Securing outbuildings and workshops is fairly easy and its objective is to make it as difficult and as noisy as possible for any thief to break in, and to create sufficient aggravation for them so they go and burgle somewhere else instead meaning your property remains with you.
For simplicity I will keep this fairly generic and the reader can decide what applies to them and how they can modify, adapt, or use an idea for their own benefit.
To begin I always like to do a survey of an existing building and ask one simple question “how would I break in to steal something” and adopt such a stance, so the location and approach to a workshop is the first thing to look at, followed by its construction materials and method of construction.
First is the approach to the workshop/sheds/outbuildings and what you can do to make it as noisy as possible so any dogs or you yourself can hear them approach your outbuilding; one simple method is to lay gravel paths as they are noisy to walk on and may not wake you up, but most dogs will hear it and bark. Most human reactions to a barking dog is “why is the dog barking” and you are alerted to something so you can investigate; other options also exist and a couple of proximity/motion sensors can be fitted to detect anyone near your outbuildings and you can fit a range of powered alarm sirens.
Security lighting is a must for night time and you can set an array of systems using mains power, or battery power if you don’t have permanent mains power, any form of security lighting which illuminates the entire perimeter of an outbuilding is good security, but times have moved on. Some security lighting emits a signal and you get a small receiver which plugs into any mains socket in the home and sounds if your security lighting is activated so you can move the receiver to the bedroom when you go to bed.
As you near an outbuilding you can see any weaknesses, how many doors or windows does it have? What type of construction is it, and what materials is it made from? Where is it located on your property? And can others gain access from any neighbouring properties, or hide out of sight on another property.
Many people like to locate their outbuildings at the bottom of the garden where they are out of sight, but out of sight means not visible to you and we can see the first flaw here; if building a new workshop/outbuilding locating it nearer the house makes it more visible and often within range of other things such as security lights or CCTV on an access route.
Materials are very important, a brick/block/concrete based material is good for security as it is permanent and difficult to break through without making a lot of noise which only leaves the roof and any windows or doors as vulnerable.
Wooden structures are generally poor as they are usually based upon various tongue and groove type materials such as shiplap, often they are normally nailed to a frame and each lap relies on its interlocking neighbours for its strength, but there are things you can do to secure them.
Popular sheet metal clad structures are somewhere between masonry constructed outbuildings and wooden buildings depending on how you have constructed them and in particular, what fastening system you have used to attach the metal cladding material.
Windows are the most vulnerable area of any structure as most are single glazing using glass, glass is easily smashed and often windows are large enough for a thief to gain entry and remove sizeable objects. Windows are also vulnerable because any potential thief can look through them and see what equipment you have and plan what to steal before coming back and robbing you.
Window grills are easily made and they need to be made from substantial materials and not the cheap thin wire meshes as these are easily cut with small bolt cutters or decent pliers, and with a decent security grill you can hang a curtain on the inside of this to stop prying eyes.
Doors are more complex, if you have a garage type of up and over garage door these are often made from very thin steel with thin reinforcing sections which are riveted together, they are easily prised open at the bottom corners to an extent where a thief can crawl into your workshop. One method of securing them is to fit a pair of decent quality hasps onto the door frame near to the bottom of the door as possible, fit the staples to the garage door and when you leave you can push a bolt through each of them to stop the door bottom corners being prised open. If you need to get something wide through the doors you fold the hasp back for the full width of the doorway.
If you have a manual or powered roller shutter door these are terrible for security as they can be easily prised upwards to the point where a thief can get it high enough to slither under the door as the “U” guides/runners also act as guides for a door being prised upwards.
Most of the roller shutter doors have an angle iron reinforcing section on the bottom of the door and you simply drill this with two or more holes to pass a bolt through; if you have a lathe you can turn a slug and centre drill it and tap to the size of bolt you will be using. Lower the door and mark the floor through your drilled holes, lift the door and drill the floor to accept your turned slugs, and fit them into position, lower your door and fit your bolts to ensure everything fits and chemical anchor your slugs into the floor and allow to fully cure.
If you don’t have a lathe then take some short pieces of round bar and mark out the centre, blind drill and tap a thread into these, take an angle grinder with slitting disc and cut several slits into the slug for adhesion, use these instead of turned slugs.
If you have traditional hinged doors the weakest point is usually the hinges as most thieves simply knock the hinge pin out of them, or they simply undo the screws holding then to the door frame or the door. Welding the hinge pin into the hinge is a good move then removing the fixing screws and replacing them with the security screws such as clutch screws is another good move, but I can go one better than this.
Make your own hinges using substantial flat strap such as 50 X 8mm is a good idea, you heat up one end and roll your eye onto it, you then mark out the front face and centre pop them for the screw holes, then paint the eye and inside face (one on contact with the door) and allow to dry. Instead of drilling and countersinking the front face for mounting screws you drill them with a tapping size drill and tap a thread such as M6 or M8 into them and very lightly countersink the outer face. Offer your new home made hinge to your door and mark through the holes and drill your workshop door, from inside your workshop you insert a piece of threaded bar and screw it into your hinge right up the end of the threads but not into the countersink. You can put a weld tack to hold your threaded bar to your hinge but this is optional. From the inside you fit a heavy duty penny washer or similar over your threaded bar and fit 2 nuts, tighten the first one up and once it’s tight you lock it with the second nut and cut any remaining threaded bar off leaving a couple of threads protruding, crack this extra thread with the ball end of a ball peen hammer to burr the end of the threads over. Repeat until all your mounting holes are fitted and tightened and go back to the outside and fill your countersinks with body filler or similar, sand smooth and apply a couple of coats of paint.
