Where to Begin
Home-improvement is a never-ending endeavor for homeowners. When you’re lucky you might get to spend a weekend afternoon doing a fun (or supposed to be fun) Pinterest inspired project just to improve curb appeal. Other times there are big and/or urgent problems to solve. It can leave you wondering how to prioritize your projects, how you can afford all the things your house needs, and whether you should attempt to do the work yourself or hire it out.
This first blog post will be all about priorities when it comes to safety, security and lifestyle products. What deserves your immediate attention, and what can wait till another time?
In this blog, I am going to define safety products as something that minimizes your chances of getting hurt and security products as something that prevents other people from gaining access to your property. While safety and security are definitely related, it is important to note that both are individually important and serve different purposes. Lifestyle products can increase your comfort and quality of life in your home, but you won’t necessarily suffer any real harm if you don’t have them.
Begin Here
The safety of your family should always be at the very top of the list. Go around your house and yard and inventory all the aspects of your property that could pose a danger to yourself, your kids, visitors, and even wildlife. For example, window wells are incredibly dangerous. Even if they aren’t super deep, they pose a real risk of serious injury, and possibly death, if you were to fall in accidentally. Pets and animals could also be seriously injured or die of heat exhaustion and dehydration if they are unable to escape. Clearly, the wise course would be to cover your window wells with window well covers immediately as soon as you move in to your house.
Another big risk are porches, stoops and stairs that don’t have hand railings or guard railings. It is no exaggeration to say that one wrong step can spell disaster. No matter how old you are, it is always helpful to have a sturdy railing to hold on to when going up and down any steps and stairs. You never know when an accident is going to happen, and you want to minimize your chances of a little stumble turning into a major fall. If you have any stairs, steps or drop offs, consider getting handrails or guard rails made to prevent, if not eliminate, the risk of falls. With the weather we get in Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Colorado as a whole, you need to be ready for all kinds of conditions. You may feel like you don’t need a hand railing, but when it gets icy or wet, you may find yourself wishing there was something to help you navigate those slippery steps.
It is so important with safety products that you get the highest quality and best fit possible. There is no point in having a hand railing or window well cover if the work is shoddy, or the railing is wobbly or doesn’t actually fit the space it’s going. You need to be sure that when you really need it, it is going to be reliable. Having something of inferior quality might do you more of a disservice than you realize. The false sense of safety it could create could ultimately make your property even more hazardous than it would have been without it.
Unless…
If you are worried about an immediate risk to your life or property, start with security instead of safety. It is much better to prevent a break-in than try to repair afterward. Obviously, securing your doors with steel security doors would be a great first step. Security storm doors offer robust protection against your doors being kicked in. Additionally, they protect your entry door against the elements and add another layer of insulation to your home. It is like having a security guard at your front door looking out for your house when you are away or asleep. Doors are probably the best place to start, but don’t forget about other easy points of access, namely, windows.
Some people are loath to put window guards (also called burglar bars) on their house, lest it look like a prison, but function over form isn’t that bad a thing when it means being secure. You may opt for something really simple and cost-effective for windows that aren’t visible from the street. Window guards can be made in endless designs to increase the visual appeal. Going for a style that looks more like an architectural element is a great way to elevate a window guard and make it pull double duty for you. For instance, a colonial grid would look nicer than just vertical bars and would still deter a would-be intruder.
Perhaps the best option for security windows, though, is stainless steel security screens. They are an extremely tough, durable, and unobtrusive option. From the street, it won’t even look like you have a security product on your window, it will just look like a window. The combination of an extruded aluminum frame with heavy duty stainless steel screen means virtually no maintenance. The huge range of color options means you can pick a color that will compliment your home. Besides being very nice looking and offering great security, they are also very easy to open in case of emergency, ensuring your loved ones are safe.
Keeping people off your property completely to begin with would be ideal. For that, gates at all your entry points like your sidewalk and driveway can go a long way in letting people know they are unwelcome if not expected, and that you will not be an easy target. You’ll obviously want a gate that is made to fit your opening precisely and function well. This is also an opportunity to set the tone for the entrance to your property. Ornamental estate gates can bring an abundance of elegance while still looking formidable. For the best security, make sure your gate is the same height as your fence. You don’t want your gate to be easy to climb over.
Last But Not Least
When your most important needs are covered, start thinking about items that would increase your comfort and make your space more livable. For instance, maybe your home has a great front porch or a beautiful back patio but it has way too much exposure to ever actually use. A patio cover, porch cover, or awning could be a great solution to create more living space on your property. Interior and exterior roller shades, solar shades, sun shades, or whatever else you might have heard them called, can make all the difference in how much you use a space. Once the heat and glare is blocked, you will wonder how you ever lived without these products.
There are some great solutions that will allow you to leave your shades down, even when it is breezy, like cable guided shades, zipper screen shades and hurricane screen shades. Screened in rooms can drastically cut down on the wind and keep insects out. Products like these can increase your livable space allowing you to have an extra living room, reading corner or spot for morning coffee and even mocktails.
Window awnings can add so much charm and character to your house while also protecting your interiors from damaging UV rays. Steel and canvas are both great options to consider. They will also help keep weather off your windows and window trim, helping to prevent rot and flooding during heavy rain storms.
Budgeting
When there are so many things you can add to your house, you definitely will want to think about what you can afford, what you need to save for and how you can fit it all in to your budget. In the next blog, we’ll consider some ideas for paying for big home projects.