What Is Boarding Up? A Plain Guide for Harlow Property Owners
Boarding up is the temporary securing of a damaged or vulnerable opening by fixing timber board across it. The opening might be a broken window, a forced door, a smashed shopfront, a damaged skylight or the empty windows of a vacant house. In Harlow, as anywhere else, it’s the step that closes the gap, keeps the weather out and makes the property harder to enter while the proper repair is arranged.
This page explains what boarding up involves, which materials and fixings are used, and what you’re left with afterwards. If you have a broken opening now and need help, call 01279 744 842. A person answers 24 hours a day.
What boarding up does
A well-fitted board does several jobs:
- Closes the opening so nobody can step or climb through it.
- Keeps rain and wind out, which protects floors, stock and furnishings.
- Makes loose glass safe as part of preparing the opening for boarding.
- Blocks the view inside, so a shop’s stock or a home’s contents aren’t on show.
- Gives you time to speak to your insurer and book the glazier or door fitter without rushing.
Boarding is a make-safe, and it does that job well. The permanent glazing or door repair follows once you’ve had the chance to arrange it properly.
How boarding protects an opening
The basic principle is simple: the board needs to be solid enough to resist force and weather, and it must be fixed into something sound.
On a typical visit, any loose or hanging glass is made safe first, so it can’t drop on anyone during the work or afterwards. Debris around the opening is dealt with where it’s a hazard. The board is then cut to suit the opening and fixed so it sits firmly against the frame or surrounding structure. A board fixed into rotten timber or crumbling masonry won’t hold, so part of the job is checking what the fixings will actually bite into.
The van carries boarding stock and fixings.
Plywood or OSB boarding?
Two sheet materials cover most jobs.
Exterior-grade plywood, typically 18mm, is the usual choice. It’s strong, stands up to weather and suits larger openings, doors, ground-floor windows and shopfronts, where the board may need to resist someone trying to force it.
OSB (oriented strand board) is used for smaller openings where it’s suitable. It’s a practical material when the opening is modest in size and the position doesn’t call for the extra strength of thicker plywood.
The right choice depends on the size of the opening, where it is, how exposed it is and how long the board is likely to stay in place before the permanent repair. That’s discussed with you rather than assumed.
Fixings, and why the frame matters
Security or anti-tamper fixings are harder to undo from outside with ordinary tools. They’re useful on street-facing openings, shopfronts and empty properties, where someone may try to remove the board.
Non-destructive fixing is used where the frame allows. The aim is to secure the opening while limiting further damage to the frame, which can make the glazier’s job easier later. This matters on frames you’d want to keep: the Victorian and Edwardian houses around Bury Road, New Road and Park Hill, for instance, or the original shopfronts along Old Harlow High Street.
When a frame is badly damaged, it may not take fixings safely. A door kicked through at the lock, a split frame or a window surround that has come away all need a conversation before any board goes up. Sometimes a damaged door or frame has to be secured first. Sometimes the board needs fixing to the surrounding structure instead. Either way, the options are explained before work starts, so you know what’s being done and why.
Which openings need boarding up
Boarding up isn’t one fixed job. The approach changes with the opening:
- Windows are the most common, from a single cracked pane to a ground-floor window smashed during a break-in. See how window boarding works.
- Doors often need the frame or lock secured after forced entry before they can be boarded.
- Shopfronts involve larger glazed areas and a business that needs to stay secure overnight. See boarding up shops, offices and restaurants.
- Roofs and skylights raise access questions such as height, ladders and how to reach the opening safely.
- Vacant and void properties may need every window and door boarded to keep an empty building closed up.
What you’re left with afterwards
Once the work is done, you have openings that are made safe and closed against the weather, plus the work you agreed on the call. You also receive paperwork that’s useful for an insurance claim:
- an itemised invoice
- time-stamped before and after photographs
- a written statement of the work done
Your insurer decides what’s covered. We’re not loss adjusters or legal advisers, but clear records make the conversation easier. Our guide to paperwork for insurance claims explains more.
How boarding up is priced
There’s no single price, because no two openings are the same. The quote depends on:
- the number and size of openings
- height and access, including upper floors, roofs, skylights and ladder work
- materials and board thickness
- the fixing method, including security or anti-tamper fixings
- whether a damaged door or frame needs securing first
- any debris or glass that needs making safe
You get a free, clear quote on the call before any work starts. Our page on how boarding-up quotes are worked out covers this in more detail.
Who carries out the work
Boarding Up Harlow is an independent local boarding-up service with over 10 years’ experience. We’re fully insured, and the certificate is available on request. We’re also DBS-checked, which matters when we’re working in someone’s home or an empty property.
Talk it through
If you’re not sure whether an opening needs boarding, or which approach suits it, we’re happy to talk it over. Tell us your postcode, the type and rough size of the opening, and whether it’s on the ground floor or higher up. If you can do so safely, send a few photographs. That helps us discuss access and give you a quote.