installing a new, efficient garage door

Having a garage door with windows can provide aesthetic appeal while allowing natural light to illuminate the area. However, if a rush of recent garage break-ins in your neighborhood has you nervous about security, you may be wondering whether you should replace your windowed garage door with a solid steel one. Fortunately, there are several ways to increase your garage's resistance to burglary attempts while keeping your windows intact. Read on to learn more about garage door -- and window -- security.

What should you do to protect your garage's windows from entry attempts?

While garage door windows are generally too small for all but the slightest of burglars to slip through, a broken garage door window can allow a crafty criminal to release the emergency lever on your garage door, permitting him or her to pull up your door from the outside. Disengaging this lever by simply removing the pulley connecting it to the ceiling will prevent you from being able to automatically release the door during a power outage, but will also prevent any would-be burglars from ensuring easy access. 

You may also want to attach a thin mesh screen over the inside of each of your garage door windows. This will ensure that any broken glass falls outside, rather than inside, and should defeat burglary attempts by all but those with metal-piercing saws or torches (which, for the typical residential burglary, is highly unlikely).

What else can you do to improve your garage's security? 

If you enjoy the natural light filtered through your garage's windows but are concerned that outside passersby may use your windows as a quick way to inventory the belongings inside, you may want to put an opaque film over your windows. This film is available at a low cost at most home improvement stores and will permit the same light penetration as before (minus the potentially harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays) while eliminating others' ability to see any specific items inside your garage. 

You may also want to install a wide-angle peephole in the door connecting your garage to the rest of your home. This will ensure that you can see all events taking place in your garage while stationed securely inside your home, and can allow you plenty of time to barricade your door and call the police if you do hear mysterious noises inside your garage and suspect a burglar is responsible.

To learn more, contact a company like Edison Overhead Door.