Emergency Boarding Up Sheffield After a Break In From £120
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After a break in or smashed glass, we board the opening, change locks if keys were taken and leave the property secure overnight, with paperwork ready for your insurer.
Police first
Report to South Yorkshire Police on 101, or 999 if it is happening now
Openings boarded
Smashed windows and door panels covered with cut to fit sheet
Locks changed tonight
New cylinders if keys were taken or the lock was attacked
Insurer paperwork
Itemised invoice and before and after photos for your claim
Our emergency boarding up Sheffield service makes doors and windows secure after a break in, attempted burglary or accidental breakage, at any hour, with a locksmith usually with you in 25 to 45 minutes and boarding up from £120. We board smashed glazing and broken door panels, change locks if keys were taken, and give you an itemised invoice and photos for your insurer.
If you have just been burgled, the police come first. Read the steps below before you start tidying up, then call us on 0114 463 0063.
The first hour after a break in: what to do, in order
- Get safe. If you think the intruder may still be inside, do not go in. Move somewhere safe and dial 999.
- Report it. If they have gone, report it to South Yorkshire Police on 101 or online, and write down the crime reference number. Your insurer will ask for it.
- Leave things as they are. Avoid touching broken glass, frames and anything the intruder handled until the police tell you it is fine. They may want to look for evidence.
- Photograph the damage. Take wide shots and close ups of every damaged door, window and lock before anything is repaired.
- Call your insurer. Many home policies have a 24 hour claims line and may cover emergency make safe work. Ask what they need from you.
- Call us to make it secure. Once the police are happy, we board up, change locks and get the property closed for the night.
If you rent, tell your landlord or letting agent as soon as you can, as the building and its locks are usually their responsibility.
What emergency boarding up involves
Boarding up covers an opening that cannot be closed or locked, so the property is weatherproof and secure until a permanent repair is made. Typical jobs:
Smashed windows
A sheet of exterior grade board cut to the opening and fixed to the frame, so nobody can reach through and the rain stays out.
Glazed door panels
Broken glass in a uPVC, composite or timber door boarded on the inside or outside, depending on how the door opens and where the lock sits.
Kicked in door panels
A split timber or uPVC panel covered so the door can still be closed and locked, ready for a new panel or door.
Doors that will not close
When the frame is too damaged to hold a lock tonight, the doorway is boarded and secured with a hasp and padlock until it can be repaired.
Shops, offices and units after a break in are handled the same way under our commercial locksmith service, with authority from the business needed before we start.
Board up tonight or repair straight away?
Not every break in needs boarding. Often the glass is intact and the damage is to the lock or frame, which we can repair on the spot. This table shows how we usually decide.
| Situation | Tonight | Later |
|---|---|---|
| Window pane smashed | Board the opening | Glazier fits new glass |
| Euro cylinder snapped, door intact | Fit a new anti snap cylinder | Nothing more needed |
| Keeps torn out, frame sound | Burglary repair to the frame and keeps | Nothing more needed |
| Frame split badly, door hangs loose | Board and padlock the doorway | Frame repair or new door |
| Keys stolen, no damage | Change the cylinders | Consider an upgrade |
Damaged frames and dropped doors that can be repaired rather than boarded are covered in more depth on our door repair Sheffield page.
Changing locks after a burglary
If keys were taken, whether from a hallway hook, a bag or a coat pocket, assume the person who took them knows which house they belong to. Changing the cylinders is the first job after the opening is secure, and starts from £20 per cylinder. Where the old lock was attacked, we fit a replacement rated TS007 3 star or Sold Secure SS312 Diamond rather than a like for like part.
Our lock replacement Sheffield page covers standard changes, and our guide to upgrading to anti snap locks explains why the cylinder is the part most often attacked on uPVC and composite doors. A security assessment from £65 looks at every door and window so the next weak point is dealt with too, and smaller fixes such as door chains and letterbox guards are listed on our home security upgrades page.
Burglary repair and your insurance claim
Insurers want to see what was damaged, what was done, and why. To help your claim we provide:
- An itemised invoice listing each opening boarded, each lock changed and each repair made.
- Photos of the damage before we start and of the finished work.
- Your crime reference number written on the invoice if you give it to us.
- Any damaged cylinders or lock parts we remove, kept for you if the insurer or police want to see them.
Whether the cost is covered depends on your policy, so check with your insurer. Payment to us is by cash, card or bank transfer on the night, and you claim it back under your policy where cover applies.
Boarding up when there has been no break in
Not every call follows a burglary. We also board openings after accidents and when a property is left empty:
- Accidental breakage. A football through a kitchen window, a door glass cracked by a slam, or a pane that fails on a cold night. The police are not needed, but you may still want photos for your insurer.
- Storm damage. High winds can blow in a weak pane or tear a door off its hinges, leaving the house open overnight.
- Empty properties. Landlords and owners securing a vacant house between tenancies, or after a tenant has left damage. Our landlord locksmith service can change every lock at the same visit.
Whatever the cause, the approach is the same: we make the opening secure and weatherproof tonight, then the permanent fix follows.
After the boarding goes up
Boarding is temporary. For glass, a glazier measures and fits the new unit, and the board comes off when they do. For doors, we can come back for the full burglary repair once the frame or panel is ready, or replace the lock and strip on the same night if parts allow.
Boarding up starts from £120, burglary repairs from £69 and our emergency burglary repair service from £89. Every starting price is confirmed on the phone before work begins, and any extra for nights, weekends or bank holidays is agreed before we set off. See the full list on our Sheffield locksmith prices page, and everything else we do under our locksmith services.
Boarding up and burglary repair prices
Starting prices from our price list, confirmed with you on the phone before we attend.
| Service | Starting price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency boarding up | From £120 | Smashed windows and door openings boarded and secured |
| Emergency burglary repair service | From £89 | Same night repair to doors, frames and locks |
| Burglary repairs | £69 | Planned repair after the property has been made safe |
| Change a lock or cylinder | From £20 | New cylinders when keys were stolen |
| High security lock installation | £120 | Upgraded anti snap cylinders and hardware |
| Security assessment | £65 | Every door and window checked after a break in |
Starting prices, confirmed on the phone before any work begins. See the full Sheffield locksmith price list.