Key Vault

[JAG2955]

I really don't post much here, but I thought this might be helpful to some people.

Backstory:
In August, I was at work and my wife got off work early.  She worked out in the garage, left it open, and went inside.  Two guys stole a gas can (Non-CARB compliant Jerry-can, damn them!) from our open garage.  Filed a police report, but didn't catch them.  We live in suburbia, surrounded by other Marines.  I put one of those battery-powered key coded garage door remotes outside.  Funny enough, after this happened, the whole block bought them.  Well, I worked out on Tuesday night, Crossfit stuff, sprint around the block, come back, etc, etc.  All of the doors were locked, and I keyed in the code to shut the garage door.  When I came back and keyed in the code, it just blinked and wouldn't open.  I still don't know why, dead battery, some kid messing with it, or whatever.  I had no key on me, but luckily I was able to use my hide-a-key from the truck to open the truck and use that garage door opener to open the door.  I wasn't worried about getting back into the house, because I have a house key inside of the gun safe, which is in the garage.

Fast forward to Friday, when I was getting my DOD decals renewed.  I noticed a small key box with a simplex-type lock in the PMO office.  I found one at Lowe's, for about $30.  It's called AccessPoint, by GE.  It's a metal box, about 3"x2"x1" that can hold two keys.  I bought it and installed it underneath my deck using 3 1/2" decking screws, not the little 1" ones that come with it.  It's probably better than dropping a key under a flower pot, but I sure wouldn't mount it where it can be seen or pried at.  It's a pretty hefty little box, and I think that it might be of good use to some of you as well.

http://www.amazon.com/AccessPoint-Original-Slimline-Pushbutton-Combination/dp/product-description/B000GTQU22

[phlat]

Those work well.  I know of one small aviation company that leaves keys for people to pick up after hours in them.  That way you can have a 'wall' of keys and just tell the person which box and the code.  Then I'm assuming they change the code later.  I fooled around with it and from my guessing you could press 1 or every button and never know how many numbers were in the code since they actually click and dont reset till you hit the slide in the middle.  And yea, it didn't look like it'd stand up to much prying.

[Peter Pumpkin Eater]

Thanks for posting this.  Several general contractors I work for use a similar version of this that goes around the doorknob or fence post and locks down on to it.  You put the code in slide the switch down and it pops open revealing the key inside while leaving the box where it is hung.  The ones that they use are pretty thick metal and I dont think that they could be "pryed" open or even smashed open with a hammer.  Thanks again for posting.

Pete

[JerseyVince]

I use one of these but mine has a combination lock under a cover on the front 4 digit 4 roller style I only keep spare keys in it and keep it hidden but it keeps the keys dry and wandering off. dont forget a garage key too if yours is seperate fom the house, locking your keys in the garage can happen too 

[mxitman]

Yea most of the contractors I worked for have these on buildings we need to access after hours. They work slick and I've even got one myself. We had one building that didn't renew a contract and so the last time I was there I was supposed to remove it from the concrete wall. We used concrete hammer in anchors, I pulled the front of it off and just to see how tough it was I used a 3lb sledge hammer on it...it never broke and started to get loose enough from the wall that I could use my sawzall on it...

I think that if someone did remove one of these it would take some time to get one open...

[nafterize]

I got tired of occasionally locking myself out so I picked up one of these from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-5400D-Set-Your-Own-Combination/dp/B0002YP1VC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346544037&sr=8-2&keywords=masterlock+key+box

It will fit a few keys and the combination is simple to change. I've attached it in a discrete location and the box itself seems pretty strong. It would be much more difficult to retrieve keys from the box than to smash my apartment's windows in, so that's secure enough for me.

[cpf240]

I had no key on me, but luckily I was able to use my hide-a-key from the truck to open the truck and use that garage door opener to open the door.

I know the OP posted this a while ago, but I just had to add to it.

How hard would it be for someone to break into your vehicle and use the garage door remote to gain access to the garage, and possibly the house? For this reason I only put garage door remotes in vehicles that are parked in the garage. When I do have to leave a vehicle outside the garage that has a garage door remote in it, I either remove the remote from the vehicle, or flip the security switch on the garage door opener to disable the remotes.

There are several neighbors on my block who park their car in the driveway, use the remote to open the garage door, and then walk into the house through the unlocked interior garage door. They assume that since the remote is locked in the car, no one would be able to just walk into their house, so why bother locking the interior door?

On a related note, I can't believe how many of my neighbors leave their garage doors open all day and most of the night. Forgetting the fact that this is against HOA rules ( yeah, I know - we are working on moving ) , its an open invitation to those less than honest types. One neighbor had several expensive bicycles stolen this way.