So, you’ve got a broken window, a vacant house, or a vacant commercial property, and it’s being broken into or you’ve received a code violation notice to repair and secure the problem from Los Angeles City or County authorities. What is your next step?
You have 3 options; you can repair the issue yourself, you can have a professional board up service like Guard Dog Secure protect your property for you, or you could do nothing and risk further damage to your property and more code violation notices and fines. If you’re quite a handy person with the time to make repairs yourself, following these simple steps can help make sure that you do the best possible job to protect your asset with the most secure method of boarding up a building in Los Angeles.
- Use heavy duty plywood. FEMA recommends 1/2-inch (4 ply) CDX plywood, exterior grade. All to often, Guard Dog Secure is called out to replace timber board-up installations which have failed due to the original installer using sub-par timber boards. MDF, Particle Board, and Plywood Texture Particle Board can be broken away and can degrade in wet weather.
- Do not use nails. By their very design, nails can be removed with force without specialized tools and often do not reach structural timber within walls.
- Use heavy duty screws with an abnormal head, or a mixture of heads, which are long enough to reach structural timber. The idea is to make removal of the panels as difficult as possible for unauthorized persons.
- After choosing a screw type, make sure you use a heavy duty washer when installing them. Using a washer increases the cross-sectional area of the screw head and will require more force to pull through the timber panel you’ve just installed.
- FIX INTO STRUCTURAL MATERIALS! This is the most important tip. Your timber boards should always be fastened directly to either structural timber or masonry. Ornamental timber around doors and windows is decorative and the strength of your board up installation is heavily reliant on what material you choose to fasten to.
- Consider bracing your timber panels from the interior of the building. FEMA gives instruction on how to do this but be forewarned, timber isn’t cheap and you’ll need a decent toolkit and power tools to board up a window using the rear bracing method.
- You should always try to hide the way you have installed your timber boards so the method cannot be seen from outside the building being worked on. There’s no purpose in giving the opposing party a clear view of your installation.
- Maintain your boards and installation! We have seen this over and over and over in Los Angeles when it comes to homeowners or handymen boarding up property. The people who want to get into your property aren’t going to stop…. Ever. If it’s vacant, it’ll eventually be broken into unless you constantly maintain your install.
If the above tips helped your board up installation on a property in Los Angeles, great! But if you think you might need a professional board up company which services Los Angeles, Guard Dog Secure exceeds the tips given above by lightyears and is very much cost effective. We only use galvanized steel products, steel clamps, and multiple fastener types to make it as difficult as possible on would-be burglars.
If you would like a free, no-obligation quote from Guard Dog Secure to board up and secure your property in Los Angeles, fill in the form below and we’ll give you a call!