Security of garden sheds?

JustAnotherSaver

We missed out on a house we were going for this week by a matter of hours. Gutting as it had the extra of a garage. Other houses in our budget in this area don't have a garage but we'll be needing somewhere to store certain items - which would have to be a garden shed.

I just wonder about the security of one. Short of getting one built out of blocks & putting a proper door on it & alarming it too, what are these sheds like where you build them yourself? Pretty flimsy things or are they actually ok security-wise?

bryanb

Are you buying in a high crime area?

pka_2

I would say that in general, sheds are pretty flimsy in terms of security. They are usually kept locked with a padlock which in itself is pretty easy to break off if you put your mind to it. What I would say though is it really depends on the area you live in and what your garden itself is like. For example, we keep our four bikes in a shed, two of which are worth over a £1000 each. Although padlocked, the shed itself would be very easy to get in to should you want to. However the only access to our garden is through the gate which wouldn't be easy to get through, or through one the four adjoining gardens to ours, which there is a 6ft fence between all of anyway. No one other than our immediate neighbour knows that we keep the bikes in there and we are careful not to advertise this. We also don't live in a particularly high crime area. Have had no problem in the four years we have been living in the property.

JustAnotherSaver

True - we'd need to wait until we actually get a house until the point of how easy to access the garden is can be discussed.

As for "high crime" - i wasn't aware an area had to be regarded as high[/i] crime for something to be broken into. I was asking about the security, which is unrelated to the level of crime in an area.

pigeonpie

we've had our communal garden shed broken into 5 times. We now have a shed alarm and bike ground anchors inside the shed. (a peaceful, nice area of London). We have smashed faces on the hasp and staple bolts and very secure (e.g. Squire) padlock, Abus hasp and staple.
However last time they pulled off the lower slats on the shed and got in that way as the hasp and staple proved difficult, although they bent it (£35 a time).
Wooden sheds are not secure. What we're trying to do is to secure the items in the shed as much as possible eg bikes. https://www.securityforbikes.com are a good option if you need bike security products.
Thief is (so far) not interested in carpet cleaning machine, BBQs or Karcher.
I believe metal sheds are not much better, and they often rust.

theGrinch

Effectively, you need to ask how easy is it for an intruder to attempt to break in via the back of your property (assuming the shed is there).

If the property is back to back and there is no side or back access from the public highway (say mid terrace) without going through 4 or more gardens then the chances of a break in (house or shed) remain low.

Some people have front garden sheds for motorbikes etc. In which case you would need to invest in something higher end.

pinochio

Lights, alarms and double locks a burglars nightmare.

Surepromise Motion sensor alarm look this up on Amazon read all details it says ok for shed/garage a wireless unit.
Get two, fit inside of course, one over the door to cover the back then one at the back to cover the front so if they remove panels then the one of the alarms will go off. Light is another off put get a security light/s installed they don't like their activity lit up like its Christmas. Use both door mortice lock and padlock hasp and staple using bolts through the door to secure the hasp plate, they then know they have two securities to breakthrough. Another is a dummy security camera situated above the security lights pointing at the shed, not being sure its not a live camera they will leave.

Alias_Omega

Our shed has plastic windows, they probably could be pushed out. It has a normal lock.

Why has it not been broken into yet? It has nothing of any value. Start to make something to look secure, its going to be broken into.

cyclonebri1

The police where giving out garden shed alarms at our local B&Q the other day, it is an issue.

We live in a low crime rate area, but even given that although the house hasn't been targeted, both my garage and my garden shed have.

The garage, now brick, now has electric multi sectional doors and is alarmed with a stand alone system linked into the house.

The garden shed is now a garden store. Like you I couldn't see how a flimsy wooden structure could ever be considered secure.
It was rebuilt in block and tiled roof. It's a long way from the house so is again linked into the garage alarm system.

Touch wood no issues since, but I'm afraid security does come at a cost.

JustAnotherSaver

Alias_Omega wrote: »

Why has it not been broken into yet? It has nothing of any value.

I disagree with this reasoning.

Plenty of old shed cars get broken into when they're worth naff all. People are killed for the sake of £5 - naff all. People commit crimes over no value at all, it happens.

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Touch wood no issues since, but I'm afraid security does come at a cost.

IMO, you can't really put a price on security, especially in this day & age.

[Deleted User]

I have broken into my own shed before when the padlock broke. All it took was an electric screwdriver to take one of the doors off.. Took a few minutes.

I wouldn't store anything worth loosing in one