Clear burglar bars are readily available from hardware stores, and you can easily install them yourself. But they are not really burglar bars. If you want them to do more than just stop monkeys from getting into your home, you need an upgraded version of this type of barrier, like Trellidor framed clear burglar bars.
Transparent burglar bars are usually made from Polycarbonate bars. They are simply plastic-like strips that you attach to a window frame. They are spaced across windows that can open, usually to stop monkeys from using the window to get into a home where they create a mess and can terrify the occupants.
The Polycarbonate bars themselves are tough and able to resist impact. They are made out of thermoplastics that are strong enough to be used in the engineering industry to make anything from car headlights to safety gear.
But the way they are usually fixed to windows is not secure enough to be considered strong burglar proofing, resistant to an attack by house breakers trying to get into your home.
This is because the attached strips are not strong enough to stop an intruder from bashing them off the window with any tools they can find or bring with them. The Polycarbonate panels themselves may be strong, but the way they are fixed to the window is not.
Framed clear burglar bars
The Trellidor Poly Guard design is different from other clear burglar bars because it can be safely used as burglar bars in the following areas:
- Windows in cluster homes, gated communities, eco-estates, golf estates where burglar bars must be discreet.
- In low crime risk locations such as hard to reach windows, upper storey windows or homes in secure estates.
- For windows in low crime risk locations that have lovely views that you don’t want to block with cluttered burglar proofing.
- On windows in areas where monkeys or baboons have become a pest and keeping them out is more of a priority than protection from criminals.
The reasons why Trellidor Poly Guard can be used as burglar bars in these places is because:
- It has a full, four-sided extruded aluminium frame and the Polycarbonate strips are fitted into this frame. The frame supports the clear burglar bars and makes the unit stronger than individual clear bars attached to a window frame.
- The framed Trellidor clear burglar bar unit is attached to the wall inside the window reveal for a neat, strong fit.
- The Poly Guard unit is fixed into the substrate surrounding the window making it stronger than competitor products.
- Trellidor installation technicians use tamper-proof fixings to make the Polycarbonate burglar bars hard to remove by criminals.
This type of clear burglar bar is custom-made for each window. It can only be installed by a trained Trellidor technician as it requires a particular set of specialist tools. This means that you can’t install them yourself. The benefits of this outweigh the negatives because you end up with a far better, safer burglar bar than just strips attached to the window frame.
The benefits of this type of clear burglar bars installation are:
- The Poly Guard units are lightweight, transparent, and strong.
- The clear bars are UV resistant and don’t go yellow with age.
- Polycarbonate burglar bars are see-through and hardly noticeable.
- The strengthening features that Trellidor has added make this product a security barrier, not just monkey bars.
- The aluminium frame gives it a neat finish and improved strength.
- Window handles and hinges are easily accommodated.
Clear burglar bars like these are safe, but they are not as strong as traditional steel trellis-style burglar proofing. They should only be used in low to medium security risk locations.
Choose your clear burglar bars frame colour
The Trellidor Poly Guard four-sided frame can be powder coated in a colour to suit your home’s colour palette. Visit the website to see the options www.trellidor.co.za
Price of framed clear burglar bars
Like all Trellidor security barriers, Trellidor Poly Guard is custom-made to fit the opening and its specific requirements, so there is no standard price. Trellidor security barriers are available through authorised Trellidor franchises countrywide and they will gladly measure the window opening for you and give a quotation.
In summary, the answer to the question ‘can you install clear burglar bars yourself?’ is that the bars you buy at DIY stores are not burglar bars and the framed version made by Trellidor is a form of burglar bar, but they are only installed by authorised Trellidor technicians.
Contact your nearest authorised Trellidor supplier to find out more about Trellidor Poly Guard clear burglar bars.
