The early part of the new year is the perfect time to plan for a safer 2025. It’s an opportunity to evaluate what you already have in place to protect your home and family and resolve to make it safer. Expert advice can help you avoid wasting time and money on this vital project, so our Trellidor team has put together some ways to make your plan simple but effective.
1. Get a Home Security Assessment
The first step is to do a home security assessment. This is not as daunting as it sounds. It simply involves standing outside your home and looking at it from an intruder’s point of view. In many cases this is exactly what the intruders themselves do. They watch your home looking for easy entry points and plan how they will get inside without too much effort.
Evaluate your home’s defences without thinking about the cost of improving them. This is an exercise in seeing what you already have and what still needs to be done. Make notes as you are taking a good look at what you have in place to keep the intruders out. This will help you develop a plan to strengthen any weak points in your home’s security.
Here are some questions to ask yourself (and any family members tasked with helping you):
- Are all your windows protected with burglar bars?
- Are all your entry doors safeguarded with security gates or doors?
- Are any windows unsecured because they look hard to get to?
- Does the door between the garage and house have a security gate?
- Do you have a security gate in your passage to create a safe zone?
- Do you have adequate perimeter security such as a thorny hedge or wall?
- Do you leave items lying around that can be used to access your home e.g. a refuse bin that could be used as a ladder to reach high windows?
- Do you have lights that highlight anyone hiding in your garden?
- Do you have an alarm system, and do you keep it on when you’re home?
- Do you know where all your security door and window keys are?
- Are these keys stored in a secure place such as your safe zone?
Once you’ve noted the weak points in your security, take a closer look at the door and window barriers that you already have in place. Are they in good condition and still firmly fastened to the door and window spaces? Or are some rusting or corroding and in need of repair or replacement?
Remember that security barriers are your last line of defence against intruders. They are the one fixture in your home that can physically block robbers and other criminals from getting inside your property. So its important to note any vulnerable, unsecured points around your home.
Trellidor security experts around the country offer a free security assessment to anyone that phones in to make an appointment. So if the task of assessing your home security seems too daunting, search for ‘trellidor near me’ and give them a call.
Or find a Trellidor franchise here
2. Develop a Security Plan for the year
Step two is to plan to improve your home security over the course of the year. The best way to do this is to find out what’s out there on the market in terms of security products. The product choices are wide enough for you to find something you really like.
Visit supplier showrooms to explore your options. Trellidor showroom staff welcome visitors and will answer any security questions you have. Try out the barriers on display and get prices for all the designs you’re interested in. Then make your choice and decide what you’ll do first. The rest can follow once the basics are installed.
Here are some example of Trellidor security gates, doors, and other designs to consider:
- Sliding steel or aluminium Trellidor gates that can be fitted to all doors and windows. These are manufactured in different strengths so there is one to suit every level of security risk and budget limit.
- Fixed steel or aluminium burglar bars for windows in patterns that range from trellis-style to reinforcing bars across the unit. There are also cottage pane burglar bars and framed polycarbonate bars to choose from.
- Aluminium louvre shutters with internal strengthening to create attractive security shutters for windows and doors. Trellidor has developed good-looking designs that are strong too.
- Mesh security screens for doors and windows that are manufactured as security doors and windows but do many other jobs too. These include blocking out insects and heat while encouraging airflow through the mesh.
- Aluminium roller shutters for safe zones, doors, and windows. They create a high strength ‘lock down’ effect wherever they are installed. They can be motorised for the ultimate in convenience.
- Sectional overhead doors for your garage or patio. Trellidor makes these doors out of safety glass and aluminium. They are really beautiful, with the added benefit of being see-through so that no-one can lurk inside your garage or patio without being seen.
All these designs can be seen in full format at any Trellidor showroom. You may decide on several assorted designs for your home, guided by a need to balance your budget and how at risk of a break-in each part of your property is. Security doors of diverse types can be tied together visually by powder coating them in the same colour. If you have any preferences, your supplier can specify these for you in your order.
3. Phase in Security Barriers for a Safer Home
Once you have assessed your security situation and chosen your products, you may be overwhelmed by the task of making your home as safe as possible. It is usually budget constraints that hold people back, but often its because so much needs to be done.
The most effective course of action is to prioritise your security needs. Here are some ideas to do this:
- Start with a safe haven. This is an area that you secure fully while leaving the rest of the home for later. The secure zone usually covers the bedrooms and bathrooms. Protecting this part of your home gives you peace of mind at night. It is also the area in which you can store valuables. Move onto the rest of your home as finances allow.
- Secure vulnerable openings first. Install physical barriers on downstairs windows and entry doors first. These are the most accessible to intruders. Remember to lock away anything that can be used as a way of getting up to first floor windows and doors. These could be your garbage bin, step ladders, garden chairs or anything that looks solid enough to stand on.
- Use Trellidor finance options. To help people get the security they need now, Trellidor offers several different finance plans. The 6-months interest-free plan is the one requested most often. It gives you the freedom to install the security you need now and pay it off over 6 months with no interest charge. With this plan you don’t have to live in fear of crime while waiting to save up for your Trellidor security barriers. Other finance options are available, so speak to your local Trellidor outlet.
Those that watch our crime statistics closely don’t see house robbery and home invasion incidents coming down significantly any time soon. For this reason alone we should all be reviewing our home security this January.
Our Trellidor 3 easy steps to choosing the right security solutions for your property are designed to help you do this. Our security consultants are always available to help you complete your home security assessment, develop your security plan for the year, and phase in your chosen Trellidor door and window security barriers over time. Find us here
