Here is the short answer: secure the garage door itself first, then the side door, then put an alarm sensor inside — in that order. Most garage break-ins are opportunist and defeated by making the door take longer than about thirty seconds.
A garage is usually the weakest structure on a property and the one holding the most portable value. Bikes, power tools, golf clubs, a second set of car keys. And the door is often a single panel with one central latch, on a building with no alarm and no lights.
We have supplied Birmingham's trade from Villa Road since 1975, and the pattern in what people come in for afterwards is depressingly consistent. Eight upgrades, roughly in order of what they stop per pound.
1. The up-and-over door: understand the weakness first
A standard up-and-over door usually latches at one central point, with two arms running out to catches either side. Two consequences follow. First, the door can often be levered at a corner far enough to reach in and operate the release. Second, the whole mechanism depends on one latch — so anything supplementing that single point delivers a disproportionate return.
The practical measures, in the order they are usually worth doing:
- Add a second locking point. A pair of locking bolts either side turns one point of resistance into three — the single highest-value physical upgrade on most garage doors.
- Fit a garage defender in front of the door. A floor-anchored bar means the door cannot rise even if the latch is defeated. Visible, and visible matters.
- Shield or remove the emergency release cord if the door has an automatic opener and the cord is reachable through the top gap. Many openers can be released from outside with a wire through a 10mm gap.
- Check the hinges and frame, not just the lock. A strong lock in a rotten timber frame is decoration.
Trade tip: do the corner test before you buy anything. Stand at a bottom corner of the closed door and pull it towards you. If a gap over about 20mm opens, side locking bolts are your first purchase and nothing else here matters as much. If it barely moves, spend the money on detection instead.
We do not currently stock garage door locks, defenders or ground anchors. We would rather say so plainly than sell you something adjacent and call it a fit. Any decent locksmith or builders' merchant will have them, and the advice above stands wherever you buy.
Which leaves the half of the job we can genuinely help with.
2. The side door is usually the real way in
If the garage has a personnel door, that is where you should be looking. Commonly an old timber door with a single euro cylinder, on a frame nobody has inspected since it was built, on the side of the property nobody overlooks.
Three things: a cylinder to a current anti-snap standard — three-star, or two-star with a one-star handle; hinge bolts if it opens outwards; and frame reinforcement. It is the cheapest worthwhile door upgrade in the property, and it is neglected precisely because the door is out of sight.
3. Light it — and light it low
A garage approach is a classic case for a PIR-triggered light. Not because light stops anybody, but because it removes the assumption of not being watched — and makes any camera you fit worth having.
The SL20CCTB is a 20W twin-head IP65 security floodlight with an integral PIR sensor and adjustable CCT, in black. Twin heads mean one covers the garage door and one the side door — one fitting, two problems. Mount at 2.5–3m and aim down, not out; full reasoning in our security lights guide.
4. Put a sensor on the door, not just in the room
This is the upgrade that changes outcomes, and the one people fit last. A contact on the garage door tells you the moment it moves. A shock sensor tells you the moment somebody starts working on it — which is earlier. If zones, contacts and panels are new to you, our guide to how intruder alarms work explains what a detector is actually reporting, and to what.
The Pyronix MC1Z2/SHOCK-WE is a wireless magnetic contact and shock sensor on two-way 868MHz with two zone inputs. Contact and shock in one device on one battery is exactly right for a garage door: shock catches the levering, contact catches the opening.
Trade tip: mount a shock sensor on the door panel, not on the frame beside it. The frame is fixed to the building and absorbs impact into masonry; the panel is what flexes when someone works at the edge. Sensors mounted on frames are the most common reason a shock detector never fires during an actual attempt.
5. Cover the inside volume too
A contact tells you the door opened. It tells you nothing if entry comes through a window, a roof panel or a wall someone kicked through — all of which happen to detached garages.
The Pyronix KX10DP-WE is a wireless pet-immune PIR detector with a 10-metre range on 868MHz. Pet immunity earns its keep in a garage for an unexpected reason: it tolerates the cat that has decided the garage is now its house. Position it across the likely entry line, not at the door that already has a contact on it.
