Post Archives: Automatic Gates

With such an investment decision as you’re looking to make, you want to know it’s the right one. In this article we look at whether steel or aluminium is the better material for your automatic gate.

Rust: Enemy Number 1

While there’s no definitive right or wrong answer, the ideal choice does depend on whereabouts you live. Away from coastal areas, that choice is less critical in terms of your investment lasting a decent amount of time as the corrosive effects of the “sea air” are lessened, and steel will retain its looks a lot longer.

Where do you live?

Of course if you do live near the coast and wish to choose a steel gate, you can take preventative measures to slow down the oxidisation process and prolong the life of your gate. Use of products like a cold galvanising paint on welded joints, rivets and other exposed areas of untreated steel.

Unfortunately, even this method can be a little hit and miss, as even the smallest hole will be enough for the gate to start rusting. So it’s for this reason that we highly recommend that if you’re in areas near the ocean (e.g. the Gold Coast), you choose a gate made in aluminium.

Why is aluminium the better choice for coastal areas?

Put simply, due to its inbuilt properties, the thin coating of aluminium oxide on its surface actually makes it impossible for oxidisation to begin, making it resistant to corrosion and rust.

Now, bad school chemistry lessons aside, the takeaway is an aluminium gate will last longer and retain its looks – ensuring you have a great looking entrance way to your property for years to come…

OK, we’ll admit it – we know that installing an automatic gate on your property has traditionally been seen as being a bit, well… posh.

But if you’ve been…ahem, on the fence about adding one to your property because of that, we’re here to tell you that installing an automatic gate or intercom system can offer you sanity, not just vanity.

Crime is up

Last month, the latest crime figures for 2011-2012 were released, and as a recent article in the Gold Coast Bulletin proclaims – all crime is up 11%.

Now obviously, while “all crime” is something to be concerned about, installing a gate or intercom system to your property isn’t going to protect against most of that – so we dug a little deeper into the figures and had a look at just property crime (i.e. break-ins, thefts etc).

Here’s what we found:

Data Source: QPS Statistical Reviews 2007-2012

The chart shows that while unlawful entry cases, along with other property damage remain fairly constant (although the last 12 months has seen unlawful entries jump 6%), other types of property theft have jumped significantly – topping 100,000 for the year for the first time.

Path of least resistance

Of course, we’re not suggesting that purely by installing a gate and/or intercom system you’re going to prevent property crime being committed against you – but working on the theory that thieves (like that shady looking character up top!) will most likely follow the path of least resistance when it comes to breaking into a house…

Whatever you can do to make it that little bit more difficult, lessens your chance of being a target.

(Here’s some more tips on increasing your home security from the the Queensland Police’s website.)

Lower insurance premiums

Oh, and when you do have your gate or intercom installed, do make sure you let your insurance company know – we’ve heard of a few cases where premiums were dropped thanks to the install.

If you’re ready to speak to one of our experts about having an automatic gate or intercom system installed, fill out the form on the right, and we’ll be in touch to answer all your questions!