Know your weak points
Good steel, bad fixing.
Almost none of the security steelwork we are asked to look at fails because the steel was too thin. It fails at the joins, the pins and the brackets — the parts nobody inspects because they are not what you look at.
The five
Where domestic steelwork gives way first.
None of these are exotic. All five are on ordinary houses all over Johannesburg, and all five are cheap to put right compared to what they protect.
- 01
The gate is only held down by gravity
A sliding gate rests on its rollers. Nothing physically stops it being lifted straight up and off the track.
FixAnti-lift brackets that capture the rail, plus end stops so the gate cannot be run off the end of its travel.
- 02
The hinge pin lifts out
A great many swing gates and security gates hang on pins that are open at the top. Lift the gate, and the whole leaf comes away with the lock still locked.
FixCapture the pin — a welded collar or a reversed pin means the gate has to be cut, not lifted.
- 03
There is a gap on the lock side
Where the frame and the gate do not meet flush, there is somewhere to get a lever in. The lock is rarely what fails; the frame around it bends.
FixAnti-pry plating down the lock side and a stiffener across the frame so the load spreads instead of concentrating.
- 04
It was tacked, not welded
Brackets held on with two short tack welds are extremely common on installed gate motors and burglar bars. They look identical to a proper weld from two metres away.
FixGrind back, re-weld properly, and add a gusset where the bracket takes a shear load.
- 05
The feet have rusted through
Posts and palisade uprights rot from the ground up, where water sits. The top two metres look perfect while the bottom 50mm is paper.
FixCut out the rot, sleeve or replace the section, and finish it so water runs off instead of collecting.
Five minutes, no tools
Check your own place this weekend.
We would rather you found nothing than paid us to tell you there was nothing. Walk around with this list. If any of them worry you, send us a photo.
- 01
Push up hard on your sliding gate at the middle. Does it lift off the rollers at all?
- 02
Look at the top of every hinge on every gate. Can you see the top of a pin?
- 03
Look down the lock side of your security gate. Is there a visible gap between gate and frame?
- 04
Look at the brackets holding your gate motor. Is there a continuous weld, or two small blobs?
- 05
Kick the base of a palisade upright, gently. Does it move or flake?