The best security screens for a Cairns home, opening by opening

Best means right for the opening: tested, labelled, made to measure and kept clean

A security screen is only the right one if it does four things for the opening it covers: it has passed the security tests, it carries a label to prove it, it was built to fit, and it is kept the way its maker asks.

Testing comes first. The National Security Screen Association (NSSA) says a screen installed to the standard is designed to withstand knife shear, jemmy, probe, corrosion, pull and impact tests. Its rule on proof is short: a security door must be supplied and installed with a compliance label, and if it isn't labelled, it isn't a security door. A barrier door, the NSSA says, doesn't meet that testing and lacks the strength and durability to give reliable protection. Our guide to fly screens, barrier screens and security screens shows how to tell them apart.

Fit is the second test. The NSSA says compliant security doors are made and installed to very tight tolerances with specialised fixings, and that a screen you put up yourself may open and close but still not give proper security. ScreenGuard says the same from the maker's side: every ScreenGuard security door is made to measure by the local supplier so it fits the opening.

Upkeep is the last of the four, and SCREENGUARD, for one, ties its warranty to it. That part is covered below.

Near the beach, the mesh grade and the washing matter more than the brand

Close to the surf, the material decides more than the badge. The Australian Stainless Steel Development Association (ASSDA) sets grade 316 stainless, or a grade with equivalent corrosion resistance, as the minimum within five kilometres of the surf. The 316 versus 304 guide explains the grades and how salt air and Cairns humidity affect them.

What this guide adds is where your house sits. Machans Beach is beachfront at the mouth of the Barron River, and Yorkeys Knob is about as direct a saltwater exposure as a Cairns suburb gets. In suburbs like these, any stainless screen should be 316 or better, and the washing routine is part of the purchase. SCREENGUARD's warranty, for example, asks for its most frequent washing within 5 km of the coast (the full schedule is in the next section), so weigh that routine before you choose.

Further from the surf, view, privacy and upkeep can lead the choice

Move back from the beach and salt stops being the only thing that matters, though it rarely drops out completely. ASSDA says tea staining, the discolouration of the surface of stainless steel by corrosion, is most likely up to five kilometres from a surf beach and one kilometre from still salt water, and that there's no hard and fast rule. Wind, local shelter and heat can carry it 20 kilometres or more from the surf, while sheltered bays see much less of it.

Cairns suburbs show the spread. Smithfield doesn't front the sea, and in Redlynch, up the valley, bush meeting the houses matters more than salt. Yet even Brinsmead, the furthest of our suburb pages from the sea, has its closest boundary 3.77 km from the nearest mapped coastline. Exposure is settled at the address, not by the suburb name.

SCREENGUARD's cleaning schedule follows the same gradient. Its warranty sets a wash every two weeks within 5 km of the coast, every three months about 10 km from the coast or in high traffic areas, and every six months about 15 km from the coast in rural or suburban areas. Once salt is less of a worry, the choice can turn on the view you want to keep, the privacy you need and how the screen looks on the house.

Front doors and sliding patio doors: the lock and the hardware decide it

On a door, the locking hardware does as much work as the mesh. The NSSA says a three point lock is standard on a compliant security door and shouldn't be treated as an add-on, with a key cylinder of at least five pins. On a hinged door it also looks for at least three fixed-pin hinges, ideally recessed, and a deep, sturdy receiver channel so the infill can't easily be pushed out.

The front door is often where looks come into it. Woven stainless keeps the outlook clear, a diamond grille puts a pattern across it, and a cast panel suits a decorative or heritage style. Our guide to diamond grille versus stainless steel mesh weighs the first two.

If you leave a sliding patio door open for air, the screen in front of it has to lock as well as it slides. ScreenGuard's sliding door, for example, pairs 316 stainless mesh with a three point locking system in a high-strength aluminium frame. If an existing slider has sound mesh and a sound frame but jams, bounces or jumps the track, the wheels or track work can be replaced instead of the whole screen. We replace wheels, track work, locks, closers, hinges, triple locks and patio bolts as onsite repairs.

Bedroom windows: secure the opening, but keep a way out

For bedroom windows, the deciding question isn't only how strong the screen is, but whether someone can get out in a fire. The Queensland Fire Department's home fire escape plan starts by asking whether every room has two ways out. Where a room has only one, it says to consider modifying barriers such as window screens and bars, and it reminds households to revisit their escape plan when they change their home security.

So before you screen every bedroom window, walk the house and note which rooms rely on a window as the second way out. For those, the way the screen opens is the bigger decision than the mesh: ask about a hinged or removable screen rather than one fixed shut, and name those windows when you book the measure.

Windows facing a footpath or a neighbour bring a different priority, which is privacy. PERFGUARD perforated aluminium is used for privacy and sun screening as well as security, and DVA, a one way vision privacy mesh, cuts how much people outside can see in. DVA isn't a security product in itself, though, so it is usually paired with a Diamond Grille or Colonial Casting screen. Our range of mesh page compares the five meshes we fit, the infills from 316 marine grade stainless to DVA and pet mesh; the four ranges in the last section are the screens themselves.

What to ask about your own house before you sign

A neighbour's recommendation was made for their house, and yours may sit closer to the beach or have different windows. For the general points every quote should cover, such as the label, the test report and the lock, use the checklist in our Crimsafe alternatives comparison. The questions below are the ones only your house can answer, so walk the openings with whoever measures up and settle each one.

• Which exposure band is the house in, and how often does a schedule like SCREENGUARD's (above) ask for a wash there?
• If the house is within five kilometres of the surf, is every stainless screen on the quote 316 or better?
• Which openings sit under deep eaves or out of the rain, and will those screens need washing more often?
• Is each bedroom window the second way out of its room? If so, can that screen be opened or removed rather than fixed shut?
• For windows facing the street or a neighbour, is the privacy mesh a security product on its own, or is it combined with a grille or cast screen?
• Does the sliding patio door have a three point lock, and can its wheels and track be replaced later without replacing the screen?
• What is your QBCC licence number? The QBCC lists fabricating and installing security screens and doors in the scope of its Glass, glazing and aluminium licence class, and its licensee register can be searched online.

Where each of our ranges fits, without a winner

Each of our four ranges fits a different job, and none of them is the answer for every opening. Our security doors page sets them side by side. In short:

SCREENGUARD is 316 marine grade stainless steel mesh in a T6 grade high tensile extruded aluminium frame, manufactured and finished in Queensland. SCREENGUARD states it passes dynamic impact, knife shear, anti-jemmy, and pull and probe testing. It suits openings where you want to keep the view, including beachfront homes, and its 10 year warranty depends on regular maintenance with SCREENGUARD PowaWash.

PERFGUARD is a 2 mm perforated aluminium sheet, powder coated black, with 40 percent view through. Its doors were tested with three point locking hardware, and it carries a 7 year warranty from installation, with conditions. Diamond Grille is a visible diamond pattern with fibreglass mesh behind it to keep insects out, and Colonial Casting is the decorative range, in a modern or heritage style, for a front door or a patio.

Comparing other brands? Our Crimsafe alternatives comparison lines up the main stainless systems on the same factors, using each maker's own claims. Everything we make is made to measure and manufactured in Cairns under QBCC licence 1199847, and we cover Cairns and the surrounding areas from Palm Cove to Gordonvale. When you know what each opening needs, ask us for a measure and quote.