Protect your home if heading south this winter

Orangeville, ON (Harold Doan & Sons Ltd.)
With winter just around the corner, many Canadians are starting to pack up for their annual trip down south. Taking an extended winter vacation is a welcome escape from cold weather, but before hitting the road, there are a few steps snowbirds should take to protect their homes while they’re away.

“No one wants to come home from vacation to an unwelcome surprise,” says Henry Blumenthal, vice president and chief underwriter for TD Insurance. “Whether you’re going away for a week or several months, taking a few precautions before you leave can help save you from potential headaches.”

TD Insurance offers the following advice for snowbirds leaving their homes this winter:

Invest in an alarm system: The best deterrent for burglars is an alarm system. Although alarms require an upfront investment, you can often take advantage of lower home insurance premiums if your home is equipped with one.

Get the lived-in look: An obvious sign that nobody is home is a full mailbox and a snow-covered walk. Ask a friend or hire a young person in the neighbourhood to pick up your mail and shovel your driveway so that it looks like someone is home.

Shut down and unplug: Before you lock up, shut off the main water supply to your home and remember to drain the pipes to ensure that water pipes don’t freeze. You should also unplug electrical appliances and computers so that they are not damaged if there is a power surge.

“It’s also important to keep an updated inventory of your valuables so that it’s easier to identify what has been lost if you do have to make a claim,” adds Blumenthal. “The easiest way to do this is to take pictures of everything and send them to your insurer for safe keeping.”

Additional tips and information about home insurance are available online at www.tdinsurance.com or toll-free at 1-888-788-0839.

credit: www.newscanada.com

Commercial Hardware

When it comes to your businesses door hardware needs, The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BMHA), recommend two classifications of door hardware: Grade 1 and Grade 2.

The differences between the two classifications are significant. The pulling force needed to separate a knob or lever from its spindle is about 60% greater on a Grade 1 than a Grade 2. Cycle tests of a Grade 1 are double that of a Grade 2. Vertical load and bolt strength factors are similarly greater in a Grade 1 than a Grade 2.

Grade 1 rated hardware should be used in schools, factories, and institutions where long hardware life and optimal security are the criteria. Grade 2 rated hardware can be used in less demanding applications such as office or commercial rental properties.

Use the wrong hardware and you just might end up in a class all by yourself – and be poorer for it.

For more information on improving your home or business security, visit:

Door Closers

Door closers on entrance doors prevent injuries to clients and employee alike by controlling the closing of the door on even the windiest of days. Closers on kitchen or service doors help control the intrusion of insects, vermin and even would-be crooks. Door closers on rest room doors provide privacy and prevent the migration of odors and germs to other areas of the premises.

Which means; door closers must be considered an integral part of the overall health and safety considerations of your business.

Door closers should be considered an essential part of your overall energy conservation program since they automatically and firmly close doors helping to prevent cooling or heating losses since the doors stay open for long periods of time.

But! Door closers are mechanical devices. And, like all mechanical devices, they need periodic servicing, adjustment and, occasionally, replacement. Since Life Safety codes, National Building Codes and The Americans With Disabilities Act all mandate specific door closer performance, yours need to be in top form.

For adjustment, repair or replacement – call us. We’ll find a secure solution to your door closer problems.

For more information on improving your home or business security, visit:

Masterkeying

Although the thought of being able to carry one key that would allow you to access every door in your business sounds like the ultimate in convenience – you must recognize what a masterkey system is and weigh the advantages against the disadvantages normally found in masterkey systems.

A masterkey allows management, maintenance and security personnel to carry a single key to access designated groups of doors (or the entire building) while keys issued to non-management employees will open only single doors.

A big disadvantage is: more than one key will open a single lock. That means it is possible that a key, not intended to open a specific lock, might do so. Such a key is called a “Ghost Key”. Consequently, the masterkey system that is designed for your facility must be properly crafted to eliminate that possibility.

Once the system is in place, key control is the secret to the integrity of the system. Key records should be audited regularly and no keys duplicated without your specific authorization.

Should you masterkey? That’s a decision you should make after a careful analysis of your requirements. We can help you design, implement and monitor a masterkey system that won’t give you nightmares. How’s that for convenience?

For more information on improving your home or business security, visit:

Padlocks

Padlocks come in a variety of sizes, strengths and designs to fill a multitude of security requirements. Padlock use is as varied as your needs and, padlocks are portable. Which means you can safely secure whatever you need to, wherever it is located. Talk about convenience!

Because of their versatility, padlocks – properly matched, and installed for the job you want them to perform – can frequently solve the trickiest security problem for you. And, with padlocks, those problems can frequently be resolved at a fraction of the cost of other security hardware.

You can buy padlocks that are virtually impervious to saws, bolt cutters and sledgehammers. Or, you can buy specialty padlocks without visible shackles and padlocks that you open with the same key you open the front door to your business.

Padlocks can be used to lock storage sheds, tool boxes, electrical panels, roof access hatches, cabinets, truck bodies, cupboards, employee lockers, gates, equipment rooms, utility trailers and dozens upon dozens of applications where normal locking hardware is simply impractical.

Padlocks can be an important part of your physical security program, give us a call for practical advice on portable security. We know how to use padlocks as an effective and proven security solution.

For more information on improving your home or business security, visit: