Why are so many people leaving their garage doors open all day?

[Zeus-cat]

Three of our four neighbors do this a lot. I just walked out to get the mail and saw that my closest neighbor has one of his big garage doors open. I bet if I check in another hour or two it will still be open. We usually go for walks in the morning and afternoon and will often see the same doors open on both walks. And no one in sight! Its Ohio, its 24 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Not only does it have to cool off your house as these are attached garages, but where we live all sorts of critters can wander in. And we see this all the time. Do you do this? Do you know someone that does? Why?

 

[heada]

I've seen similar when people are getting ready to leave first thing in the morning. They'll open the garage door, start the car to warm up and then go inside for 5-20 minutes. I assume its so that the car exhaust doesn't build up.

 

[Mushtang]

I used to leave mine open during the day on the weekends because I was in and out so much, but not when it was super cold. But then I got a letter from the HOA and we stopped doing that. Now we close it most of the time regardless.

 

[smugglervt]

Nope, live in a rural area and the doors stay closed all the time. No sense letting everyone going by see what's available for the picking if they were so inclined.

 

[BA_Incognito]

There are a couple of houses in our neighborhood that do this. Garage doors open every day, they are closed sometime in the evening, then reopened in the morning. Winter, spring, summer, fall, rain or shine. Most of these are packed full of stuff too. With one they can't even get their car inside - and its a 2-car garage! I waited a long time to get a garage, and I keep mine neat and closed. Only time it stays open is if I am outside working.

 

[Cl(VII)]

I accidentally did this once...cost me an air compressor and compound miter saw.

When I replaced it I got one with an auto close timer. Closes automatically after 5 min unless you push the override button.

My understanding is that some particularly aggressive HOAs actually require folks to leave their doors up, so they can ensure the garage hasn't been turned into living space. As for doing it voluntarily, I only do it when I'm actively working outside, or the kids are playing in the area of the driveway.

 

[Bat-mite]

Haven't seen that and don't get it ....

 

[OverTheTop]

Maybe extra light? Ventilation? Broken mechanism? Wanting people to steal their stuff?

Personally we only open when cars go in or out. That keeps the cats out of the workshop, and prying eyes off (although they still get to see the cats).

 

[lakeroadster]

Our neighbors across the street do that. If they are home, the doors are open. And they complain about mice getting into the dog food?

Another neighbor had his John Deere riding lawn mower stolen, and his nearly new SUV... right out of the garage. Keys were in both of them.

Now, when I'm out in the garage or barn I'll have the door up. But I bought a screen to go over the door opening. It's really pretty awesome. It keeps out bugs, and folks outside can't see what's in the garage.. or what you are doing.

 

[Andrew_ASC]

Since mom moved to a neighborhood of $600-800k houses... We can’t leave the garage door open. The police will come by and demand its shut. We lol’d so much. We had lived in a $250k house and nobody cared what you did with the garage door.

 

[pondman]

Made the mistake of not closing one of our garage doors this past fall. At 2:30 AM or so there is a vigorous knock on the front door from one of the local policemen to check on the situation. Not fun....

 

[BrAdam]

I used to be a police officer. When I first started I would stop at houses with doors open and explain risk of theft or burglary and most all would thank me and close the doors. After seeing many people not heed warnings, I stopped this practice and only showed up to take the unsolvable theft complaints after the fact. Some people just want to be victims. So, lesson, lock your house doors, even when you’re home and lock your car doors no mater where it’s parked. Windows down doesn’t count. Yes many of the burglary complaints taken over the years happened with the homeowner in the house unaware someone was in there with them.

 

[muddymooose]

Nope, live in a rural area and the doors stay closed all the time. No sense letting everyone going by see what's available for the picking if they were so inclined.

Same here. Whenever I have my garage door open for more than a few minutes I start to feel like I have my pants down. Once I was having a garage sale in my driveway (with the garage doors closed) but had to open one of the doors for a minute to get something. It didn't take long before people were peeking inside my garage asking if this or that was for sale. Kind of bothered me because I didn't want people knowing what I had.

Only time I have a door open for an extended period is if I'm working on a vehicle in the ample light of the driveway and keep going in and out.

 

[muddymooose]

I've seen similar when people are getting ready to leave first thing in the morning. They'll open the garage door, start the car to warm up and then go inside for 5-20 minutes. I assume its so that the car exhaust doesn't build up.

Whenever I do this I back the car out and then shut the door and let it warm up in the driveway. I found that even with the door open, the exhaust fumes quickly get downright noxious.

 

[OverTheTop]

Same here. Whenever I have my garage door open for more than a few minutes I start to feel like I have my pants down.

I can relate to that.

 

[mjstech]

I got an auto closer. Lost 1k in DeWalt tools and $300 in RC cars. And they knocked a rocket over. I was gone for 30 mins or so during the afternoon.

 

[Banzai88]

I live in a coastal region, most of the property around here is drained swamp with a backfill of about 6 inches of top soil. VERY wet all year round. No basements, few crawlspaces, mostly concrete slabs. Opening a garage door and leaving it open all day long is VERY common here: It's the ONLY way to dry out your garage and the slab, or you find that EVERYTHING in your garage is going to start to mold and mildew.

No one, though, leaves the door open when we leave. In fact, my little court looks out for each other by knowing some codes to be able to close each other's doors just in case.

 

[Zeus-cat]

...
No one, though, leaves the door open when we leave. In fact, my little court looks out for each other by knowing some codes to be able to close each other's doors just in case.

I need a code to open my garage door, but no code to close it.

 

[lakeroadster]

I live in a coastal region, most of the property around here is drained swamp with a backfill of about 6 inches of top soil. VERY wet all year round. No basements, few crawlspaces, mostly concrete slabs. Opening a garage door and leaving it open all day long is VERY common here: It's the ONLY way to dry out your garage and the slab, or you find that EVERYTHING in your garage is going to start to mold and mildew.

No one, though, leaves the door open when we leave. In fact, my little court looks out for each other by knowing some codes to be able to close each other's doors just in case.

With proper construction techniques (vapor barrier under the slab) and a properly sized dehumidifier the problem would be remedied. Thus the garage design would be no different than the home itself. Folks tend to cheap out on the garage.

But without the vapor barrier it's a no win situation.

 

[tomsteve]

I used to be a police officer. When I first started I would stop at houses with doors open and explain risk of theft or burglary and most all would thank me and close the doors. After seeing many people not heed warnings, I stopped this practice and only showed up to take the unsolvable theft complaints after the fact.

i was quite.....stupified?..... when i heard someone say they leave their garage door open "because i have security cameras set up and will catch anyone that tries to steal anything."

 

[kuririn]

Common sense is very uncommon.
Some people think it won't happen to them.
That's why they (fill in the blank):
Keep garage doors open
Don't lock their doors and gates at night
Drive without seat belts on
The list goes on.
Some people have to learn the hard way. And some people never learn at all.
Don't worry about it, just take care of yourself and your family.
Cheers.