Secure your Shed

Here are Squire's top tips to
minimise the risk of crime...

• Secure fences and boundaries
  Be sure they are in good condition and secure gates and access with good quality locks. Adding prickly hedges to boundaries or trellis adds to its security protection.
  
  
• Remove items not frequently used and secure them inside your house or garage with ground or wall anchors.
  
  
• Cut back overgrown areas where a thief could hide
  Tidy up overgrown areas so thieves can't go about their work unseen. Gravel on paths and driveways can helpfully alert you to someone approaching, whilst thorny plants and trellis provide extra protection for boundaries. Keep in mind though that spiky plants and hedges can be dangerous for young fingers.
  
  
• Ensure you have lighting. Opt for security lighting that's time-controlled, motion or light sensitive or choose attractive architectural lighting. Lighting vulnerable areas leaves burglars feeling exposed and discourages attack.
  
  
• Keep items secure with wall and ground anchors
  Combined with strong cables and good quality padlocks, locking items to floors or walls will prevent them being easily taken. Consider removing items not used as frequently and secure them inside your house or garage. Ground and wall anchors are also an excellent way of securing items INSIDE your shed. Filling ornaments with heavy gravel will also prevent them from being lifted easily. Expensive plants are better positioned in view of the house as thieves are known to steal plants as well as tools and expensive garden furniture.
  
  
• Secure items inside sheds with a strong padlock. Be mindful that tools and ladders can be used by thieves to break into your home, so it is vital these items are properly secured. It's important to consider the type of hasp for your padlock. Some cheaper hasps are too weak to withstand an attack - there is little point using a strong padlock with a weak hasp. A padbar is similar to a hasp and staple, but stronger and more resistant to attack. Consider the 'hinge' side of the door, burglars may prise a door from the hinge side if the lock side is strongest. Use non-return/security screws to secure where necessary.
  
  
• Secure shed and garage windows
  Use Perspex or polycarbonate sheet instead of glass if it is fixed well and use a window lock on opening windows and a strong grille or heavy wire mesh.
  
  
• Extra care for allotment owners
  Allotment owners need to give extra consideration to their sheds, because of their isolated location. Although allotments can be busy places at certain times, at other times they can be quiet and unattended, leaving goods particularly vulnerable.
  
  
• Make sure your garden and shed items are covered by your insurance
  An important piece of furniture, or dining table may be insured, but what about a garden table which may be just as valuable. There are often upper limits on the amount insurers pay out for stolen bicycles, and victims of burglary may find they don't receive the full amount needed to replace stolen bicycles.
  
  
• Mark your possessions visibly and permanently with your postcode and address. Make a list of what you keep in your garden and shed, photograph valuable items and keep receipts. Marking items makes it more difficult for a thief to sell on and therefore will act as a deterrent.
  
  
• Ask your neighbours to keep their eye on your shed as well as your house if you are going on holiday and you can do the same for them in return.
  
  
• Use an alarm
  Battery operated alarms may act as a deterrent. If you have a house alarm, it could be upgraded to include your shed or garage. If the garage is an integral part of your house, make sure the alarm conforms to BS 4737.
  
  
• Secure 'up and over' garage doors
  Put padlocks through the inside runners or by fitting a hasp and staple with a padlock at each side of the door.
  

• Hasps and staples
• Stronglock^TM
• All Terrain
• CP50
• Wall anchors
• CG1
• Garage Defender