6. Give the sensors somewhere to report
Detectors are useless without a panel. If the house already has an alarm, extending it to the garage is usually cheapest — provided the protocols match. If there is no panel yet, a detached garage is usually what tips the decision towards wireless — running cable out to it is the expensive part — and our guide to wireless home security systems sets out the trade-offs before you commit to a protocol.
The Pyronix Enforcer Kit 3 is an Enforcer V11 hybrid wireless/wired alarm kit — so you can run wireless devices in the garage and wired devices in the house on one panel.
A hard rule, and it costs people real money every year: 868MHz wireless protocols do not interoperate between manufacturers. A Pyronix detector will not enrol on a Hikvision AX Pro panel, and an AX Pro contact will not enrol on a Pyronix one, even though both are 868MHz. Decide the panel first, then buy detectors to match. Browse panel-matched devices in burglar and intruder alarms.
7. A camera that sees the door, and a face
Two cameras cover a garage properly: one on the door approach, one on the side door or internal space. The kit below is analogue on a DVR, which is the simpler run out to a garage — but if you are pulling network cable out there anyway, our explainer on what an IP camera is covers the alternative and what it buys you.
The Hikvision 5MP two-camera kit pairs two audio turret cameras (2.8mm, IP67, IR) with a four-channel AcuSense hybrid DVR — two spare channels for when you extend to the house. Mount at 2.5–3m for faces, and offset the camera from the security light so it is not metering on your own floodlight. More in our guide to home CCTV systems.
8. The risk nobody plans for: fire
A garage holds a car, fuel, a freezer, a battery charger and often a consumer unit — and almost never a detector. It is frequently attached to the house.
The Aico Ei3024 is a multi-sensor fire alarm combining optical and heat detection, and it is Ei3000MRF compatible — so it can be wirelessly interlinked to the rest of the house's alarms via the SmartLINK module. A detector that only sounds in the garage is not much use at 2am. One that sets off the landing alarm is.
Securing a Garage, Summarised
| Priority | Upgrade | What it stops | WME pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Second locking point on the door | Levering the single latch | Not stocked — see note |
| 2 | Anti-snap cylinder on the side door | The commonest actual entry | Not stocked — see note |
| 3 | PIR security light | Cover of darkness | SL20CCTB |
| 4 | Contact + shock sensor on the door | Detects the attempt, not the aftermath | MC1Z2/SHOCK-WE |
| 5 | Internal PIR detector | Entry via window, roof or wall | KX10DP-WE |
| 6 | A panel to report to | Sensors nobody hears | Enforcer Kit 3 |
| 7 | Two cameras | No evidence afterwards | 5MP 2-camera kit |
| 8 | Interlinked fire detection | The risk nobody plans for | Aico Ei3024 |
Where DIY stops
Wireless alarm devices and battery detectors are within reach of a competent DIYer. Mains-powered fire alarms, new circuits and any supply run out to a detached garage are notifiable under Part P and need a registered electrician. A graded or monitored alarm must be commissioned and walk-tested by the installer who signed it off, or the grading means nothing.
Expert Help in the West Midlands
Villa Road, Birmingham, since 1975. Tell us whether the garage is attached or detached, whether it has a side door, and what panel is in the house — that is enough to spec the sensors. And we will tell you, unasked, when the £30 of physical hardware you have not bought matters more than the £300 of electronics you were about to.
Browse burglar and intruder alarms, floodlights and security lights, or security and surveillance. Get in touch for a spec.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I secure a garage door that only has one central lock?
Add locking points either side so the single latch is no longer the whole defence, and consider a floor-anchored defender in front of the door. Then put a contact and shock sensor on the door panel so an attempt is detected while it is happening.
Is a garage alarm worth it if the house already has one?
Yes, and extending the existing panel is usually cheaper than a second system — provided the wireless protocol matches. Detectors from one manufacturer will not enrol on another's panel even at the same frequency.
Where should a garage PIR detector go?
Covering the internal volume across the likely entry path, not aimed at the main door — that door should already have its own contact. Corner-mounted, looking across the space rather than along it.