Emergency boarding up
Emergency Boarding Up in Wilmslow
Call with your postcode for a current arrival estimate.
- 24-hour emergency cover
- No call-out charge
- Price agreed before work starts
Window or Door Smashed? We Can Secure It
Smashed windows, forced doors and damaged openings across Wilmslow can be boarded up by Craven Locksmiths Wilmslow, 24 hours a day, so the property is secure until a permanent repair is made. The boarding is temporary; it keeps the opening shut overnight, and is usually done in one visit. There is no call-out charge.
If a break-in caused the damage, read the police steps below first.
What Is Emergency Boarding Up, Actually?
The short definition: boarding up is the temporary securing of a damaged window, door or shopfront with boards cut to fit and fixed across the gap. Once fitted, the board blocks entry, restricts further access and helps keep weather out of the building.
It always serves two purposes, and the first one comes first for a reason:
- Safety. The broken glass hazard is dealt with before the opening is covered.
- Security and weather tightness. The property is closed up until it can be permanently repaired.
Boarding is not the repair itself. It will not stand in for new glass or a new door, and it is only meant to hold until the correct permanent repair has been arranged.
In the meantime, do not move loose glass or attempt to cover a large or unstable opening yourself. Explaining on the call what has broken and how large the gap is helps us assess the likely work before attendance.
How We Go About Boarding Up a Damaged Opening
No two damaged openings are identical, so each one is assessed before boarding is fitted. What has broken, how sound the surrounding structure is and where the fixing points are all shape the method.
Step 1: assessment. The technician examines the opening, its frame and any hazards that can be seen. That tells us whether boarding can be fitted safely and what the job is likely to involve, and it flags anything that could affect safe access or a correct fit.
Step 2: safety. Work on loose glass and unstable material takes place only when it is safe and appropriate to undertake it.
Step 3: measuring. Instead of selecting a standard board size, we take measurements of the actual damaged opening.
Step 4: fitting. The structure, access and extent of damage determine how the board is secured.
Step 5: final check. Once the boarding has been inspected in place, the technician explains to you what visibly needs to happen next; this might involve locksmith work, a door repair or replacement glazing.
With emergency boarding in place, safety in the area is improved and the opening is temporarily secured. Read on for who should handle the permanent repair.
Boarding Up Is Temporary. What Happens After?
Boarding buys you time. It does not finish the job. The work required for a permanent repair—to the locking system, the door or frame, or the glass itself—determines how to proceed after securing the opening.
If the damage is to a lock, a door, a frame or a mechanism, that is our work. We can repair or replace it, often on a return visit once the right parts have been sourced. If the damage is to glass or a sealed unit, that is a glazier's work and not ours. We will board the opening and leave it secure, and you will need a glazier to reglaze it. We would rather say that plainly than let you assume we cover everything.
Do not leave the board in place indefinitely. It is designed to hold for days or a few weeks, not months, and a board left up long term will eventually let weather in around its fixings.
When You Need Emergency Boarding Up
Boarding up is needed whenever damage leaves a home, a rented property or commercial premises exposed and the opening cannot be permanently repaired straight away. Burglary is only one of the reasons people call.
After a break-in
A forced door or smashed window can leave the property open to anyone who comes back. Once the police allow work, temporary boards keep the opening secure while permanent burglary repairs are assessed or arranged.
A smashed window or vandalism
Criminal damage can leave broken glass and an unsecured opening even when nobody got inside. Until a glazier replaces the damaged glass, the gap remains closed by a board.
Storm damage or accidental damage
Strong winds, falling objects or an accidental knock can damage windows, doors and the frames around them. Boarding restricts access and cuts down further exposure to the weather until the repair is done.
A door that cannot be repaired during the same visit
When a damaged door, frame or locking component cannot be put right on the first visit, boarding can secure the opening in the meantime. An emergency lock repair may also be necessary if a locking component has failed.
Empty or between-tenancy property
At a vacant property, a broken opening can let people in and let wind or rain enter without anyone noticing. While the landlord, letting agent or property manager makes arrangements for the permanent repair, boards maintain the property's security.
Boarding Up: Will Your Insurance Cover It?
The short answer is often, but not always. Many home, landlord and commercial policies cover emergency boarding up where temporary work is needed to prevent further access or damage following an insured incident. Each policy sets its own cover, limits and claim requirements, so check yours and contact the insurer as soon as practical.
Before giving approval for work, call your insurer's emergency helpline if it has one and doing so is practical. While you wait, gather what a claim will need. Photos or a short video of the damage, taken before work begins, are useful if it is safe to take them. Stay back from loose glass or an unstable opening: do not approach either to obtain evidence. If the incident has been reported to the police, retain the crime reference number for your claim. Afterwards, keep all invoices and receipts relating to the boarding and to the repairs that follow.
Where the property cannot safely remain exposed while you wait for a response, arrange temporary security after a break-in only once the police permit work, document the damage and follow your insurer's claims instructions as soon as possible.
For the wider steps after a break-in, see what to do after a burglary.
Locksmith pricing
Before Anyone Attends, Agree the Price
Before anyone boards your property, you should have agreed to it and you should know the price. That sounds obvious, but in this trade it is not always what happens. Some operators attend damaged premises uninvited, occasionally prompted by a police or council report, fit boards that nobody requested and then invoice at a multiple of the job's real worth, pursuing payment aggressively.
