Garden sheds are a useful addition to any outdoor space, providing a convenient location to store away gardening tools, equipment and other belongings. However, unfortunately, they can be a major security risk.
Often targeted by criminals, wooden sheds are separate from the house but can contain valuable equipment and tools, and this makes them highly appealing to thieves who want to minimise their chances of being caught.
If you have a garden shed, you should put some serious thought into how you’re going to secure it so that you won’t be at risk of becoming a target for thieves.
With this in mind, finding a way to secure your shed couldn’t be more important. So here are our top 10 tips to make yours as well-protected as possible.
- Carefully Choose A Location
- Making Your Garden Unappealing To Thieves
- Secure Your Windows And Roof
- Choosing The Right Locks And Doors
- Use Built-In Storage Units
- Fit Security Lighting
- Fit A Security Camera
- Fit A Burglar Alarm
- Take Out Insurance
- Choose A Security Shed
- Carefully Choose A Location
In an ideal scenario, you’ll position your shed so it can’t be viewed from the road but still within sight of your house. After all, if your shed is targeted by thieves you need to be able to catch them in the act. A shed visible from the road is inviting inquisitive eyes wondering what could be inside.
2. Making Your Garden Unappealing To Thieves
Thieves are typically opportunists, therefore hiding all valuables from sight is imperative. Also, since thieves usually target properties that are easy to access, consider putting up some high fences or growing your hedges as tall as possible.
Whenever possible minimise the entrances to your garden and fit lockable gates which can’t be seen through. The challenge of getting inside will deter most thieves from bothering.
3. Secure Your Windows And Roof
A common security risk for sheds is that the roof can be popped off. Ensure you’ve screwed your shed roof on properly to avoid this. Screw or bolt it at regular intervals to its frame. Put up curtains or blinds too, and pack all items inside in drawers, cupboards or boxes.
If possible, you should select a shed with no windows but if you require a source of natural light, fit security shutters to the windows and secure them using a strong padlock.
Avoid single-glazed glass in your shed windows since these can easily be broken. Shatterproof Styrene, double glazing and laminated glass are all good alternatives, while smaller windows make it more difficult for criminals to see inside and gain access.
4. Choosing The Right Locks And Doors
Standard shed doors don’t keep out intruders who are determined to get in. To be as secure as possible you need to choose a fully framed door that allows you to fit yale-style or mortice locks.
Although pad bolts and hasp and staple fasteners aren’t as secure, their efficacy can be improved by fitting round-head coach bolts to the lock plates and external hinges. These are more difficult for thieves to remove.
Also, fix a metal plate onto the rear of the shed door as this will stop the lock from being cut out by criminals. If you use padlocks, choose the very best high-security insurance approved ones
5. Use Built-In Storage Units
If criminals get into your shed, you need to find a way to prevent them from taking anything. Lockable cabinets, cupboards and drawers are a good further line of defence for you to invest in.
Choose built in storage units whenever possible so that thieves cannot simply take the entire unit with them, bolt free-standing large tools to the shed floor and use ring bolts fixed to the walls or floor to secure lawnmowers and bikes.
6. Fit Security Lighting
Burglars can be easily frightened off by security lights, so fit some motion sensitive lighting around your shed. Connect it to your mains power or use solar powered lights.
7. Fit A Security Camera
Although dummy cameras fitted to your shed could deter burglars, it’s best to use a genuine camera security system which will record video footage to internal storage chips and directly stream it to your phone or PC. You can buy motion-triggered models that are convenient and surprisingly affordable.
8. Fit A Burglar Alarm
You could wire up your garden shed to the alarm system protecting your home, but another alternative is a simple battery powered, motion sensitive alarm which is affordable and loud.
9. Take Out Insurance
Although protecting your shed is important, you may still fail to deter an extremely determined burglar. In such cases, you need the protection of adequate insurance. Prepare for the worst and protect yourself by taking out cover to replace your most valuable items.
Look at your home insurance policy wording carefully to determine whether or not the contents of garden sheds and outbuildings will be covered for theft or accidental damage. If not, you may need to take out additional cover.
10. Choose A Security Shed
Security sheds are a great choice if you want to be absolutely certain that you’ve stored your valuables, tools and equipment as safely as possible. These sheds are designed with security specifically in mind.
They have high, small windows that are glazed with extra-strong panes and come with tamper-proof pad bolts, heavy-duty floors and roofs, and anti-vandal screws so you can enjoy complete peace of mind that your possessions are secure and safe all year round.
Choosing Your Perfect Garden Shed
Although no shed can be said to be 100% secure, you can make sure that you’ve done everything possible to protect its contents from theft. It stands to reason that, wherever possible, you should avoid leaving any items in your garden shed that you don’t want to lose, but when this is impossible, you should always make sure that you’ve taken every possible precaution to ensure their security.