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Security Garage Doors
Garage Doors with a High Level of Security
With both domestic and commercial crime rates continuously on the increase in the UK, it is now more important than ever to protect your home accordingly. Specifying and installing a high quality, security-enhanced OR security tested and certified garage door is a great way to achieve this. Ensure you consider the high value items that are stored in your garage, especially if your garage is an integral part of your home.
Take a look at the list below to see which options are best for each door type if you require a garage door for security.
Don't forget - our Northamptonshire showroom showcases the very best in garage doors, so come along and see the door ranges for yourself.
So, Which Garage Doors are Secure?
Side Hinged Garage Doors
Improved Security
If you're looking for side hinged garage doors, a great option for security, as well as pure practicality, are steel side hinged doors with steel box section fixing sub frames, also known as a 'doorset'. Several manufacturers offer very high levels of upgraded security locking as well as double-skinned steel panels for strength. When properly specified and installed, these can be very secure indeed. When fitted with a hydraulic electric door operator with an electro-magnetic lock, this option adds additional strength to the side hinged door.
Carteck, Ryterna and Hormann offer double skinned steel insulated side hinged doors with defined levels of security in their standard lock sets. The panels are designed to be strong as they are 42mm thick steel panels.
Premium Security
Where certified levels of security are required, we are proud to offer a side hinged garage door range that boasts premium performance and security; the Teckentrup 62-2.
The 62-2 is effectively a door originally manufactured for industrial applications, however has been specified for the domestic market. There are various factors that distinguish the Teckentrup 62-2 from all other side hinged garage doors on the UK market, each of them being supported by certifications.
The Teckentrup 62-2 can be upgraded to LPS 1175 SR1 with a Secured by Design accreditation, a certificate preferred by UK Police and insurance companies. It can also be specified with the RC2 European standard if required. Ultimately, if you require a side hinged garage door with the very best security available, the Teckentrup 62-2 is the right choice.
Sectional Garage Doors
For increased peace of mind at a very sensible price, the garage door we sell the most for security is the sectional garage door. Sectional garage doors are also frequently the best choice for excellent insulation, efficient sealing and total practicality.
This type of garage door has a very strong yet basic design. The individual panels of the door have four encapsulated rollers either side, moving behind a durable steel sub frame system. The 42mm double-skinned, insulated, steel version of the Hormann, Garador and Carteck sectional door provides a door panel with incredible lateral strength. Although there is only one locking point internally, it is very difficult to penetrate this type of garage door by force or with tools. Fitting behind an opening further increases the security element, as fitting in this position eliminates all penetration points. Fitted with the correct electric operator provides a well-protected garage door option.
Security Rated Roller Garage Doors
Double Skin Aluminium Roller Doors - SeceuroGlide Excel - Secured by Design Level 1
A hugely popular option currently within the UK is the roller garage door - and we have models available that boast certified levels of security!
We offer the SeceuroGlide Excel, which is a double skinned, insulated, aluminium roller shutter garage door. The SeceuroGlide brand of insulated roller shutter was one of the very first roller garage doors in the UK. It has been developed over the last several years to become market leader with a patented locking system as standard, as well as being the first 'Secured by Design' option with the SeceuroGlide Excel roller garage door.
When it comes to roller doors in general, the double skinned aluminium roller shutter is the one to opt for when security is the key feature that is required, rather than a single skin door. To be secure, an aluminium roller door has to have good quality side guides to prevent forcing the curtain. Plus, it should have a good quality bottom slat as this is the frequent attack point, rolling code technology on the radio transmitter and receiver, as well as a proven locking system to hold the curtain in place when closed.
Qompact - Secured by Design Level 2
The Qompact is a new roller garage door that offers the very best security levels available for a roller door. To put this into perspective, it has been tested to withstand the impact of a sledgehammer.
The high security levels of the Qompact has led to its certification of Secured by Design Level 2, and has been tested to BRS STS 202.
