It is vital to ensure your home and business are secure, particularly in the run-up to Christmas. You shouldn’t overlook your sash windows when considering home safety, but existing and prospective sash window owners can be assured that these can be made just a secure as other modern window types.
New sash windows can be made using reinforced glass, also referred to as safety glass. Toughened glass is hard to break, and burglars may need to strike the glass several times to smash it. This will inevitably cause a great deal of noise that will draw attention and alert anyone inside the premises to their presence.
Safety glass may crack but is unlikely to shatter, making the job of burglars even harder, and this makes your home or business more secure. Old glass panes can be upgraded to enjoy the same benefits and improve window security.
Locking Your Windows
We all think about locking our door, but what about locking our windows?
To secure sash windows, you have an excellent choice of lock types:
- Sash bolt – These pass through the interior sash and into the outer sash and can only be opened with a key
- Opening restrictors and sash stops – These limit the opening capabilities of the window so that the gap is less than the size someone needs to crawl through and climb into your home
- Sash jammer – This is a simple lock for UPVC windows, also known as a sash guard
- Dual sash scre – This secures the two frames of the sash windows together with a push both or bar that can only be opened with a unique key
Maintenance
Your windows will only remain secure if you maintain components such as the locks and glass. All parts wear over time, so it pays dividends to schedule regular inspections to check for damage. For your safety, call in the professionals for maintenance work, especially when windows are not located on the ground floor.
General Home Safety Tips
Now that you know that your sash windows are secure, it is worth recapping a few general home safety tips.
It is a good idea to draw your curtains at night so that burglars cannot see if you have any valuables they may want to steal. Closed curtains also mean that burglars will not know if the room is occupied or not.
You should always lock your garage door and be careful of admitting strangers into your home. Always check identification, and if you are in any doubt, call the company to check the visitor is genuine. During the day, keep valuables out of sight and consider installing motion-activated lights.