Republic or Nixa and tell us what you'd like looked at. We'll give you a couple of hours to be home and ring when we're on the way.

Free estimate. Throughout Greene County, including Rountree, Phelps Grove, Galloway, Nixa, Ozark, Republic, Battlefield, Strafford, Willard.