In addition to its unrivalled levels of security, the Qompact has also been specified to fit a small, neat box size to create a discreet appearance once installed.
Up and Over Garage Doors
A basic good quality up and over garage door specified with a steel sub frame and a four-point locking system will provide a very good level of security. This is all providing the door panel is of a box section construction and that a euro profile cylinder locking system is fitted. Most opportunist burglars would not bother a forced entry with one of these garage doors because of the noise and effort required. Specialised tools would also be needed, which are not carried by most burglars.
A most recent addition to the Garador up and over door range is the Guardian range of doors. This offers manually operated steel up and over doors in limited sizes, carrying the very prestigious Level 1 LPCB rating.
The Guardian door is a tested version of their Horizontal and Vertical ribbed door design with extra bracing and steel plating at crucial points to resist attempted forced entry. Four-point locking is standard, and the door is supplied as either a standard or purpose made size with a box section steel fixing sub frame fitted as standard.
Certifications
An effective way to gauge which doors are most secure available is to find out which ones have obtained security certifications, and understand what these determine.
One to certainly look out for is the Secured by Design accreditation, an initiative recongnised by UK Police and only awarded to doors that have undergone thorough testing. One of our most popular Secured by Design products is the SeceuroGlide Excel roller door, rated as SBD Level 1. As the industry further innovates further developments however, we are now able to offer the Qompact roller door, which boasts SBD Level 2, and has been tested to BRS STS 202.
The significant ratings to look out for in the UK include: LPCB, LPS 1175 and BS EN. These ensure that the door has been tried and tested with proven results.
How Does a Garage Door Compromise Security?
Older Garage Doors
Consider how easy it would be for an intruder to gain access to your possessions, and in many cases, your main house by entering through your garage. This is especially important if your garage door is of an age where the only security locking is a tiny latch in the centre of the door at the top. These latches are mainly linked via a cable to a handle which, if broken, enables operation of the latch instantly and quietly. On garage doors with badly fitted timber frames, it is also extremely easy to force the latch from outside quietly and efficiently.
Many older garage doors, whatever the type, have very poor security if properly examined. These present an easy target for would-be intruders as a garage is not seen as quite as substantial a challenge as the main house. Cheap and badly fitted electric operators do not offer any better security either; they need to be specified and installed correctly to a good, solid-built door.
Whilst reviewing the various government web sites that list incidents of crime, you will see that the garage is a regularly targeted, vulnerable area, especially when there is access to the main house through the garage.
Consideration must be given to the actual door panel itself. The garage door panels may look attractive, but look closer and you could see that the panel is only thin, and could be cut or smashed through relatively easily.
Inferior (and therefore frequently cheaper) GRP doors are an example of this; the price is low because of the lack of material used in the door panel itself, and therefore the strength and security is compromised. However brilliant the locks might be, if you can kick a hole in the door panel, their quality becomes quite irrelevant as they can be operated by the hand that has slipped easily through the hole! Cheap timber garage doors with a plywood face backing are also another example of garage doors that could be easily penetrated.
Protect Against Intruders
Modern garage doors of nearly all types do now at least come with a euro profile cylinder locking system as standard, and use locking rods rather than cables. Any decent one piece up and over will have a minimum of two locking points internally. Quite often, you will be able to upgrade to the option of a four-point locking at a small extra charge - both Hormann and Garador offer this. But, do remember - the locking on a garage door can only be as effective as the overall strength of the door panel itself, and the fixing sub frame it operates within. If the door panel is flimsy it can be easily bent, forcing the locks and likewise for the sub frame whether it be timber or steel. It must be fitted square and with the right fixings to prevent any form of forcing.
Contact Us to Find Out More
Specifications on the locking and design of garage doors are constantly changing. So, for up to date information on the very latest availability, telephone our sales office or e-mail us directly with your requirements.
Come along to our Northamptonshire showroom, where you can view and try out our range of garage and entrance doors for security for yourself.
