Monday, October 24, 2011

Ways To Secure Your Home

Fear of home invasion is common to most homeowners. If you own a home, you may have had nightmares about such situations. Perhaps a neighbor has already suffered a burglary or you may have seen reports about home invasions on the news. This may have you thinking about putting in a wrought iron door to protect yourself. That is not a bad idea, but there are actually several ways to protect your home and relieve the stress caused by worrying about these things.

A number of tips about home safety can be rolled into one category. Changing bad habits and thoughtless behavior can be very effective methods of securing your home. These alterations in in your daily actions are not difficult and they are usually inexpensive, if not actually free.

Many times burglars will review a house for robbery several days before they attempt anything. They will watch where you park your car, how you leave your drapes, whether you lock the top and bottom lock when you leave and other habitual actions. Upset their planning methods by regularly changing your habits so that they cannot tell how your house looks when you are there. Adjust your drapes differently everyday. Park your car in different positions in your driveway. Other helpful changes include remembering to lock all your doors and keeping exterior lights on at night. Burglars like easy targets and this makes it difficult to rob your house. If they see this behavior they will probably choose another victim for their crime.



Another category of home protection methods involves physically defending your home with security systems. These can range from something as obvious as putting in that wrought iron door to installing a complex security and alarm system at your house. There are also simple and fairly inexpensive physical alterations that you can make which will make it much harder for someone to invade your home.

Installing a peephole in your front door is fairly inexpensive. Putting in stronger locks and deadbolts will cost a little more but will do wonders for defending your home. Burglars do not want to struggle to get into your home. They know that they have a limited amount of time to get into and out of your house. Heavy wrought iron doors, dead bolts and extra locks present too much of a challenge to most burglars.

Installing motion sensors for your exterior lights or a comprehensive alarm system in and around your house are expensive options for defending your home. They are probably the most effective, too. These systems are obvious to most thieves and they will not even bother to test them.

How you defend your home depends on your pocketbook and the seriousness of the threat. If you live in an area that is prone to burglary, a wrought iron door or a complex alarm system may be worth the investment. Homes in areas less welcoming to criminals may be adequately defended just by changing some of your habits.

Monday, October 10, 2011

ADA Compliant Custom Wrought Iron Doors

Custom wrought iron doors have become very popular. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 57 percent of all new home owners are choosing these types of doors.   

One of the most important benefits for these doors is that they comply to the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). The act seeks to curtail any form of discrimination against disabled persons. Part of the Act is making buildings more user friendly for disabled persons by improving accessibility. Wrought iron doors are ideal for organizations and homes that are sensitive to the plight of the disabled people in the society. 

Buildings doors are increasingly being made with this act in mind. According to the act, all building doors should be fitted with push bars and pull handles. The door should also allow for extended closure time to allow these persons to go through them with ease. The ADA guidelines have it that the door must have a sweep time of about three seconds when opened at the 70 degrees angle.

For a door to comply with the act, you should be able to open it with minimum effort. The act stipulates that any door should not take more than three pounds of force, applied perpendicularly, to open. The same amount of force applies to folding wrought iron doors as well as the sliding variety.



Other Reasons Why You Should Install Custom Wrought Iron Doors In Your Office Or Home

1.They add style and character to the office or house. There is no other metal that exudes quality like iron. It also has a characteristic classy look that never fades with time. The custom ones enable you to express your personal preference and style.

2.They are highly durable. Some are zinc metalized to guard against adverse elements of weather and rust which greatly reduces the maintenance costs. However, the finishing on the iron, wood or stucco will need to be retreated after a period of time. The maintenance period of these doors usually depend on the exposure to the elements, especially moisture, which could cause the doors to rust.  According to constructions pundits, these doors could last up to 40 years in areas with low humidity, away from the coast. Iron doors installed in houses close to the coast have to be wiped every two to four weeks to remove any sea salt that might have started to accumulate.

3.They increase the value of the office and home. The increased value doesn’t depreciate with time as they last for a long time to come.

4.These doors also provide you with extra security because of their strength. They also play an important role in minimizing the amount of energy required to heat a room due to their airtight frames which serve as insulators.