Window burglar guards are an investment in your home and personal safety. Just like any other addiction, they need maintenance to make sure they stay in good enough condition to do what you expect of them. Here are five tips from Trellidor on increasing the lifespan of your burglar guards.
- Install burglar guards internally rather than externally
Burglar guards last longer if they are installed inside your home, not outside where they are vulnerable to the weather. Sun, salty air, acid rain, dust, and grime all take their toll on home fixtures, whereas inside the house, they are protected from all this.
Another point to note about an internal installation as opposed to an external one is that it increases your security. With the burglar guards on the inside of your windows, home invaders first have to break through the windows before attempting to get through the burglar bars.
This all creates much noise and takes more time, something they are generally not keen to risk as they may then be caught in the act.
- Get the installation done by a professional
It is very tempting to go DIY with something like burglar guards, using off-the-shelf products to save money. This is a short-term saving, though, because you’ll end up with an inferior product that may not fit properly, creating a weak point in your home security, and making it look tatty and uncared for.
These products generally do not have a high-quality finish and won’t have the same long lifespan as a custom-made burglar guard fitted by a professional technician. You’ll end up with rusting or corroded burglar guards that look terrible and won’t keep you safe at home.
If your budget is tight, rather ask your Trellidor burglar guard supplier to recommend one of the lower cost ranges, which will give you many years of service and will look good for longer.
- Make sure burglar guards are pre-treated against corrosion
Corrosion is the gradual destruction of the metal used to make your burglar guards by the environment they’re in. Good quality products, like Trellidor burglar guards, are given a corrosion-resistant coating before the powder coating colour is applied.
These two processes help to increase the lifespan of the burglar guards and maintain the high-quality finish of the Trellidor burglar guard.
Poor quality products will corrode quickly, leaving you with severely weakened burglar guard that won’t be able to stand up to a hammering by home invaders trying to break into your home, and is simply not worth the risk.
- Check the warranty provided by your burglar guard supplier
Make sure you receive a realistic and enforceable warranty from your burglar guard supplier. There are many companies in the security barrier market that offer unrealistic warranties that are hard to get them to honour. Or they can’t be found years after the installation when you need them to assist you with a complaint.
One of the benefits of Trellidor burglar guards is that they carry warranties against defective workmanship, materials used and corrosion. The warranty requires the customer to maintain their burglar guards, which will be covered in the next tip.
The important point to note here is that the company has been around for over 45 years, so has a long track record. This means that if you need to institute the warranty provided, they will be there to honour it.
As with most warranties supplied across all industries, your Trellidor burglar guard warranty will become invalid if:
- The defects are due to fair wear and tear or wilful damage caused by negligence, tampering, abnormal working conditions, failure to follow use instructions (whether oral or in writing) or misuse.
- There are defects from damage caused due to installations, alterations or repairs being carried out by persons other than a Trellidor approved technician.
- Clean your burglar guards regularly
To keep your burglar guard warranty valid and your burglar guards in top condition, you need to clean them regularly according to your supplier’s instructions. This is not difficult to do, but it can be time consuming especially if you live at the coast.
Trellidor recommends that if you live in a severe marine environment, such as within 500m of the beachfront, you need to clean your burglar guards every one to two weeks.
Further away from the coast, you can clean your burglar guards less regularly. So if you live 500m to 5km from the beachfront, clean them every two to four weeks. From 5km to 10km away from the coast, do this every two to three months. And if you live inland, more than 10km from the beach, every six months is fine.
Use a premium quality (salt free) car wash liquid, mixed with water as per manufacturer’s directions and a soft cotton cloth to clean the entire unit.
Never use abrasive cleaners, detergent based cleaners, or solvent based cleaners such as scouring agents, dishwashing liquids, washing powders, thinners etc as these could adversely affect the expected life of the product.
Use a soft nylon bristle brush such as a dishwashing brush for hard-to-reach areas. Dry the burglar guard with a soft cotton cloth or chamois.
Then apply a lubricating spray, available from your local Trellidor franchise. Apply it with a clean cotton cloth and wipe the burglar guards down to form a protective barrier against moisture and contamination from airborne pollutants.
Trellidor burglar guard features that make them attractive for window security
Burglar guards are not the type of purchase that gets people excited, but they are a necessity in South African homes. The following features make Trellidor Burglar Guard an attractive option for homes of any type, from apartments to suburban houses.
- There are three different options to choose from, a single trellis, a double trellis, or a flat bar design, so you can choose the one that suits your home best.
- The burglar bars are made from attractive and practical oval shaped tubing that is easy to clean.
- They are semi-framed for strength plus other strengthening features.
- They are fitted by Trellidor technicians with tamper-proofed fixings for increased resistance to attack.
- Trellidor Burglar Guard is competitively priced and very affordable.
- They are suitable for medium to high security risk locations.
- They can be fitted internally, externally, face-on, in the reveal, horizontally or vertically.
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