Door Boarding in Staines

When a door has been forced, kicked in or badly damaged, door boarding makes the doorway secure until a permanent repair can be arranged. Boarding Up Staines secures front doors, back doors, side gates into houses, flat entrances and commercial doors across Staines. That includes doors where the frame has split, the lock has been wrenched out or a glazed panel has been smashed.

A person answers the phone at any hour, including nights, weekends and bank holidays. If your door won’t close or lock, call 01784 774 186. We’ll work out arrival from your postcode and give you a free, clear quote before any work starts.

When door boarding is the right step

Door boarding fits when a doorway can’t be trusted to keep people out. Common examples include:

• Forced entry: the door has been jemmied or kicked, the keep or strike plate has torn away, and the door swings open or only latches loosely.
• Split or broken frames: the timber around the lock has splintered, so even a sound door has nothing solid to close against.
• Broken glazed panels: a pane in a front door, back door or French door has been smashed, leaving a gap someone could reach through.
• Damaged locks: the cylinder has been snapped or the mechanism no longer engages.
• Doors on empty properties: a door needs securing on a building that’s standing vacant.

If a window was also broken in the same incident, we can deal with both on the same visit. See window boarding for how that works.

How we secure a damaged door

No two forced doors are quite alike, so the method depends on what’s left of the door and frame.

Where the frame is sound

If the frame is still solid, we can usually board over the doorway or the damaged section with exterior-grade plywood, typically 18mm. Smaller openings, such as a single broken glass panel in a door, may suit OSB. We use security or anti-tamper fixings, which are much harder to undo from outside than ordinary screws.

Where the frame allows, we fix in a way that limits further damage. This matters on older properties. Much of Staines’s surviving housing dates from the 19th century, including the villas and smaller terraces around Knowle Green. Original or period door frames on houses like these are often worth preserving for the permanent repair.

Where the frame is badly damaged

A split or rotten frame changes the job. Boards need something firm to fix into. If the frame can’t take a fixing, we’ll explain the options before starting: securing or strengthening the frame first, or fixing the board across a wider area of sound structure. You’ll know what’s involved and agree to it before we begin.

Keeping a way in and out

Before we board a door, it’s worth thinking about how you’ll get in and out of the property. If the front door is boarded, will you use the back door, or does the main entrance need to stay usable? We’ll talk this through on the call and again on site, so the result is secure without leaving you locked out of your own home or shop.

What happens on the visit

1. We check the damage. We look at the door, frame, lock and any broken glass, and confirm the work agreed on the call still fits.
2. We make the area safe. Loose or broken glass in the door and on the ground is cleared or made safe where that’s part of the agreed work.
3. We secure the doorway. Boards are cut to size and fixed using the agreed method, from the van’s boarding stock and fixings.
4. We record the work. We take time-stamped before and after photographs.
5. We hand over. You get a secure doorway, and the paperwork follows.

Boarding is a make-safe. It keeps the property secure while you arrange the permanent repair, such as a new door, frame, lock or glazing.

What you receive

• A doorway secured with the agreed boarding and fixings
• An itemised invoice
• Time-stamped before and after photographs
• A written statement of the work carried out

This documentation is useful if you’re making a claim. Your insurer decides what’s covered. We aren’t loss adjusters, but our guide to insurance claims explains how the paperwork fits together.

After a break-in

If your door was forced during a burglary, report it to the police and keep the crime reference number. Contact your insurer too. If it’s safe to do so, photograph the damage before anything is moved or boarded. Don’t go into the property if you think someone may still be inside. Our page on burglary repairs covers the next steps in more detail.

What affects the quote

We don’t publish prices because door jobs vary a lot. The quote is given free on the call, and it’s clear before any work starts. The main factors are:

• The size and number of openings: a single glass panel versus a full double doorway
• The state of the frame: whether it needs securing before boarding can be fixed
• Materials and board thickness: plywood or OSB, depending on the opening
• The fixing method: including security or anti-tamper fixings
• Access: for example a raised entrance, steps or an upper-floor flat door
• Glass and debris: how much needs making safe

The pricing page explains each of these in more depth.

Homes, flats and commercial doors

We secure doors on houses, flats, rented properties and commercial premises in and around Staines. That includes shop and office entrances around the High Street and Market Square, and the smaller-scale streets of the historic core. Landlords and letting agents can call on a tenant’s behalf. We’re an independent local service with over 10 years’ experience. We’re fully insured, with a certificate available on request, and DBS-checked.

Get your door secured

Call 01784 774 186 any time, or email us. To help us quote and plan, please have these ready:

• Your postcode
• The type of door (front, back, glazed, double, commercial)
• Roughly how big the opening is
• Whether the frame or lock is damaged

If you can do so safely, send a few photographs of the door and frame.