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How secure is your vacant property?
As someone responsible for the protection of vacant residential, commercial and industrial properties, making sure that the windows, doors, and any other potential entry points are secured is one of the most important security measures you can take.
Preventing trespassers from gaining access and deterring squatters from invading your property will help reduce crime at your property, boarding-up is one of the most simple but effective forms of security you can use.
When it comes to boarding up, typically there are 2 options: plywood boards or steel sheets.
Both help close up access points and protect your property, but one does so more than the other. Steel.
Understanding the reasons why and exploring them in more detail, it becomes much clearer why you need to consider steel.
Steel Boards Are More Durable Than Plywood
Steel is much more durable than plywood, it’s as simple as that.
Exposed to the elements over extended periods of time, wooden boards will warp and deteriorate creating opportunities for criminals to take advantage of.
It doesn’t take much to overcome wood boarding with simple tools such as crowbars and hammers, to assist criminals to gain access. Why would you pay for a security product that can be breached with tools you can buy from almost any decent hardware store?
Compare this with steel. Cut to size and designed to make buildings become highly secure, steel won’t succumb to the elements or other environmental factors making it the option to choose if you want security and peace of mind.
And that’s before you consider the fire risk that plywood boards pose…
Steel Boards With Anti-Tamper Design
It’s not as simple as placing boards in the place of windows, doors, skylights, or other access points and declaring a property secure.
Plywood for instance, is most likely going to be drilled into the frame of the window. As this approach uses readily available ‘off the shelf’ cross-head or tamper screws, it takes very little to gain access. A toolkit consisting of nothing more than a drill and a few screw drill bits is more than enough to gain access to properties boarded up with plywood.
That’s where steel boards become a superior and more secure option.
Cut to precisely fit over the opening, steel boards remain in place with restricted access anti-tamper screws which cannot be easily removed with conventional tools.
The properties of steel combined with these innovative fixings, steel boards for vacant properties are much harder for criminals to remove.
Cost of Steel Boards
A lot of your decisions likely boil down to cost. While it’s always important to consider this and make sure you are getting ‘bang for your buck’, it could be a false economy if the cheaper option lets you down, it’s worth looking beyond cost.
Comparatively, steel is not much more expensive than plywood. So that shouldn’t put you off though, as we’ve already discussed the advantages it has.
This economy will be short-lived if you have to replace damaged and warped plywood boards. Not to mention the cost of additional labour to replace and repair damaged plywood boards and repair any damage caused by intruders who may have damaged your property.
Is that a risk you’re willing to take for a minor material cost difference?
Do You Need Steel Boards For Your Vacant Property?
Having to board up your vacant property and make it secure on relatively short notice can be an incredibly stressful time for you.
Security providers like Secure Site are here to make that scenario easy and stress-free.
Considering options like steel or plywood might not seem too much of an issue at first, but as you can see there is an advantage to using the correct material. Anti-tamper and resistant to the elements, steel boards should be the option you consider for your vacant property.
Speak to our expert team today to find out more.
