Stangman, what happens to your brother or a tenant in the case of a fire and they need to get out in a hurry?
No doubt they offer increased protection from home invasion/burglary, but I've never quite been comfortable about the fact they keep people in as much as they keep people out.
Hi Zeddy, Good point that you make.
There are certainly some risks, but fortunately they can be minimised quite easily.
Firstly, it is essential to have several hard wired smoke alarms with battery backup as an early warning signal.
What is not commonly known is that Roller Shutters and Aluminium Security Screens have an amount of " Give " in them. Roller Shutter slats are made from rolled aluminium profiles which are injected with foam. In reality, the slats are quite weak. If you are outside a home trying to save somebody in the event that they are stuck, you would slightly lift the roller shutter slats from the bottom and in the centre of the shutter. By pulling OUTWARDS you can actually pull the roller shutter skin out of the side guides.
If you are inside a room and cannot get out, you would push as hard as possible toward the outside and the skin will " Give "
.
People have died in a fire before when they could not get a shutter open.
People outside push IN on the roller shutter skin which only pushes it against the window frame and it cannot give far enough to come out of the side guides. I wish salespeople would advise their customers of this fact - always push or pull away from the window.
You can test this priciple on any door frame. From inside - push against the door and it becomes very solid - because it is hitting against the frame stop bead. Now push from the other side and you can feel the door start to give.
Same goes for Security Screens. They are only as strong as the fixings holding them to the frame. From outside a good pull toward the outside will soon have them off, or a real good kick from inside toward the outside will also dislodge them.
My brother is aware of this and so would quickly escape in the event of a fire
Thankfully a lot of crims do not know this.
Stangman.