Make your home security do double-duty

Barrier security has become a fact of life in South African homes, as it is in many countries overseas too. We look at barriers as just another method of keeping the criminals out, but in countries such as Israel it has other innovative uses, such as keeping the children in. Many homes there are in high rise blocks, so burglar proofing or sliding security is used to stop little ones falling out of the windows or off balconies.

Trellidor's tips for maximising your home security

Instead of begrudging the expensive of helping to secure our homes with barriers, perhaps we should look at how we can maximize their value. Here are some ideas:

• Use sliding security gates to block off an area of the house that you don't want your children to enter without your supervision. For example, if you have to step out of the kitchen, close the sliding security barrier to keep the kids out if you've switched on dangerous appliances such as the oven.
• Children can also be prevented from wandering outside and falling into the swimming pool or wandering out into the road by using security gates on all external doors. Doors can be left open to allow fresh air in so that you don't feel too hemmed in on a sunny day.
• Keep your pets out of the bedroom area or confine them to a particular part of your house using security gates. This is particularly useful if you have family members with allergies to animal hair. Or if you've just vacuumed floors and don't want to be doing it again in the near future!
• Use security gates to create a safe area that your family can escape to in the event of criminals gaining entry to your home. It is essential to have sliding security on at least one window of your safe area to use as an escape route if you can't get out of the external doors, perhaps in a hostage situation or in the event of fire.
• Security gates can also be used to confine workmen to a section of the house if you have to leave them alone to complete their repairs. For example, you may want to shut off the bedroom area while they are repairing the TV in the lounge.
• On a more conventional note, security gates are often used to shut off the bedrooms from the rest of the house at night so that family members can sleep safely and peacefully.

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