You are entitled to authorise the work yourself, to hear a price before anyone sets off, and to ask three questions: what is the board, how is it fixed, and what happens when you want it removed.
Here is how we work. We give you the price over the phone. We only attend when you ask us to. The price stays the same on arrival unless the damage is materially different from your description, and if it is, we tell you before any work starts.
What affects the cost?
Service required, time of attendance, lock and door type, labour and parts.
Locksmith pricing
Emergency Boarding Up Across Wilmslow
A property with an open window or door cannot wait for morning, so damaged doors, windows and shopfronts for homeowners, landlords, letting agents and businesses are boarded up across Wilmslow at any hour. Every postcode in SK9 is covered, from Hilltop, Finney Green and Lacey Green to Colshaw Farm, Heathfield Farm and Pownall Park.
For a break-in with anyone possibly still inside, stay out and call 999. Otherwise report it to Cheshire Constabulary on 101 or online at https://www.cheshire.police.uk and get a crime reference before you claim. Boarding at the entry point waits until the police say it may begin; if they cannot attend that night, ring 101 and ask whether the property may be secured now. See all areas we cover.
What affects the cost?
Service required, time of attendance, lock and door type, labour and parts.
When You Call, What Happens?
Four steps, and the first one is yours. Calling for emergency boarding up is straightforward, and anything you can safely tell us helps us understand the damage, explain the likely work and give you a current arrival estimate.
1. Tell us about the opening. What is damaged, its rough size, and whether there is broken glass.
2. Agree the price. We give you the price and an honest estimate of arrival time.
**3. Our part here is temporary security for the exposed opening.
4. Next steps are explained. A damaged lock, cylinder, handle or locking mechanism can be assessed by us for repair or replacement. If the door or frame is damaged, it may need locksmith work, new components or a door-repair specialist. To establish what to do next following a forced entry, our burglary repair service can provide help.
Make arrangements for a permanent repair at the earliest practical opportunity. The board protects the opening for now, but it is not a long-term substitute for repairing the window, door or locking system.
Locksmith pricing
How Much Does Emergency Boarding Up Cost?
Every boarding job is priced on what has been damaged and what it takes to make it secure. That is why a single small window that is easy to reach costs less than a large doorway, a shopfront or several broken openings at once.
When you call, describe the damage and we explain the price on the basis of what you tell us, before attendance. The pricing is clear, and no separate call-out charge is added on top. You pay for the work carried out, any parts needed, and VAT. Rates outside Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm, are higher, but the call-out itself is never charged.
The details that make the biggest difference:
Any necessary adjustment to the work or price is explained before any work starts if our findings differ materially from the description.
The opening.
Its size and type.
How many.
One opening or several.
The surrounding damage.
How badly the frame or structure is affected.
Access.
The ease and safety of access to the opening.
The property.
Residential or commercial.
Timing.
The time at which you need us to attend.
Emergency and planned locksmith services
Call Craven Locksmiths Wilmslow Now
Available 24 hours a day, with no call-out charge and the price agreed before anyone travels. Tell us what has been damaged and we will take it from there.
- Call 01625 351018
- Or use the contact page
01625 351018
Frequently Asked Questions
How quickly can you board up my property?
Boarding call-outs are taken 24 hours a day, nights, weekends and bank holidays included. You get an honest estimate on the call, and no call-out charge applies.
Do you replace the glass as well?
We do not. Glass and sealed units are reglazed by a glazier, not a locksmith. What we do is secure the broken opening with boarding and, where the lock, door, frame or mechanism has been damaged, repair or replace that. Before we leave, you will know exactly which work falls to us and which to a glazier.
How long can boarding stay up?
A few weeks at most is the sensible expectation, and often only days. The board keeps the opening secure and weather tight in the meantime. It is not designed to stay for months: over time, weather gets in around the fixings, and the opening will still need a permanent repair.
Will my insurance pay for it?
It may be covered, depending on your policy and its limits. Many home and business policies include emergency boarding following a break-in, vandalism or storm damage. Securing the opening can help prevent further loss. Tell your insurer promptly and check the wording for your cover.
Can I just board it up myself?
For a small window, yes, provided you have suitable materials. Where DIY boarding tends to fail is the fit and the fixings, since ordinary screws driven from outside can simply be undone by whoever wants to get in. Do not handle broken glass or attempt work at height. Following a break-in, wait until the police allow boarding; leave large openings to a professional.
Someone turned up and boarded my property without being asked. Do I have to pay?
Take advice before paying. Nobody should carry out work on your property without your authorisation, and you are entitled to a price before anyone travels. If a company attended and invoiced without being instructed, that is worth taking advice on rather than simply settling the bill.
Do you board up shops and commercial premises?
Yes, commercial premises are boarded just like homes. That includes shopfronts, office doors, industrial units and vacant premises. A commercial opening is usually larger and can need more than one board or access at height, both of which affect the price. Describing the opening when you call means the price you hear is accurate.
What do you use to board up with?
A fitted board is far more secure and weather tight than one of a standard size pushed over the gap.
Still have a question or need urgent assistance? Call 01625 351018, tell us what has happened and receive a current arrival estimate.