Thanks everyone, that's a lot to take in.

I'll have a good read and will likely have more questions.

Everyone's talking about cameras and motion detection and push notifications etc and that's great, but no mention of what's actually being done to prevent these crims from gaining entry in the first place.

I'm keen to hear what sort of garage the OP has, and how the burglars gained access to it. All the cameras/alarms in the world won't stop someone if the doors/windows/locks are weak points.

When I rebuilt my standalone garage a coupe of years ago (old one buggered in Canty earthquakes), I stipulated no windows in the design - preventing people seeing what's ripe for stealing inside is half the battle. I have some corrugated clearlight panels in the roof to provide daylight in there but they are opaque -  so even if they climb on the roof they still can't see what's in there.

The main entry is via a sectional door with an automatic opener. I prefer a sectional door as each of the 5/6 sections has wheels top and bottom holding the section in alignment. More strength is required to brute force these out of alignment to gain access versus say a tilt door. The best advice I can give for auto doors is to take the cord dangling from the emergency quick release mechanism and throw it away. Burglars can (and do) use a coat hangar or similar to "fish" for the release cords through the top of the door - YouTube videos show people gaining access to garages in mere seconds using this method.

I also have a pedestrian door in my garage. While it's not a solid core door, it is clad in steel on both sides and has the regular type of twist knob & lock, plus a separate dead bolt lock that goes extra deep onto the door frame. They'd have to completely destroy the door and frame to get in at this point. Even so, I'm thinking about upgrading to a solid core door with top and bottom bolts built into the door handle (pull handle up to deploy top/bottom bolts, push down to unlock/open).

I keep a couple of reasonably nice cars inside the garage - not necessarily worth huge money but both of them are restored mostly by my own hand and rare enough to make replacing them almost impossible. These are locked at all times and the keys are kept in a hidden commercial grade safe bolted to the wall and floor inside the house. Yes I'd be gutted if someone broke in and stole my expensive tools, but I'd be even more gutted if they used my own cars to drive my sh1t out of there....

PS I do have multiple remote cameras also, but they won't stop crims. My wife is the general manager of a lock and alarm company and she says the same thing - quality locks stop people gaining access to steal your stuff, monitored alarms alert that your stuff is being stolen, and CCTV just proves to your insurer that your loss claim is legit. 

IMO garages these days should be insulated because they often end up being turned into a room anyway. We have a window in ours, but it is high and is a fixed pane.  Velux skylights IMO are a far better option than clearlight sheeting, as they are usually double glazed, you can get blinds for them, and they don't discolour or breakdown in UV. Plus clearlight can cause rooms to overheat and could also get condensation on the underside,

Wheelbarrow01: so even if they climb on the roof they still can't see what's in there.

 

CCTV just proves to your insurer that your loss claim is legit.

Shipping containers are popular for storage for a reason. If I climbed onto your garage roof with an electric drill (quieter than impact driver) it would take less than a minute to remove a sheet of roofing. That approach would probably mean it wasn't a random job. In the 1970s a motorcycle was even stolen by being lifted up through the roof as there were cars blocking exit through door.

A burglars residential house checklist:

 

1. Is the house exterior well lit?
2. Can I see cameras?
3. Can I see an alarm?
4. Do they have dogs?
5. Are there gravel paths around the house which makes noise when I sneak around?
6. Is the house and entry points visible from the road?

If you say no to all of these things, you are screwed.

heavenlywild:

 

Any recommendations on external motion sensors that make a chime?

 

Ideally also sends a notification to a mobile too.

 

That is a good question! I run things through Home Assistant and wire things up with esp32's & ESPhome.

There's some solar light alarm devices on AliExpress at ~$35. ~$15 for ones just with an obnoxious siren.

An idea could be buying motion sensor solar lights from a hardware store and soldering a buzzer to the circuit.

^ Ideally want something wireless and just connect to WiFi to get it going.

I've been too spoilt with Eufy being so easy to get going.

jjnz1:

 

A burglars residential house checklist:

 

 

1. Is the house exterior well lit?
2. Can I see cameras?
3. Can I see an alarm?
4. Do they have dogs?
5. Are there gravel paths around the house which makes noise when I sneak around?
6. Is the house and entry points visible from the road?

 

If you say no to all of these things, you are screwed.

 

And I always leave.a pair of shoes outside the front door for good measure.

heavenlywild:

 

jjnz1:

 

A burglars residential house checklist:

 

 

1. Is the house exterior well lit?
2. Can I see cameras?
3. Can I see an alarm?
4. Do they have dogs?
5. Are there gravel paths around the house which makes noise when I sneak around?
6. Is the house and entry points visible from the road?

 

If you say no to all of these things, you are screwed.

 

 

And I always leave.a pair of shoes outside the front door for good measure.

 

Big pair of gumboots can be good LOL

mattwnz:

 

Big pair of gumboots can be good LOL

 

Good idea, I need to change it up!!!! 😄

Bung:

 

Shipping containers are popular for storage for a reason. If I climbed onto your garage roof with an electric drill (quieter than impact driver) it would take less than a minute to remove a sheet of roofing. That approach would probably mean it wasn't a random job. In the 1970s a motorcycle was even stolen by being lifted up through the roof as there were cars blocking exit through door.

 

I knew about that trick - so imagine my amazement to see corrugated iron being used as exterior wall cladding!  My old neighbour had it and walked past one day to see he was doing something in the wall cavity while his son was holding the iron sheet up.  I thought how easy it would be to remove a couple of batts and just bash a hole through the interior gib and crawl straight in.

Wheelbarrow01:

 

The main entry is via a sectional door with an automatic opener. I prefer a sectional door as each of the 5/6 sections has wheels top and bottom holding the section in alignment. More strength is required to brute force these out of alignment to gain access versus say a tilt door. The best advice I can give for auto doors is to take the cord dangling from the emergency quick release mechanism and throw it away. Burglars can (and do) use a coat hangar or similar to "fish" for the release cords through the top of the door - YouTube videos show people gaining access to garages in mere seconds using this method.

 

A good idea but before doing so, think of potential problems of removing the quick release cord remembering it is associated with the word "emergency" for a reason.  Natural disaster, power fails you have no way to get a vehicle and get out of dodge in an emergency.

Groucho:

 

A good idea but before doing so, think of potential problems of removing the quick release cord remembering it is associated with the word "emergency" for a reason.  Natural disaster, power fails you have no way to get a vehicle and get out of dodge in an emergency.

 

The quick release is still there and usable - it just no longer has a useless long cord attached to it, which makes 'fishing' for the precise location of the release lever itself quite a bit harder. I suppose the cord is useful for children/little people, but we don't have any of those in our household.

We have used outdoor lighting - low level bulkhead lights - down driveway and at strategic points around the house. These are about 5W each x 7 = 35W. They are activated by a daylight sensor, so operate all night.  The thinking behind these is to act as a deterrent (on the basis that if someone is looking at a house with no lighting vs one with significant lighting, they will choose the house with no lighting).

I had previously used motion sensors to switch on lights, but found these all failed after a few years.