Written By: Brad Campbell | November 27, 2020
The damage and loss of merchandise resulting from looting, vandalism, and burglary can significantly hurt a business of any size. That’s why it’s so important to take proactive measures to protect your glass and secure your business against these types of unpredictable acts.
Standard window glass and even tempered safety glass are incredibly easy to shatter, meaning that your glass doors and windows are all vulnerable potential entry points for would-be vandals, looters, and burglars.
Traditional methods of protecting businesses in the face of rioting or against burglary include boarding up windows and doors, installing bars and gates, and using roll-down shutters. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of these common glass security solutions.
Common ways to protect business glass:
Using plywood sheets to cover up vulnerable windows and doors is a pretty cost-effective way to protect your business or commercial facility against vandalism and looting during instances of rioting and civil unrest.
Another benefit of using this method to protect your commercial glass is that you can simply remove the boards when the unrest has subsided and your business will look just like it did previously. However, there are some disadvantages to relying on boards to secure your property.
Boarding up your building is something that you’ll usually find yourself doing at the last moment as an unexpected moment of unrest is already underway, which isn’t an ideal situation. Plywood sheets are also not the most secure option, as they can be pulled down or burned by determined individuals trying to gain entry to your business.
Permanent window bars and gates are an effective way to keep would-be intruders out of your property. Though they can indeed prevent burglary and smash-and-grab theft, they don’t always fully protect your glass.
Some types of bars and gates have enough space between them that vandals may still be able to break the glass behind them. This results in expensive clean-up and window replacement.
Bars and gates also tend to be unattractive and are thus not always a practical security option when you want to maintain a certain level of curb appeal for your property. For instance, retail stores with large glass storefronts are not ideal candidates for this type of glass protection.
Roll-down shutters offer a good level of security for your commercial windows because, when mounted on the exterior, completely cover the glass and protect it against breakage. They’re also a better long-term security solution than boarding up windows and doors and don’t detract too much from your business’s appearance when they’re rolled up.
Scissor gates and roll down shutters are excellent for security, but are limited to protecting only when a school or business is closed. In an active threat scenario which occurs during campus or business hours, shutters and gates are not deployed and are therefore not viable. Riot Glass on the other hand, is the ‘always there’ solution.
When you’re looking for a high level of glass security and want a permanent solution that won’t affect the appearance of your property, Riot Glass is an affordable, effective option that’s available to you.
Throughout our years in the glass security industry, we’ve received countless calls from business and property owners who’ve had their glass smashed and their property looted and damaged.
It was after one such call from a business owner who’d just had his storefront broken and his store looted that we decided we needed to create a reliable, affordable solution for property owners to permanently protect all their glass doors and windows against attacks.
After closely analyzing the available security options, like those mentioned earlier in this article, we decided that our solution needed to be completely adaptable to the needs of every type of property out there. We also wanted to make sure that our clients wouldn’t have to sacrifice the curb appeal of their property in the name of security.
After much research, development, and testing, we created our patented line of Riot Glass products to satisfy these requirements. We like to call it the “ultimate line of fenestration security products.”
Our Riot Glass panels are designed to be retrofitted right on top of your existing glass and can fit into many types of standard framing. The panels are built to take a serious beating to keep your existing glass doors and windows intact when would-be intruders are attempting to break into your property.
Riot Glass won’t shatter and break inwards when faced with break-in attempts using common burglary tools like hammers, crowbars, and other heavy hand tools. That means that a vandal or a looter won’t be able to break your glass storefront by throwing a brick or a rock, either.
Whereas traditional methods of protecting your glass against break-ins and vandalism detract from the appearance of your property, Riot Glass looks and feels just like traditional window glass. The framing and mounting hardware is all sleek and low-profile, so nothing will look different about your glass doors and windows to the untrained eye.
No property owner should have to worry about repairing their storefront or losing valuable merchandise and equipment due to vandalism, looting, or burglary. You also shouldn’t have to rely on last-minute board-ups to mitigate these concerns.
For the best balance between security and appearance, choose Riot Glass. We care about our clients and always place your security needs above everything else. Contact our security experts today for a consultation.
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