Secu­ri­ty Win­dow Bars
Security Window Bars

Security Window Bar Basics

Are Window Security Bars the right choice for your home?

Win­dow secu­ri­ty bars are use­ful on sev­er­al lev­els. They pre­vent easy access into your home through a win­dow. How­ev­er, much of its effec­tive­ness is psy­cho­log­i­cal. Intrud­ers pre­fer to work quick­ly, qui­et­ly, and they don’t like com­pli­ca­tions. Mere­ly the sight of win­dow bars is often enough to dis­cour­age a bur­glar from even attempt­ing a bur­glary. Win­dow bars send a clear sig­nal that you have tak­en mea­sures to pro­tect your home.

Win­dow bars may not be the choice for every win­dow in your home, as they do change the appear­ance of the win­dow. In some instances, secu­ri­ty win­dow film may be a pre­ferred option. But bars should be con­sid­ered for the most vul­ner­a­ble win­dows to pre­vent break­age and forced entry.

Where to Install Security Bars

A good start is to install bars on the win­dows that are least vis­i­ble and eas­i­est to reach. Base­ment win­dows are espe­cial­ly sus­cep­ti­ble to bur­glary: They are low, and often hid­den in shad­ows and obscured by shrubs and fences or win­dow wells, allow­ing intrud­ers to enter out-of-sight of your neigh­bours.

Most res­i­den­tial win­dow bars are installed from the inside of the home and win­dow. But in some cas­es where win­dows bor­der on dri­ve­ways or alley­ways, cus­tom wrought iron bars are mount­ed on the exte­ri­or to not only pro­tect from intrud­ers but also pro­jec­tiles result­ing from kids play­ing soc­cer and street hock­ey, etc.

Win­dow bars can be use­ful pro­tec­tion for detached garages with win­dows where alarm sys­tems are dif­fi­cult to install.

What you need to know

Window Security Bar Installation

While win­dow secu­ri­ty bars can be a source of pro­tec­tion, installed incor­rect­ly, they can be a fire haz­ard. In many juris­dic­tions, win­dow bars must have the capac­i­ty to be read­i­ly open from the inside. If you are con­sid­er­ing installing your win­dow bars, ensure they have a quick-release key sys­tem and that the keys are kept near the win­dow bars, in plain sight for occu­pants, but out of arms reach of a poten­tial intrud­er still out­side.

Secu­ri­ty bars should nev­er be installed on the win­dows of a small child’s room with­out first estab­lish­ing a means of entry in case of a fire or when the main door is blocked. Small chil­dren may not be able to work an unlock­ing mech­a­nism or lock that may be asso­ci­at­ed with the secu­ri­ty bars. Old­er chil­dren should be taught how to open the secu­ri­ty bars, and you should let them prac­tice doing so fre­quent­ly so that they are pre­pared in case of a fire or oth­er emer­gency.

As effec­tive phys­i­cal pro­tec­tion, win­dow bars must also be installed with screws long enough to pass through the dry­wall into the wood­en frames or wall studs. It’s impor­tant to use appro­pri­ate­ly sized win­dow bars to match the win­dows. Scrimp­ing on size may ren­der them use­less if some­one can squeeze around the win­dow bar.

Secu­ri­ty bars work well with oth­er Home Secu­ri­ty mea­sures. They are an essen­tial lay­er in pro­vid­ing phys­i­cal pro­tec­tion for your home. A PROTECTION PLUS® con­sul­tant can advise on costs and the appro­pri­ate uses of win­dow bars in your home.

Lots of nat­ur­al light and great views, but could you be com­pro­mis­ing your secu­ri­ty with large and plen­ti­ful win­dows? To a thief, a bro­ken win­dow is a free pass to valu­ables inside.

PROTECTION PLUS offers you a vari­ety of solu­tions, and you don’t have to com­pro­mise between beau­ty and safe­ty.

In many instances, installing a phys­i­cal bar­ri­er to a win­dow is a great solu­tion. Win­dow bars no longer need to be unat­trac­tive. They can match your win­dows with white enam­el coat­ings and pro­vide a phys­i­cal bar­ri­er and visu­al deter­rent to intrud­ers.

Ask us about secu­ri­ty bars, win­dow grates, wrought iron bars and gates, cus­tom made for your home.