Rebeccav, in the garage are there wall light switches to turn on/off the overhead lights, the outside lights, etc. Check to see if one of those switches works to turn on/off the power to the garage door opener. If yes, hopefully your Dad won't remember that said switch controls the electricity to the door.
If not, have an electrician come in to wire a wall light switch that will turn on/off the power to the garage door. That way you still have control if you use the garage for your vehicles.
Rebecca, we use a small C-clamp above the top roller on the door. You clamp it on the track so the wheels are essentially locked in place. You could do both tracks to be certain that he would have a big challenge to figure it out.
This stops anyone from opening the door, inside or out.
If you've secured all the exits, why would you need to secure the garage door? If he can't get out of the interior door leading to the garage, then he can't get out of the garage, either, right?
My mom has dementia as well & had the same issue. We happen to have shelving right by the door where the garage opener is, so I placed things in the way so you couldn't see the opener. Then I duct taped a small yogurt plastic cup over the opener on the wall. My train of thought was if it's not easy to see, then it at least helps a little to deter her a little & usually long enough for me to get to where she's at to handle the situation. Best of wishes to you and God Bless!
I'm not sure if you need to be able to open the door yourself or how frequently. Also not sure of his abilities. 1) You can disconnect the garage door opener from power. Mine unplugs from an outlet on the ceiling, or maybe there is a circuit breaker just for the garage that you can turn off. 2) You can pull the manual cord to disconnect it from the chain, as mentioned by Geaton777. He could still lift the door if he's strong enough. 3) Or you can intentionally misalign the sensors that make the door pop back up when it meets an obstruction. Mine are near the floor and get pushed out of alignment every once in a while. The door opener will not work until that little laser light shines across the opening to the sensor on the other side. 4) There are also high tech solutions, such as alarms that notify you when a door has been opened.
Good luck. Every time I add some sort of safety feature to our house, my mom somehow finds a new way to get in trouble. LOL That is really an exaggeration, and she does not have dementia, just dealing with being elderly.
I think we might need some details about why you need to secure the garage. Is he a wanderer who is left alone in the house during the day? Is he a wanderer who gets out of the house while people are home, possibly asleep? If you are securing all the exits to keep him from getting out, what else is going on?
Is it a current metal garage door that open overhead? Ours has metal bars on either side that we can slide to "lock" the door from the inside. You could also use a padlock.
padlock in the overhead rail as close to the door as you can. door might come up a couple of inches but that's about all. -and disable an auto door opener if you have one. ---- as for the house, please make sure you have not created a fire hazard. you can probably ask a fireman from your area to come to see what you've done and offer suggestions.
You can put a pair of vice grips on the two adjoining interior rails to prevent the two horizontal door panels from unfolding/opening up. Works on our door - and cheap.
In my garage my Son in law replaced the push button (just a simple up and down) with a key pad like you would have on the outside of the garage. We coded it the same as the outside so the grandkids could remember the code more easily. Works great so any handy person could do this or contact a garage door company and explain that you want a key pad on the inside of the garage. I also had to lock the car so my Husband could not use the remote to open the door. And I had to keep my keys hidden in the house so he could not find them. (oh the tricks we learn!)
Pit a lock thru one of the holes on the garage door rail. Even if you disable the opener her may figure out how to fix it. Keep one of the keys on your key ring, hide one somewhere in the garage or house. I'd also make a couple of spares for just in case. If this is to stop him from taking the car out, disable the vehicle, pull fuses or relays so it's not as noticeable as to what the actual problem is.
What type of door? Is it manual or electric? Presumably you want to keep him in not out. 1> If electric that probly means disabling the emergency release but that could be a dangerous fix in a panic situation. Maybe trick it out some way so it's still releasable by only you. 2 >Remove the wall switch and just use your remote.
Does it use an automatic opener? I have an older Genie and there's a pull chord which can disengage it from the chain so he won't be able to operate it unless he physically pulls the door open. Otherwise an old-fashioned lock and key like in the old days but not sure if he can open that from the inside. But this makes it inconvenient for you...
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If not, have an electrician come in to wire a wall light switch that will turn on/off the power to the garage door. That way you still have control if you use the garage for your vehicles.
This stops anyone from opening the door, inside or out.
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They really aren't very safe. Easy access to a home.
Good luck. Every time I add some sort of safety feature to our house, my mom somehow finds a new way to get in trouble. LOL That is really an exaggeration, and she does not have dementia, just dealing with being elderly.
Works great so any handy person could do this or contact a garage door company and explain that you want a key pad on the inside of the garage.
I also had to lock the car so my Husband could not use the remote to open the door. And I had to keep my keys hidden in the house so he could not find them. (oh the tricks we learn!)
Hi 777 looks like you can type faster. :-)