3:00 a.m.
You wake up to the sound of your neighbor’s dog barking. Irritated at both your neighbor and his dog, you roll over and try to get back to sleep. Finally, after fifteen minutes, the barking stops and you drift off into a peaceful sleep.
The next morning, as you’re getting ready for work, you glance into your backyard. Somebody left your shed doors open. Grabbing a bathrobe, you walk out to close the shed doors while munching a piece of toast. As you get closer, you notice that something doesn’t seem right. One of the double doors is hanging down at a crazy angle. Looking past the door, you see the inside of the shed is a crazy mess of rakes, shovels, and christmas decorations.
You have been burglarized.
How did this happen? The double doors are still locked, you notice, but the hinges have been completely removed. You can now see the screw holes where the hinges used to be. First disbelief, then anger as you realize that all anyone needed to conveniently access your stuff was a power drill. The lock means nothing if the screws are exposed for easy removal.
You Can Prevent This Scenario
With hinges it comes down to two things: thickness and design. Several years ago when we set out to find the perfect hinge, we discovered it didn’t exist. So we sourced a custom hinge to meet our criteria.
Thickness
A hinge that is made of flimsy steel can be destroyed with a crowbar. Always look for hinges that aren’t made of thin straps of steel, but are nice and thick. Our hinges are made of ⅛ inch thick steel. Besides keeping your stuff safe, a thick hinge can also prevent bending and warping.
Design
This is super important. Even a heavy duty hinge, if it is poorly designed, can easily be removed. Look for a hinge that bolts all the way through the door, rather than just screwing into the outside layer of siding. The biggest key is to avoid exposed screwheads. The best option is carriage bolts. Carriage bolts have a smooth round head that makes them virtually impossible to remove from the outside. Notice the carriage bolts on our hinge assembly below:
One More Thing
Don’t forget the latch. Whether your shed has a latch you can lock with a key, or has the type you can padlock, make sure it it has screws on the inside, securing the latch from any outside attempts at removal.
Here at Ulrich, our latch is secured from the inside so you can’t remove the latch plate from the outside.
When a thief is cruising your neighborhood, he’s looking for quick and easy access to your stuff. Getting theft resistant hinges not only protects you in case he attempts to break in, but makes it much less likely that he will try.