Security grilles

In Torrevieja and right across the Vega Baja there are a great many ground floor homes: bungalows, townhouses, apartments with a patio and ground floor flats with a window onto the street. In all of them the window is as easy a way in as the door. A properly fitted security grille closes that back door without major building work.

We are locksmiths from Torrevieja with 15 years of experience and we are available 24 hours a day, every day.

Which type of grille suits you

• Fixed grille. It does not open. It is the simplest and the sturdiest, ideal for bathroom, kitchen or storeroom windows that are not used as an exit.
• Hinged grille. It opens like a door, with hinges and a lock. It is the option for windows facing a patio or for openings that may serve as an exit in an emergency.
• Sliding or folding grille. It folds to one side. Useful on terrace doors and in shops where you want to leave the opening clear during the day.
• Gate or grille door. It is fitted in front of the front door or at the entrance to a patio, with its own lock.

For occupied homes we usually recommend that at least one grille in the main rooms is hinged and can be opened from inside with a key. A house with every window closed off with no exit is safer against a burglary, but more dangerous if there is a fire.

What matters most: the anchoring

A grille is only as good as its anchoring. We have seen heavy grilles fitted with four plastic wall plugs that come out with a crowbar. Before fitting anything we check the wall: whether it is brick, block or concrete, and whether the window opening has a frame that will hold.

Depending on the wall we use one type of anchor or another, and we make sure the screws cannot be reached from outside. On bungalow façades on the coast, where many walls are block, this is the point that makes the difference.

Locks and bolts on grilles

Many hinged grilles we see have a lock that no longer opens, a rusty padlock or a bolt that does not line up. There is no need to replace the whole grille:

• We replace the grille lock with a new one, with a lock cylinder if you prefer.
• We key the grille alike with the front door of the house, so you carry just one key.
• We adjust the hinges and bolts of dropped grilles that rub or will not close.
• We check grilles after an attempted break-in to see what has been damaged.

Grilles for shops

In shops and offices the grille protects shop windows, back windows and service entrances. It can be combined with the roller shutter on the front. If your roller shutter is also giving trouble, have a look at the page on roller shutter door repair.

Salt air and grilles

On the coast, unprotected iron rusts quickly, especially on the seafront. Rust is not just unsightly: it swells the metal around the anchors, cracks the rendering and ends up loosening the grille. When we fit a new grille, we explain which finish suits your area and how to maintain it.

On the grilles you already have, check from time to time:

• That there is no rust around the anchors in the wall.
• That the lock turns smoothly and is not seized.
• That the hinges have no play.

Mistakes we often see

• Grilles with the screws on the outside, which come undone with a screwdriver.
• Bars so far apart that they do not stop a slim person getting through.
• Hinged grilles with a small padlock as their only lock.
• Grilles fitted on a windowsill that cannot hold the anchoring.

They can all be put right, and almost always without replacing the whole grille.

Grilles or roller shutter reinforcement

If you do not like grilles or the residents’ association does not allow them on the façade, there is another option: reinforcing the roller shutter. We reinforce roller shutters so they cannot be lifted or bent, without changing how the window looks. You have all the information in roller shutter reinforcement. And if you want an overall view of your home, in home security upgrade we explain how we check it.

Before fitting a grille

If you live in a building or on an urbanisation with community rules, check first whether there are rules about the façade. Many residents’ associations require a particular model or colour so that all the grilles match. With that information we suggest the grille that fits.

Fixed quote before we start, payment by card, Bizum or cash, and help on WhatsApp in your own language.