Your local thief comes along at dark o clock in the morning with his cordless drill and double ended bit, intent on removing your hinge mounting screws and there is nothing to see except a flat face to your heavy duty hinge and no visible method of how it is secured.
For simplicity I will keep this fairly generic and the reader can decide what applies to them and how they can modify, adapt, or use an idea for their own benefit.
To begin I always like to do a survey of an existing building and ask one simple question “how would I break in to steal something” and adopt such a stance, so the location and approach to a workshop is the first thing to look at, followed by its construction materials and method of construction.
First is the approach to the workshop/sheds/outbuildings and what you can do to make it as noisy as possible so any dogs or you yourself can hear them approach your outbuilding; one simple method is to lay gravel paths as they are noisy to walk on and may not wake you up, but most dogs will hear it and bark. Most human reactions to a barking dog is “why is the dog barking” and you are alerted to something so you can investigate; other options also exist and a couple of proximity/motion sensors can be fitted to detect anyone near your outbuildings and you can fit a range of powered alarm sirens.
Security lighting is a must for night time and you can set an array of systems using mains power, or battery power if you don’t have permanent mains power, any form of security lighting which illuminates the entire perimeter of an outbuilding is good security, but times have moved on. Some security lighting emits a signal and you get a small receiver which plugs into any mains socket in the home and sounds if your security lighting is activated so you can move the receiver to the bedroom when you go to bed.
As you near an outbuilding you can see any weaknesses, how many doors or windows does it have? What type of construction is it, and what materials is it made from? Where is it located on your property? And can others gain access from any neighbouring properties, or hide out of sight on another property.
Many people like to locate their outbuildings at the bottom of the garden where they are out of sight, but out of sight means not visible to you and we can see the first flaw here; if building a new workshop/outbuilding locating it nearer the house makes it more visible and often within range of other things such as security lights or CCTV on an access route.
Materials are very important, a brick/block/concrete based material is good for security as it is permanent and difficult to break through without making a lot of noise which only leaves the roof and any windows or doors as vulnerable.
Wooden structures are generally poor as they are usually based upon various tongue and groove type materials such as shiplap, often they are normally nailed to a frame and each lap relies on its interlocking neighbours for its strength, but there are things you can do to secure them.
Popular sheet metal clad structures are somewhere between masonry constructed outbuildings and wooden buildings depending on how you have constructed them and in particular, what fastening system you have used to attach the metal cladding material.
Windows are the most vulnerable area of any structure as most are single glazing using glass, glass is easily smashed and often windows are large enough for a thief to gain entry and remove sizeable objects. Windows are also vulnerable because any potential thief can look through them and see what equipment you have and plan what to steal before coming back and robbing you.
Window grills are easily made and they need to be made from substantial materials and not the cheap thin wire meshes as these are easily cut with small bolt cutters or decent pliers, and with a decent security grill you can hang a curtain on the inside of this to stop prying eyes.
Doors are more complex, if you have a garage type of up and over garage door these are often made from very thin steel with thin reinforcing sections which are riveted together, they are easily prised open at the bottom corners to an extent where a thief can crawl into your workshop. One method of securing them is to fit a pair of decent quality hasps onto the door frame near to the bottom of the door as possible, fit the staples to the garage door and when you leave you can push a bolt through each of them to stop the door bottom corners being prised open. If you need to get something wide through the doors you fold the hasp back for the full width of the doorway.
If you have a manual or powered roller shutter door these are terrible for security as they can be easily prised upwards to the point where a thief can get it high enough to slither under the door as the “U” guides/runners also act as guides for a door being prised upwards.
Most of the roller shutter doors have an angle iron reinforcing section on the bottom of the door and you simply drill this with two or more holes to pass a bolt through; if you have a lathe you can turn a slug and centre drill it and tap to the size of bolt you will be using. Lower the door and mark the floor through your drilled holes, lift the door and drill the floor to accept your turned slugs, and fit them into position, lower your door and fit your bolts to ensure everything fits and chemical anchor your slugs into the floor and allow to fully cure.
If you don’t have a lathe then take some short pieces of round bar and mark out the centre, blind drill and tap a thread into these, take an angle grinder with slitting disc and cut several slits into the slug for adhesion, use these instead of turned slugs.
If you have traditional hinged doors the weakest point is usually the hinges as most thieves simply knock the hinge pin out of them, or they simply undo the screws holding then to the door frame or the door. Welding the hinge pin into the hinge is a good move then removing the fixing screws and replacing them with the security screws such as clutch screws is another good move, but I can go one better than this.
Make your own hinges using substantial flat strap such as 50 X 8mm is a good idea, you heat up one end and roll your eye onto it, you then mark out the front face and centre pop them for the screw holes, then paint the eye and inside face (one on contact with the door) and allow to dry. Instead of drilling and countersinking the front face for mounting screws you drill them with a tapping size drill and tap a thread such as M6 or M8 into them and very lightly countersink the outer face. Offer your new home made hinge to your door and mark through the holes and drill your workshop door, from inside your workshop you insert a piece of threaded bar and screw it into your hinge right up the end of the threads but not into the countersink. You can put a weld tack to hold your threaded bar to your hinge but this is optional. From the inside you fit a heavy duty penny washer or similar over your threaded bar and fit 2 nuts, tighten the first one up and once it’s tight you lock it with the second nut and cut any remaining threaded bar off leaving a couple of threads protruding, crack this extra thread with the ball end of a ball peen hammer to burr the end of the threads over. Repeat until all your mounting holes are fitted and tightened and go back to the outside and fill your countersinks with body filler or similar, sand smooth and apply a couple of coats of paint.
Your local thief comes along at dark o clock in the morning with his cordless drill and double ended bit, intent on removing your hinge mounting screws and there is nothing to see except a flat face to your heavy duty hinge and no visible method of how it is secured.