Garage broken into. Nothing Taken.

Coedy

Hi all.

For the second time in the last 2 years my garage has been broken into. :mad:

They jump over next door's rear wall, over the dividing wall, force the shoot bolt/padlock on the wooden rear door (in our garden), walk through the garage, undo the garage door and just leave...Leaving both doors wide open..

They left the rabbit hutch (all nice and clean with no rabbits in as they are house rabbits in the winter, pretty much brand new) worth £150. The rabbit run (also pretty much new, folds flat) costs £100. My dads black and decker workmate (folds flat) £70~. And various odds and ends (I use it as storage and have some gamer quality graphics cards in their boxes, some tool kits and the like).

I am going to take a half day today to go back and double check nothing has been taken and I'll be reporting it to the police on 101.

Any ideas on what else I can do?

I'm considering boarding up the main garage door (wooden bifold) so that even if they get in again they wont be able to just amble out into the back lane, they'd have to climb back over the walls creating a noise and a fuss.
I'm also considering asking next door if I can concrete in some glass onto the top of the wall where they jump over (between two bushes, one of the top stones has moved) :rotfl:
I could get a wireless webcam with night vision for in there but as I want to add one eventually (next year after my wedding) I was going to get a top notch one (at the moment I can't afford a really nice one..:()
and the thing is if they did it again I'd get video but as they aren't nicking anything the police probably wouldn't be insterested anyway??? (The reason why I plan on reporting it to 101 not 999)

I'd love to just connect the mains wiring to the metal bolts/handles and be done with it, unfortunately its looked down on.

Ebe_Scrooge

Coedy wrote: »

They jump over next door's rear wall...

Cementing some broken glass on top of the wall would help But of course, due to the daft laws in this country you'd be in trouble.


What a friend of mine did many years ago when faced with a similar problem : get a big tin of cheap grease, mix it up with all the dregs of various old tins of gloss paint that he had lying around in his shed, smeared it over the top of the wall. It causes no harm to anyone, so you're safe from that point of view. But once that 'orrible gloopy mixture gets on their clothes, there's no way it's ever coming out. And if they're typical chavvy oiks that spend a fortune on clothes of rather dubious taste, they won't be best pleased at having them ruined

phill99

The issue is the rear access door.

If you just have a basic shoot bolt and padlock, then you are asking to be broken into. They can be removed with a screwdriver in seconds. Rather than investing in cameras (which are only any use after the event), you need to spend money on replacing the door with a decent frame ledge and braced door finished with 18mm tongue and groove. Then into this you jeed to set 2 decent insurance rated sash locks. Any burglar will struggle to get into this arrangement.

And why don't they take the rabbit hutch and workmate? Because they are far too big. Burglars breaking into garages are after power tools that can be hidden in a back packor inside a jacket plus they always have a ready market.

Coedy

Hadn't thought of that, that's true but this is the second time? Surely they'd have clocked the first time its just full of sawdust and stuff...
Not to mention there are two massive windows they could look through to scope it out before making the effort of getting in..?

Next year after the wedding we are planning on two new doors for the garage (new up and over/roller shutter to replace the rotten wooden bifold and an old PVC unit for the rear access door), a new window (currently 1 pane of glass held into a rotten frame by two screws) and a new roof (leaky asbestos currently..).

We also plan on a Wireless IP camera inside it, on the rear of the house overlooking the garage&lane and also at the front of the house overlooking my car. (house is on a junction and see plenty of people trying to swing out of the way towards the car in close calls)

My concern with that plan is maybe people will think "oooOOh! Hes spent a lot of money on that garage, maybe there is something worth nicking in there!"

We still won't be keeping valuables in there (or cars) we plan on letting the rabbits have free run of the place once it's not leaky, falling apart and drafty.
But we want to nip this in the bud before then, if they left the doors open with the rabbits in there the cats could get in from next door and they'd kill them.
As the rabbits are our "Children" that wouldn't go down well, there would be a week of mourning....at least...

MoneyMate

What about some nice Spikes :eek:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p88395?table=no

srm1

You could consider a shed / garage alarm.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/garage-shed-wired-door-and-window-alarm-qs39n

There are many types to choose from at shops other than Maplin.

CathA

Check anything with a power lead. We had something similar a few years ago, they took a suitcase full of 'Beanie Babies' and cut the cord from a lawn mower. The police said druggies take the cords, get the copper out and sell it. Not sure about the Beanie babies tho!

27col

You don't seem to be thinking this through. If they can see in the window then obstruct it in one of several ways. If they are getting past the door locks, improve them so that it is not so easy. If you don't need the front to open then arrange something that prevents it. All rather obvious really.
By the way, the heavy application of grease is an excellent idea.
If all else fails, catch then at it and give them a really hard stare. That should keep them away.

Coedy

MoneyMate wrote: »

What about some nice Spikes

The wall between me and my neighbors is an old stone style wall so not a flat top

srm1 wrote: »

You could consider a shed / garage alarm.

I genuinely never even thought about an alarm... Ideally we can have a wired one (which I can't seem to find!) We wont be able to use one once the rabbits live in it though... but for now! A great idea! :money:

CathA wrote: »

Check anything with a power lead. We had something similar a few years ago

We don't have anything electric in there. But I've had a look and they have genuinely removed absolutely nothing...

27col wrote: »

You don't seem to be thinking this through. If they can see in the window then obstruct it in one of several ways. If they are getting past the door locks, improve them so that it is not so easy. If you don't need the front to open then arrange something that prevents it. All rather obvious really.
By the way, the heavy application of grease is an excellent idea.

I thought if they can see in the window they can see it's not worth the bother? I do however want to find a better lock for the door. A shackle sort of thing instead of a bolt with padlock ideally. I'm going to B&Q later.
We do need the front (on the lane) to open unfortunately.. We have to put the bin out once a week. I had considered screwing 2x4 across the door and removing it once a week but then I'd need to go buy an electric drill which would cost more than a shed alarm.
I forgot to applaud the grease idea also. Cracking idea that I'm going to see if my neighbor will let me put some on the top of his wall by the lane too (to stop them getting into his garden in the first place)

Also I reported it to 101 and they gave me a crime reference number but said they have no idea when/if it will be investigated as nothing got stolen. (I don't mind really, I just wanted it recorded in case something ever gets stolen in future)

Carer

Anti Climb paint would work.
Our elderly neighbour had to do this in the end as the teenagers kept using her garden as a short cut. It stopped completely and has never restarted.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blackfriar-Climb-Vandal-Paint-Black/dp/B0091T7NGU

Ben84

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

Cementing some broken glass on top of the wall would help But of course, due to the daft laws in this country you'd be in trouble.

There's liability issues. Also, the kind of injury it can cause is potentially serious. It's easy to be annoyed and think about things like this, but realistically when you consider it properly, I doubt many people want to seriously injure anyone. However, there are other options. Growing something thorny over the wall (or behind it where they'd need to get down) would be sufficient to deter many people from passing it, but encounters with thorny plants tend to be more painful than seriously injuring. Also, a bit of decorative trellis (perhaps with thorny plant on it) across the top is a real pain for anyone attempting to climb it. It's solid enough to be in the way, but not strong enough to support their weight if they try to go over it.